<p>Lehigh has an honors program called Integrated Business and Engineering. Students graduate with BS in Integrated Business and Engineering, with majors in all business and engineering areas. </p>
<p>"Lehighs four-year honors program in Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) prepares students to assume leadership roles in industrial research and development, entrepreneurial initiatives, management consulting, high-tech ventures, innovative technology, and finance services."</p>
<p>Seems like a great idea. They claim it is their most marketable degree. Anyone have any experience or opinion?</p>
<p>I will be honest, if I was an engineer doing something like research and development for some company and my manager had some IBE degree and not a true engineering degree, I would resent it quite a bit.</p>
<p>The fact that he/she would be running an R&D department without any actual research experience. The program descriptions specifically lists R&D departments as one thing it tries to feed into, and that is the only one that I would take issue with.</p>
<p>It is just like when you are working for a company and you have non-engineers running part of your program who don’t really understand what it takes to get all the results they want, and so they end up setting unrealistic goals and deadlines. In R&D, the effect is magnified in my opinion, because the nature of any research related activity is so different from the rest of engineering as far as what it takes to get it done. If (read: when) I am working in R&D, if my manager has not also gone through some level of research-based graduate school, it will take a lot more for that person to prove to me that they are competent.</p>
<p>Boneh3ad, perhaps I’m reading it wrong but I saw that as a regular BS engineering degree (in mechanical engineering for example) and on top of that there is the integrated business and engineering honors program.</p>
<p>@ken, After looking at the curriculm of the program it is apparent the major focus is on the business aspect.</p>
<p>@boneh3ad I understand what you are saying, but I feel it is a very negative attitude. In my opinion, every co-worker and boss (or person for that matter) deserves respect until they prove otherwise. </p>
<p>There are managers out there who have limited to no experience in the field they are managing and yet still do a great job. Their knowledge may be limited, but if they still support and work with their team they can really have a positive influence on the overall project. </p>
<p>The best manager I had in the military was a photographer’s mate who was in charge of Maintenance Control. He had no idea how to fix or maintain an aircraft himself, but he sure knew how to run that department. He trusted and relied on the information given to him by his subordinates and made decisions accordingly. I’ve always felt the best managers are those who absorb all the BS and extraneous concerns, and allow their teams to focus on the project at hand.</p>
<p>Maybe I misunderstood it, but it seemed to me like people get a BS in Integrated Business and Engineering, not a BS in an engineering field plus the extra classes for integrated business. Maybe I misunderstood, but I just reread it and still have the same conclusion.</p>
<p>EDIT: I looked at the website, and in order to get the full set of classes to fulfill requirements for any full engineering degree, it will take roughly 2 extra semesters and would lead to a dual degree. In other words, if you only do the IBE program, you aren’t really getting a full engineering degree.</p>
<p>It appears from the curriculm on their website that they either graduate in 4 years with a BS in IBE or do a dual major and graduate with a degree in IBE and a BS in a particular engineering field. </p>
<p>From the looks of the IBE program, it seems to focus mostly on the business part. The engineering part of the curriculm is limited. Students take the math and sciences required of an engineering program, but then they only do a the core of an actual engineering degree–no depth sequences or other higher level courses.</p>
<p>I would certainly respect them as a person, but that doesn’t mean I have to respect their professional judgement right off the bat.</p>
<p>Every manager has to start somewhere, and even an inexperienced manager can be an effective manager. However, research is a totally different animal than most areas of traditional engineering, and I honestly find it difficult to believe that someone with no background in research would be able to understand the nuances associated with that particular area of engineering. I don’t doubt that they would be competent enough to manage in most other areas of engineering, but research is really something where you have to learn by doing. There is no other way to do it.</p>
<p>I think you may be biased because you are a researcher. It is only natural for a person to think their field is special in one way or another. I won’t hold it against you.</p>
<p>In a large R&D department with many experienced engineers, the managers are not going to have to know the intricacies behind research. They are not going to get their hands dirty. The experienced engineers are going to take care of the nuts and bolts operation and the manager is just going to be a medium between upper management and his research team. He is going to be required to motivate his subordinates and give them what they need to do the job. In return, he is going to be held accountable for production.</p>
<p>It’s not so much that I feel my field is special any more than other brands of engineering. Any flavor of engineering is going to have its own nuances and idiosyncrasies. One such nuance for research is that without ever having done research, most people don’t have a concept for the amount of time (read: money) that things actually take and how much failure it takes to get a little bit of success.</p>
<p>I am certainly not saying that people with a degree in this IBE program could never acquire the knowledge and experience to run such programs. However, I don’t think that right out of school they would really be equipped for that sort of job, and the only way to get equipped is to get involved on one of those programs, which is something they won’t be qualified for either. Either they will have a significant “breaking in” period as a new manager that I would imagine would be longer than what is average for a manger in a non-research program, or they will have a research-based degree and be able to hit the ground much easier.</p>
<p>Just to make it clear, I don’t think this is something that is unique to this IBE program. I think it would be tough even for a person with a full engineering BS to jump into a research position without a significant learning curve unless they have a graduate degree. That is why you usually see those types of jobs requiring an MS or higher.</p>
<p>Looks like the FAQ explained it pretty well. You were right.</p>
<p>It looks like the degree prepares someone working in business to be more technically competent rather than someone working in engineering to be more saavy in business (regarding the 4 year degree).</p>
<p>What is the difference between this program and the 100 other “Engineering Management” programs?</p>
<p>Also, in the world of defense, management includes managing projects and programs. Not tooting my horn (this is 2nd post tonight drawing attention to myself and the last one) but I can continue to use my M.S. Engineering and my PMP certification and be accepted into management…according to the various federal agencies that do defense work.</p>