Program Overview
NOTE: Qualified applicants are still encouraged to apply past the stated deadline of January 31st and such applications will be considered on a case by case basis.
The Gordon Engineering Leadership Program is an excellent opportunity for highly motivated, technically competent, post-baccalaureate engineers who are interested in leadership careers. This program is an intensive one-year graduate program building an elite cadre of engineering leaders. These engineers, known as Gordon Fellows, are typically employees of their sponsoring organization and collaboratively develop a Challenge Project that will accomplish an objective that is of strategic importance to their sponsoring organization. Tuition and fees associated with the Gordon Program will be paid by their sponsoring organization on behalf of the Gordon Fellows who also receive a salary or graduate stipend.
The increasing global competition in technology industries puts a premium on those exceptional engineering leaders who can direct multidisciplinary teams to bring innovative technical ideas to the market in a short period of time while meeting all cost goals. This requires a unique balance of talents. 
In addition, the multidisciplinary nature of engineering projects requires a broad knowledge of basic science, enabling a leader to assess project feasibility. Graduate level technical knowledge is coupled with the necessary business administration skills to ensure complete control of an engineering project. The Gordon Engineering Leadership Program addresses many topics that would be covered in a business administration program, but is tailored for engineers engaged in the leadership of a technical project. Women and under-represented students are strongly encouraged to consider this program to pursue new leadership opportunities.
The Gordon Engineering Leadership Program will be comprised of the following components:
Programs of Study
Students choose between earning a Graduate Certificate in Engineering Leadership, a Masters of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering Leadership or another Engineering MS degree by arrangement.
Coursework
Students are required to take two courses each semester developed by the Gordon Program:
- Engineering Leadership I & II, focusing on leadership qualities, product engineering, market assessment, and engineering excellence.
- Scientific Foundations of Engineering I & II, focusing on creating a technical framework for use in evaluation of new technology.
Through formal instruction such as this, students develop a broader understanding of leadership skills, as well as math, physics and advanced technology, thereby better enabling them to assess the technical situation and develop their products.
The “Challenge Project”
The second component of the Gordon Program, a market-worthy and technologically feasible Challenge Project is developed in conjunction with the student’s industry sponsor. The Challenge, best conceptualized as a mountain that when scaled, will test the students and lead them beyond what they thought they were capable of.
Students will prepare development plans, including budgets and schedules. These plans will be critiqued for completeness and reasonableness by the industry sponsor in conjunction with the Gordon Program mentors. The project will be of importance to the sponsoring company and treated as such.
Challenge Projects will show students that they:
- have personal vision, broad product knowledge, and top-to-bottom involvement and interaction at all organizational levels.
- can motivate others and lead them toward shared goals.
- are aware of their own limitations, can successfully navigate them and seek help from others with more experience.
Mentoring
Students will interact closely with accomplished leaders in the engineering profession, who have been down this same path before. Mentors involved with the Gordon Program have led state-of-the-art developments of successful commercial and defense products, and they have founded or helped found companies or organizations to design and manufacture high technology products. These proven individuals will help impart the necessary knowledge and skills, and will serve as role models for effective engineering leadership education. Students will also have an industrial mentor from the sponsoring organization who will aid them with their project.
Seminars
Periodic seminars will give the students an opportunity to meet and interact with successful leaders and innovators in the engineering industry. Seminars are held every other week and are a required component of the program and focus on state of the art topics including innovative methods of leadership.
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