Credential Builders for Engineers
Short Courses are designed with working professionals in mind, and available online. A key differentiator to our program is the regular contact with faculty throughout the short course.
Here is what students can expect:
- Will be offered at least twice per year for a 6-8-week period
- Short courses are segmented into approximately 20-minute videos and related assignments (total of 15 hours)
- Content is 100% online providing flexibility and no travel Easy to register
- Faculty will dedicate time to answering questions and substantive interactions (unique)
- Course completion will result in a badge/credential
Currently Available
Effective communication is recognized as one of the core competencies for engineering leaders. Persuasion (with ethical intent) is often viewed as an essential element in the communications process in order to effectively inform and influence beliefs in and actions by others and achieve the desired course of action or outcome. This course focuses on understanding the science of persuasion and best practices in how it can be applied to develop more persuasive written documents and presentations. Students will have an opportunity to develop and deliver presentations evaluated by industry experts.
Start Date: July 15, 2020
Registration opens on July 1, 2020
This course provides fundamentals of business terminology, concepts and principles to assist engineers in developing comprehensive plans, programs and deliverables for creating and sustaining competitive advantage. Students will develop a business plan for an engineering project/product.
Start Date: May 18, 2020
Registration opens on May 1, 2020
Disasters and human-made societal threats create crisis conditions that require leadership by those within engineering and technology-centrist organizations to stabilize, manage, and mitigate the impacts. This course assists students in developing and applying a complex, interdependent system-level of thought required to predict and plan for crises, and lead teams and organizations that can effectively implement appropriate responses for crisis situations.
Start Date: Early Summer
This course introduces engineering students to the concepts, theory, and practice of leadership in modern-day organizations through real-world examples and expert instruction. Students will develop their leadership framework and abilities through exploring topics such as ethical leadership, excellence in communications, managing conflict, developing effective teams, building organizational culture, leading and managing change, and professional credibility. The course is critical in a world where the only constant changes.
Start Date: April 27, 2020
Registration opens on April 15, 2020
In today’s cost-competitive, complex work environment, engineers will manage projects that implement their stakeholders’ or company’s products, services, or developments in an optimized, efficient manner. The Project Manager assimilates the components of the project utilizing leadership and management principles that embrace both knowledge and experience in building the structure, processes, components, and linkages within the team for successful project delivery.
Start Date: Early Summer
In Development
Coming Soon!
Most engineering projects require a bid phase and negotiation of price and terms and conditions. A project can be won or lost during this phase. Whether this phase progresses through email, voice, and/or face-to-face, engineers must possess the skills to negotiate with procurement managers and decision-makers. This course will provide students with tools to improve their negotiation skills, along with the opportunity to hone these skills in mock negotiations with industrial professionals.
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
Procurement, contracts, terms and conditions all pertain to business law. This course covers the basics of business law so that engineers have a foundational working knowledge of the terms, definitions, and law fundamentals that underpin engineering documents.
Coming Soon!
This course introduces engineering students to the concepts and practices of entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurship. Using lectures, case studies, business plans, and student presentations, the course teaches life skills in entrepreneurial thought and action that students apply in starting companies or driving innovative, cutting edge projects in larger companies.
Coming Soon!
Cash flow, balance sheets, and profit and loss statements are common documents generated by companies for legal and reporting purposes. An ability to analyze these data and calculate/evaluate key indices from them is essential to understanding the financial “health” of an engineering or technology organization, and what drives the financial success of organizations and the projects and products involved. How companies raise capital to fund new innovations or improve existing infrastructure is also important for engineering leaders to recognize. Also knowing how companies leverage their assets, obtain a return on invested capital, optimize operational costs, develop performance metrics and grow are critically important for engineering leaders.
This course covers the fundamentals of these financial concepts and provides students an opportunity to apply the concepts in real-world situations.
Coming Soon!
This course introduces engineering students to the concepts of innovative thinking and innovation practices. Using lectures, case studies, team exercises, and guest speakers, the course teaches life skills in innovative thought and action. Students apply lessons learned in creating successful careers ranging from starting companies to leading large companies.
Coming Soon!
Data-driven decision-making is critical to rapid market response, efficiency of processes, and cost-effectiveness of products and processes.
This course will provide students with an improved understanding about the science and practice of successful decision-making, including the general process involved, managing common challenges frequently encountered, identifying and evaluating options, selecting the alternative, and implementing the decision.
Coming Soon!
Advancements in computers and sensors (the Internet of Things) has resulted in the availability of massive data sets. Managing “big data” and understanding how to use data in decision making is critical to staying competitive in today’s business environment.
This course will review database systems and statistical analyses for data interpretation an application.
Coming Soon!
Creating and managing diverse teams requires patience, emotional intelligence, and professional credibility. This course covers fundamental differences between management and leadership, provides insight on developing yourself as an influential and respected manager, outlines best practices for managing individuals and developing creative high-performance teams, outlines the manager’s role in building a strong culture in teams or organizations, and summarizes key aspects about managing a business or sector.
Coming Soon!
Whether producing an engineering product or a construction product, quality assurance, on-time delivery, and maintaining costs are essential to any business enterprise.
This course covers the fundamentals of taking products to market and kicking off successful projects to meet customer expectations.
Coming Soon!
Minimizing downtime, preventative maintenance, Quality Control, and reducing waste and costs are all essential to efficient production systems. This course covers these fundamentals to optimize manufacturing processes.
Coming Soon!
It is now commonly accepted that emotional intelligence (EQ) is an essential attribute that distinguishes great leaders from good ones. Similarly, it has been said that credibility is the foundation of leadership….and we include engineering as well.
This course focuses on the key aspects of EQ and professional credibility and best practices to help build both in engineering managers and leaders that will improve their chances to be successful and effective leaders.
Coming Soon!
Working, managing, and leading teams requires soft-skills not regularly taught in engineering curriculum. Teams are increasingly more diverse and often managed remotely in modern-day organizations. This course provides students with information and approaches that explain: what makes great (vs. good) teams; how to develop strong teams that work well together, increasing effectiveness and efficiency; and best practices to improve team communications and manage conflict.
Coming Soon!
This course addresses cutting edge technologies that will likely impact engineering days to day work and decision making. Topics covered include the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Cybersecurity.
Coming Soon!
Technological advancements are essential for business growth. A project’s rate of return will largely determine whether or not that technology will be developed. This course builds on Engineering Finance to provide students the tools to assess and improve the rate of return on research and development investments.
Coming Soon!
For any questions regarding the short courses below, please contact Dr. David Mazyck, UF EDGE Director, at edge@eng.ufl.edu.