Faculty of Engineering

Management Engineering 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, teamwork, and leadership skills.

The Management Engineering plan is administered by the Department of Management Sciences in the Faculty of Engineering.

The Management Engineering curriculum at Waterloo provides a solid foundation in management, engineering, science, and mathematics. On this foundation, the curriculum also has a number of courses focused on one of 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, and 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 engineering and management knowledge and skills gained in previous courses and on co-operative work terms. The project will reinforce the concepts of teamwork and project management.

This broad training allows 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 plan 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 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-op 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, and work-term salaries contribute to paying for University fees. See Co-operative Education System for details.

Academic Curriculum

Legend

The term-by-term academic component of the curriculum is as follows:

Elective Courses

Technical Electives with Large Engineering Science and Design Content

Six courses from

Natural Science Electives

• BIOL 110, BIOL 120, BIOL 130, BIOL 150, BIOL 165, BIOL 211, BIOL 239, BIOL 240, BIOL 273
• CHE 161
• CHEM 262
• EARTH 121, EARTH 122, EARTH 123, EARTH 221
• ENVS 200
• PHYS 124, PHYS 175, PHYS 233, PHYS 275
• PSYCH 261
• SCI 238, SCI 250

Notes

1. MSCI 401 and MSCI 402 may be replaced by GENE 403 and GENE 404.
2. Some of the elective courses have prerequisites that are not met by core courses in Management Engineering; see their course descriptions in this Calendar before planning elective choices.
3. Course offerings may vary from term to term; check course offerings before planning elective choices.
4. If a student cannot find a natural science elective for this term, they may take another course towards their degree requirements with the permission of their academic advisor. Taking another course does not reduce the requirement of two natural science electives.

Rules Restricting Choice of the Nine Elective Courses

1. Six of the nine electives must be from the list of approved technical electives. Students can count other Engineering courses towards this requirement subject to associate chair approval.
2. One of the nine 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.
3. Two of the nine electives must be from the list of approved natural science electives. Students can count other natural science courses towards this requirement subject to associate chair approval.

Complementary Studies Electives

All engineering students are required to take Complementary Studies courses, as described in Complementary Studies Requirements for Engineering Students. Most of these requirements are satisfied in the core curriculum: ENGL 192 or SPCOM 192, MSCI 211, MSCI 261, MSCI 263, MSCI 311, together with satisfactory evaluations on three work-term reports. The requirement for studies on the impact of technology on society is met by rule 2.

Professional Development (PD) Courses

Professional development courses are required as described in the BASc and BSE Specific Degree Requirements section on Work Terms. Management Engineering students are also required to take PD 11 Processes for Technical Report Writing and PD 22 Professionalism and Ethics in Engineering Practice. These courses replace two of the PD electives such that for Management Engineering students, PD 11 and PD 22 are additional core PD courses, and the number of PD electives required is reduced by two. Management Engineering students are automatically enrolled in the required core PD courses, PD 11 and PD 22, but must enrol in the elective PD course using the normal Quest enrolment process.

Options and Minors

Several faculty designated options are available to Engineering students. These are listed and described elsewhere in this section of the Calendar. 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.

Minors are sequences of courses that are arranged in conjunction with another academic unit and lead to an appropriate designation on the transcript and diploma. Approval from both Management Sciences and the other academic unit is required. Usually a student must take extra courses to complete a minor. See the discussion in this section of the Calendar under the heading Options, Specializations and Electives for Engineering Students.