Program Overview

MS in Product Design

Overview

The MS in Product Design offers students a unique cross-disciplinary education cutting across multiple engineering disciplines in a world-class research and innovation-based environment. The 30-credit, 1-year program will not only build fundamentals in formulation-based product design through core technical courses but will complement it with building key skills and competencies in innovation management and entrepreneurship, all of which are critical for product engineers. In addition to core competencies, the program will allow students to specialize in an industry sector of their choice through the flexibility of the broad industry-specific concentration areas.

Admission Requirements

• Students will apply directly to the College of Engineering for the Graduate Program.
• Students must have a related bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, or other technical fields with a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
• There is flexibility based on a holistic review of the application.
• For non-native English speakers, the minimum TOEFL score is 80 and the minimum IELTS score is 6.5.

Curriculum Requirements

• Technical Core Courses: 9 credits
  • Students will choose 3 from the following:
    • CET 670: Soft Matter Colloids
    • BME 635: Advanced Biomaterials
    • CHM 620: Physical Organic Chemistry
    • CHM 624: Supramolecular Chemistry
    • CHM 665: Principles of Spectroscopic Techniques
    • CHM 681: Advanced Analytical Chemistry
• Innovation Management Core Courses: 9 credits
  • Students will choose 3 from the following:
    • ISE 672: Management of Technological Innovation
    • ISE 763: Project Management Techniques
    • ISE 670: Engineering Management
    • ISE 671: Engineering Entrepreneurship
    • ISE 772: Strategic Management of Technological Innovation
• Sector Specific Concentration Courses: 9 credits
  • Students will choose 3 courses from their sector of interest:
    • Sector: Cosmetics and Consumer Goods
      • BME 695: Current Trends in Regenerative Medicine
      • CAE 729: Molecular Simulation of Materials
      • ECE 643: BioNanotechnology
      • CET 671: Chemical Product Design
    • Sector: Pharmaceuticals and Biopharmaceuticals
      • BME 665: Principles of Cellular and Tissue Engineering
      • BME 685: Immunoengineering
      • ECE 677: Data Mining
      • CET 790: Advanced Topics (This is CET 671 Chemical Product Design)
    • Sector: Nanotechnology
      • BME 622: Scanning Electron Microscopy for Engineers
      • CET 760: Aerosol Instrumentation
      • ECE 643: BioNanotechnology
      • Other courses by approval
• Master's Project:
  • CET 605: Master's Project, 3 credits
• Total Credit Hours: 30

Sample Plan of Study

• First Year
  • Fall:
    • CET 670: Soft Matter Colloids, 3 credits
    • CHM 624: Supramolecular Chemistry, 3 credits
    • ISE 763: Project Management Techniques, 3 credits
    • ISE 671: Engineering Entrepreneurship, 3 credits
    • Concentration Course, 3 credits
    • Total: 15 credits
  • Spring:
    • BME 635: Advanced Biomaterials, 3 credits
    • ISE 672: Management of Technological Innovation, 3 credits
    • Concentration Course, 3 credits
    • Concentration Course, 3 credits
    • Total: 12 credits
  • Summer:
    • CET 605: Master's Project, 3 credits
    • Total: 3 credits
  • Total Credit Hours: 30

Mission

• Provide high-quality graduate education in fundamentals of formulation-based product design, innovation management, and entrepreneurship, and in industry-specific technical knowledge. This will prepare graduates for wide-ranging professional careers and leadership roles.
• Conduct high-quality applied research with industry guidance to advance the current body of knowledge in complex product design.
• Serve the formulated product industries and engineering profession as a Center of Excellence for Product Innovation and Design through active engagement with industry, professional bodies, and through contribution of professional expertise.

Goals

The educational objectives of the Product Design program are to produce graduates with:

• Advanced knowledge in soft matter, colloidal systems, biomaterials, and industry-specific knowledge.
• Advanced knowledge in innovation, innovation management, and entrepreneurship.
• Potential to make significant contributions to product innovation across multiple industrial sectors.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Students will demonstrate an advanced knowledge of both formulation principles and innovation management.
• Students will demonstrate an advanced ability to identify, formulate, and solve product design and product engineering problems to carry out supervised research.
• Students will demonstrate an advanced ability to generate technical and business strategy contributions and effectively communicate that to the industrial R&D and scientific community.