Georgia Tech is submitting the proposed concept for a professional master’s degree in manufacturing leadership to the Georgia Board of Regents for approval.  The degree plan envisions a shared core curriculum of business and financial concepts, manufacturing best practices, and leadership skills, with a fourth elective quadrant in an industry-related field of concentration.  Forest bioproducts is among the first concentrations being created.  The School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Board of Advisors expressed enthusiasm during a presentation and discussion April 11 for exploring an additional elective concentration in chemical process technology.

Course design and development will begin immediately.  The courses can be used in short-course and other formats starting this fall and incorporated into the degree program upon the Board of Regent’s program approval.

The concept arose from industry companies and young engineers citing the need for career preparation beyond technical and academic content.  This hybrid degree concept, to be offered in an on-line format to enable young professionals to continue their employment throughout the degree program, would pull from technical, business, and leadership disciplines in addition to advanced technical studies in the chosen field.