The Management Engineering program provides undergraduate students with an engineering education needed to understand, design, implement and manage complex management systems upon which organizations depend. Management Engineering undergraduates obtain a degree which combines, as an integrated whole, technical and managerial knowledge along with opportunities to develop their problem-solving abilities, communication and interpersonal skills, project management experience, and teamwork and leadership skills.
The Management Engineering program is administered by the Department of Management Sciences, in the Faculty of Engineering. The Department of Management Sciences also offers the Option in Management Sciences to students in other Engineering programs, as described elsewhere in this chapter.
The Management Engineering program at Waterloo provides a solid foundation in management, engineering, science, and mathematics. On this foundation, the program also has specialized courses in three theme areas:
- Operations Research and Supply Chain Management: Operations Research deals with quantitative models of complex operations and uses these models to support decision-making in any sector of industry or public services. Supply chain management is the process of planning, implementing and managing the flow of goods, services and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption.
- Information Technologies: The Information Technologies theme focuses on how technology is designed and managed to support effective decision-making. Topics deal with technical applications in software design and development, data mining and telecommunication as well as the organizational and social issues associated with the use of information technologies.
- Management of Technology: The Management of Technology theme builds on the foundation of management topics in accounting, finance, economics, organizational behaviour and organizational design. Courses in this theme deal with operational and organizational issues related to managing innovation and technological change.
The capstone design project is intended to provide students with the opportunity to engage in a significant design experience based on the engineering and management knowledge and skills gained in previous courses and on co-operative work terms. The project will reinforce the concepts of team work and project management.
This broad training allows our students to successfully manage a wide variety of processes and systems within an organization. Graduates are equipped to work on projects ranging from the design of efficient operations, to devising smooth information flows and the management of technological change. As well as gaining an engineering education, students in this program build an understanding of how organizations produce and distribute products and how they can be managed in an efficient or optimal way.
Employment Opportunities
Employment opportunities for Management Engineers exist in business, industry, non-profit organizations, government, universities, and wherever institutions wish to improve their effectiveness and efficiency based on engineering analysis and principles of scientific management. Graduates of this program are uniquely qualified to work on interdisciplinary teams that require both engineering and management expertise, to manage technical functions in almost any enterprise, or to undertake the management of broader functions in a high-technology enterprise. Management Engineers work and consult in every industry, including manufacturing, communications, transportation, energy, retail and distribution, banks and insurance companies, hospitals and healthcare organizations, entertainment and travel firms.
Management Engineering at the University of Waterloo is a co-operative education program that provides opportunities for students to gain job-related experience to complement their academic studies. Employers value the practical training received by graduates of the co-operative program and work-term salaries contribute to paying for university fees. For more details of the co-operative system of study, see
"Co-operative Education and Career Services."
Management Engineering Program
The Management Engineering program consists of 33 core and eight elective courses for a total of 41 courses. The term by term academic component of the program is as follows.
|
| Term 1A (Fall) |
C* |
T* |
L* |
| CHE 102 Chemistry for Engineers |
3 |
2 |
- |
| MSCI 100 Management Engineering Concepts |
3 |
2 |
3 |
| MATH 115 Linear Algebra for Engineering |
3 |
2 |
- |
| MATH 116 Calculus 1 for Engineering |
3 |
2 |
- |
| PHYS 115 Mechanics |
3 |
2 |
- |
|
| Term 1B (Winter) |
C |
T |
L |
| GENE 121 Digital Computation |
3 |
2 |
- |
| GENE 123 Electrical Engineering |
3 |
1 |
1.5 |
| MSCI 261 Engineering Economics: Financial Management for Engineers |
3 |
1 |
- |
| MATH 118 Calculus 2 for Engineering |
3 |
2 |
- |
| ME 135 Materials Science and Engineering |
3 |
1 |
2 |
| PHYS 125 Physics for Engineers |
3 |
2 |
- |
|
| Term 2A (Fall) |
C |
T |
L |
| MSCI 200A Seminar |
1 |
- |
- |
| MSCI 240 Algorithms and Data Structures |
3 |
1 |
1.5 |
| MSCI 252 Probability and Statistics for Engineers |
3 |
1 |
- |
| MSCI 262 Managerial and Cost Accounting |
3 |
1 |
- |
| MSCI 271 Advanced Calculus and Numerical Analysis |
3 |
2 |
- |
| ME 250 Thermodynamics 1 |
3 |
1 |
- |
| WKRPT 100 Work-term Report |
- |
- |
- |
|
| Term 2B (Spring) |
C |
T |
L |
| MSCI 200B Seminar |
1 |
- |
- |
| MSCI 211 Organizational Behaviour |
3 |
1 |
- |
| MSCI 263 Managerial Economics |
3 |
1 |
- |
| MSCI 331 Introduction to Optimization |
3 |
1 |
- |
| MSCI 444 Information Systems Analysis and Design |
3 |
1 |
- |
| ME 219 Mechanics of Deformable Solids 1 |
3 |
1 |
- |
|
| Term 3A (Winter) |
C |
T |
L |
| MSCI 300A Seminar |
1 |
- |
- |
| MSCI 311 Organizational Design and Technology |
3 |
1 |
- |
| MSCI 346 Database Systems |
3 |
1 |
1.5 |
| MSCI 431 Stochastic Models and Methods |
3 |
1 |
- |
| MSCI 432 Production and Service Operations Management |
3 |
1 |
- |
| Elective |
|
|
|
| WKRPT 200 Work-term Report |
- |
- |
- |
|
| Term 3B (Fall) |
C |
T |
L |
| MSCI 300B Seminar |
1 |
- |
- |
| MSCI 332 Deterministic Optimization Models and Methods |
3 |
1 |
1.5 |
| MSCI 333 Simulation Analysis and Design |
3 |
1 |
1.5 |
| MSCI 342 Principles of Software Engineering |
3 |
1 |
1.5 |
| Elective |
|
|
|
| Elective |
|
|
|
| WKRPT 300 Work-term Report |
- |
- |
- |
|
| Term 4A (Spring) |
C |
T |
L |
| MSCI 400A Seminar |
1 |
- |
- |
| MSCI 401 Management Engineering Design Project 1 |
- |
- |
- |
| MSCI 423 Managing New Product and Process Innovation |
3 |
2 |
- |
| MSCI 434 Supply Chain Management |
3 |
1 |
1.5 |
| MSCI 453 Business Processes and Information Technology |
3 |
2 |
- |
| Elective |
|
|
|
| WKRPT 400 Work-term Report |
- |
- |
- |
|
| Term 4B (Winter) |
C |
T |
L |
| MSCI 400B Seminar |
1 |
- |
- |
| MSCI 402 Management Engineering Design Project 2 |
- |
- |
- |
| Elective |
|
|
|
| Elective |
|
|
|
| Elective |
|
|
|
| Elective |
|
|
|
|
Note: *C=number of class hours per week, T=number of tutorial hours per week, L=number of lab hours per week Elective Courses
List I: Technical Elective Courses with large Engineering Science or Design Content
| CIVE 343 |
Traffic Engineering |
| CIVE 472 |
Wastewater Treatment |
| ECE 261 |
Energy Systems |
| MSCI 343 |
Human-Computer Interaction |
| MSCI 433 |
Applications of Management Engineering |
| MSCI 436 |
Decision Support Systems |
| MSCI 446 |
Data Warehousing and Mining |
| ME 262 |
Introduction to Microprocessors and Digital Logic |
| ME 340 |
Manufacturing Processes |
| ME 351 |
Fluid Mechanics 1 |
| ME 353 |
Heat Transfer 1 |
| ME 354 |
Thermodynamics 2 |
| ME 362 |
Fluid Mechanics 2 |
| MTE 241 |
Introduction to Computer Structures and Real-Time Systems |
List II: Other Technical Elective Courses
| CHE 571 |
Industrial Ecology |
| CHE 572 |
Air Pollution Control |
| CHE 574 |
Industrial Wastewater Pollution Control |
| CIVE 240 |
Engineering and Sustainable Development |
| CIVE 342 |
Transport Principles and Applications |
| CIVE 375 |
Water Quality Engineering |
| CIVE 381 |
Hydraulics |
| CIVE 440 |
Transport Systems Analysis |
| CIVE 444 |
Urban Transport Planning |
| ECE 493 |
Power System Operation and Markets |
| MSCI 435 |
Advanced Optimization Techniques |
| ME 212 |
Dynamics |
| ME 220 |
Mechanics of Deformable Solids 2 |
| ME 269 |
Electromechanical Devices and Power Processing |
| ME 321 |
Kinematics and Dynamics of Machines |
| ME 322 |
Mechanical Design 1 |
| ME 423 |
Mechanical Design 2 |
| ME 435 |
Industrial Metallurgy |
| ME 459 |
Energy Conversion |
| ME 524 |
Advanced Dynamics |
| ME 533 |
Non-metallic and Composite Materials |
| ME 559 |
Finite Element Methods |
| ME 566 |
Computational Fluid Dynamics for Engineering Design |
| SYDE 422 |
Machine Intelligence |
| SYDE 423 |
Computer Algorithm Design and Analysis |
| SYDE 533 |
Conflict Analysis |
| SYDE 558 |
Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks |
List III: Nontechnical Elective Courses
| ECON 344 |
Marketing: Principles of Marketing and Consumer Economics |
| GENE 452 |
Technical Entrepreneurship |
| MSCI 421 |
Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation |
| MSCI 422 |
Economic Impact of Technological Change and Entrepreneurship (CSE List A, Impact) |
| MSCI 424 |
Organizational Knowledge, Cognition, and Communication |
| MSCI 442 |
Impact of Information Systems on Organizations and Society (CSE List A, Impact) |
| MSCI 443 |
Telecommunication Management |
| MSCI 452 |
Decision Making under Uncertainty |
Note: Many of the List I and II courses have prerequisites that are not met by core courses in Management Engineering; see their course descriptions in this calendar before planning elective choices. Rules Restricting Choice of the Eight Elective Courses
RULE 1. At least five of the eight electives must be from List I.
RULE 2. At least two of the eight electives must be courses from other Engineering programs (CHE, CIVE, ECE, ME, MTE, SYDE) appearing on List I or List II.
RULE 3. At least four of the eight electives must be MSCI courses appearing on List I, List II or List III.
RULE 4. At least one of the eight electives must be from List A of the Complementary Studies Requirements for Engineering Students, i.e., a course on the impact of technology on society.
Note: Some courses may count towards more than one rule. For example, MSCI 343 can count towards both RULE 1 and RULE 3, MSCI 442 can count towards both RULE 3 and RULE 4, and CIVE 343 can count towards both RULE 1 and RULE 2. It is also possible for a student to satisfy all four rules, and still have as many as two completely free elective choices of courses from any department in the University. For example, choosing the six courses MSCI 422, MSCI 433, MSCI 436, MSCI 446, ECE 261, and ME 340 would satisfy the four rules, leaving two completely free elective choices for a total of eight elective courses altogether. There are many other such combinations. Students may use such free electives to pursue studies in arts, sciences, management, or to deepen a concentration in another area of engineering.
Complementary Studies Component
All engineering students are required to take Complementary Studies courses, as described in this Engineering chapter under the section "Complementary Studies Requirements for Engineering Students." Most of these requirements are satisfied in the core program, namely, MSCI 100, 211, 261, 262, 263, 311, 423, and 453, together with satisfactory evaluations on four work term reports. The requirement for studies on the impact of technology on society is met by RULE 4, above.
Options and Minors
Several Faculty Designated Options are available to Engineering students. These are listed and described elsewhere in this chapter. If a student satisfies the option requirements (usually seven or eight courses), the appropriate designation will be shown on the student's transcript. The course requirements for some options can be partially met by taking Management Engineering electives, but students may have to take extra courses to complete the requirements.
The Management Sciences Option will not be awarded to any Management Engineering student, as this would double-count courses towards both the main degree and the option.
Minors are sequences of courses, usually totalling ten, which are arranged in conjunction with another department such as Economics, Psychology, etc., and lead to an appropriately designated degree. Approval from both Management Sciences and the other department is required. Usually a student must take extra courses to complete a minor. See the discussion in this chapter under the heading "Options and Electives for Engineering Students."
Term by Term Structure of the Program
The Management Engineering program follows the eight stream schedule, i.e., beginning with terms 1A and 1B in the Fall and Winter terms, followed by alternating work and academic terms. In accordance with Faculty rules, in order to complete their degree, students must have at least five work terms, and they must submit four work-term reports, in academic terms following four work terms. In addition, Faculty rules require that all engineering students must successfully complete the Professional Development for Engineering Students (PDEng) requirements, during their work terms.