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Diversity, high tech industry focus, practical application, world-class research methodologies and interdisciplinary opportunities: these complement the draw of the internationally ranked faculty of the Department of Management Science and Engineering (MS & E) in Stanford University's School of Engineering (SoE), according to department graduate students. "Since the consolidation of departments into MS & E two years ago, I've noticed even more of an emphasis on working with industry on real-life problems and issues," says Melanie Rubino, Ph.D. Candidate in Operations Research. "This is just what I was looking for. In my research I'm applying a heavy traffic approach to a controlled queueing problem in industry — I'm addressing a real issue in a real company." 
MS & E offers an ever-growing number of opportunities for high tech professionals to examine and address management issues from research-based, interdisciplinary perspectives, focusing on areas including: probability and stochastic systems, supply chain management, finance and economics, decision and risk analysis, industrial organization, and optimization. Though most agree that a strong engineering and/or mathematics background is an asset, particularly at the master's level, an engineering background is not necessary for success in all areas. "Over half the students in my area have non-engineering backgrounds: economics, psychology, sociology. Mine is in business," says Chris Bingham, Ph.D. candidate in Strategy and Organization. "We take courses all over the university. The diversity of students and coursework adds to our insights. What does unite us — and I think this is the case across the department — is the focus on high tech industries. We apply methodologies to solving problems that are entirely new. It's a huge draw that we are working on management issues for which no models even exist." Uniting such diverse areas into one department has encouraged multi-disciplinary approaches to problem-solving and analysis. "Both the quality and the breadth of the coursework have far exceeded my expectations," says Shikhar Ranjan, Ph.D. candidate in Economics and Finance. "The interdisciplinary curriculum offers collaborative opportunities which also differentiate Stanford from other universities." 
For some master's degree students and doctoral candidates, their experiences as distance students led them to pursue degrees. Jimmy Benjamin, Ph.D. candidate in Risk Analysis, began his advanced education at the master's level, taking many courses via SCPD distance technologies. "Professor Paté-Cornell's course in Risk Analysis, which I took as an SCPD student, helped crystallize my decision to pursue a doctorate in her field." Benjamin found that distance learning was the best way for him to transition back to the educational environment after eleven years away from it. "For continuing education students with busy lives and outside commitments, taking courses online is an introspective process (and more of an independent experience). It can be hard to go back to the chaos of a traditional campus learning experience." Sudhir Rao, a Senior Software Engineer at Cisco Systems, Inc., shares Benjamin's view. He chose SCPD distance education opportunities over pursuing a weekend MBA on campus at another prestigious university, though he was wary of the isolation of being a distance student. "The convenience of getting this quality of education is a real plus. Usually I come home late and view the course. I had trouble concentrating in the classroom atmosphere; it felt new after so many years. I've been slowly moving toward management and these courses have what I need. I plan on pursuing a degree." Rao has taken several courses as a distance student, most recently Dr. Robert I. Sutton's MS & E 280 Organizational Behavior and Management. "This course was particularly useful. He brought in concepts I was able to apply immediately, and the emphasis on case studies and projects was excellent. Professor Sutton's energy, case studies and projects all made me feel part of this course. I hope more MS & E courses will be offered online." Alex Fitzpatrick, a contracts negotiator for Cisco Systems, Inc. has seen the steady growth in MS & E course offerings over the last four years. He's completed most of his coursework for his master's degree through SCPD and remains an online learning fan. Fitzpatrick says, "To me, it will be a great day when industry students can log on for live, interactive, online seminars." (See our student spotlight on Alex Fitzpatrick for more.) For more, see the department overview and visit our faculty spotlights on Elisabeth Paté-Cornell and Robert I. Sutton. |
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