MSEP graduates possess a unique understanding of today’s industrial environment, combining advanced technical knowledge with relevant managerial expertise. Topics that are relevant to manufacturing competitiveness today include Design for Assembly, Design for Manufacture, CIM Systems, Concurrent Engineering, Rapid Prototyping, Robotics, Controls, and more. In-depth coverage of these topics requires many technical prerequisites. Such courses do not easily fit in an engineering undergraduate sequence and, clearly, the topics are too technical to be covered in a business school curriculum. In view of the trends in manufacturing today, many firms are opting to fast-track MSEP students for management positions instead of the MBAs that they have traditionally utilized.

While degrees in specialized disciplines will always have their place, manufacturing firms also need technical people whose knowledge can span across disciplines. Competitiveness today is highly dependent on teamwork and communication. MSEP graduates have been very successful at coordinating and implementing advanced manufacturing projects that require communication among mechanical, electrical, industrial and process engineers, and management.

Our MSEP program is unique in many ways. It was the first Manufacturing Systems (MSEP) program to be established in the United States. The MSEP program was the recipient of a four million dollar award by IBM as one of five institutions selected. In addition, the program received the University LEAD Award in 1988 from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and that same year, the World Bank chose the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a partner in a three-year study on International Manufacturing Competitiveness. The program has maintained a healthy mix of strong ties to industry and innovative research in theoretical aspects of manufacturing systems. Thus, students are exposed to both practical problems and cutting-edge theoretical concepts.