Applied engineering (field)
Encyclopedia
Applied Engineering is the field concerned with the application of management
, design
, and technical skills for the design and integration of systems, the execution of new product design
s, the improvement of manufacturing
processes, and the management and direction of physical and/or technical functions of a firm or organization. Applied Engineering degreed programs typically include instruction in basic engineering
principles, project management
, industrial processes, production and operations management, systems integration and control, quality control
, and statistics
.
Upon the completion of an Applied Engineering program, students will demonstrate the following management competencies that clearly distinguish them from traditional engineering graduates:
• Use appropriate statistical techniques in variable and attribute control chart
s and in sampling tables for continuous improvement.
• Evaluate and/or implement total quality systems in industry
.
• Perform production scheduling, develop and monitor an inventory control
system, utilize appropriate production planning techniques, and identify and exhibit key factors in project management.
• Exhibit knowledge of federal and state safety legislation and identify the role of management in an industrial safety program.
• Recognize, evaluate and control varied industrial health and safety hazards.
• Demonstrate knowledge of traditional management functions and practices, including applications and limitations of various management schemes.
• Solve problems in typical industrial organizations, work effectively in teams, and demonstrate knowledge of the managed area of an industrial enterprise.
• Apply business
, marketing
and economic principles to solve problems.
• Identify responsibility of supervision
and management within various industries.
• Demonstrate communication
skills, safe and efficient individual and group work habits, leadership within groups and an attitude of cooperation and tolerance.
Applied Engineering students specialize with a technical area of study and blend hands-on process experience with theory. Examples of these technical specialties include: Automation
/Robotics
, Aviation
, Computer Aided Drafting & Design, Electro-mechanical, Electronics
, Construction
, Graphic Communications, Manufacturing
, Nanofabrication, etc.
Applied engineers are employed in a large and wide-array of industries including: manufacturing, construction
, transportation, healthcare, printing/publishing and distribution. They are responsible for implementing a design or process improvement. Although a degree in applied engineering is not considered a traditional design engineering degree (those eligible to sit for the Professional Engineering Examination), it is quite common for employers to hire applied engineering and technology graduates with the term "engineer" in their job titles. Examples of the use of Applied Engineering titles include: Applications Engineers, Control Engineers, Manufacturing Engineers, Process Engineers, Product Engineers, Safety Engineers, and Sales Engineers.
Graduates of Applied Engineering programs are frequently found in management positions due to their coursework, training and experience in economics
, statistics
, financial accounting, operations management
, quality management
, industrial safety, and supervision. Common management-related titles may also include: Engineering Managers, Team Leaders, Plant Managers, Project Managers, Supervisors, Technical Managers, etc.
Applied Engineers are prepared to take an engineering design and see it through implementation and execution. They wear many hats in industry, commanding the necessary resources and personnel to contribute to an organization’s bottom line.
ATMAE program accreditation is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
(CHEA) for accrediting Applied Engineering programs. CHEA recognizes ATMAE in the U.S. for accrediting associate, baccalaureate, and master’s degree programs in technology, applied technology, engineering technology, and technology-related disciplines delivered by national or regional accredited institutions in
the United States.(2011)
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
, design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
, and technical skills for the design and integration of systems, the execution of new product design
Product design
-Introduction:Product design is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business or enterprise to its customers. It is concerned with the efficient and effective generation and development of ideas through a process that leads to new products.Product designers conceptualize and...
s, the improvement of manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
processes, and the management and direction of physical and/or technical functions of a firm or organization. Applied Engineering degreed programs typically include instruction in basic engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
principles, project management
Project management
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end , undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value...
, industrial processes, production and operations management, systems integration and control, quality control
Quality control
Quality control, or QC for short, is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. This approach places an emphasis on three aspects:...
, and statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
.
Upon the completion of an Applied Engineering program, students will demonstrate the following management competencies that clearly distinguish them from traditional engineering graduates:
• Use appropriate statistical techniques in variable and attribute control chart
Control chart
Control charts, also known as Shewhart charts or process-behaviour charts, in statistical process control are tools used to determine whether or not a manufacturing or business process is in a state of statistical control.- Overview :...
s and in sampling tables for continuous improvement.
• Evaluate and/or implement total quality systems in industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
.
• Perform production scheduling, develop and monitor an inventory control
Inventory control
Inventory control is the supervision of supply, storage and accessibility of items in order to ensure an adequate supply without excessive oversupply....
system, utilize appropriate production planning techniques, and identify and exhibit key factors in project management.
• Exhibit knowledge of federal and state safety legislation and identify the role of management in an industrial safety program.
• Recognize, evaluate and control varied industrial health and safety hazards.
• Demonstrate knowledge of traditional management functions and practices, including applications and limitations of various management schemes.
• Solve problems in typical industrial organizations, work effectively in teams, and demonstrate knowledge of the managed area of an industrial enterprise.
• Apply business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
, marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
and economic principles to solve problems.
• Identify responsibility of supervision
Supervision
Supervision may refer to:*Supervisor, one who oversees the work or tasks of another*Regulation, controlling behavior by rules or restrictions...
and management within various industries.
• Demonstrate communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
skills, safe and efficient individual and group work habits, leadership within groups and an attitude of cooperation and tolerance.
Applied Engineering students specialize with a technical area of study and blend hands-on process experience with theory. Examples of these technical specialties include: Automation
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
/Robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
, Aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
, Computer Aided Drafting & Design, Electro-mechanical, Electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
, Construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
, Graphic Communications, Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
, Nanofabrication, etc.
Applied engineers are employed in a large and wide-array of industries including: manufacturing, construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
, transportation, healthcare, printing/publishing and distribution. They are responsible for implementing a design or process improvement. Although a degree in applied engineering is not considered a traditional design engineering degree (those eligible to sit for the Professional Engineering Examination), it is quite common for employers to hire applied engineering and technology graduates with the term "engineer" in their job titles. Examples of the use of Applied Engineering titles include: Applications Engineers, Control Engineers, Manufacturing Engineers, Process Engineers, Product Engineers, Safety Engineers, and Sales Engineers.
Graduates of Applied Engineering programs are frequently found in management positions due to their coursework, training and experience in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, financial accounting, operations management
Operations management
Operations management is an area of management concerned with overseeing, designing, and redesigning business operations in the production of goods and/or services. It involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient in terms of using as little resources as needed, and...
, quality management
Quality management
The term Quality management has a specific meaning within many business sectors. This specific definition, which does not aim to assure 'good quality' by the more general definition , can be considered to have four main components: quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality...
, industrial safety, and supervision. Common management-related titles may also include: Engineering Managers, Team Leaders, Plant Managers, Project Managers, Supervisors, Technical Managers, etc.
Applied Engineers are prepared to take an engineering design and see it through implementation and execution. They wear many hats in industry, commanding the necessary resources and personnel to contribute to an organization’s bottom line.
Accreditation and Certification
The Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE), accredits selected collegiate programs in Applied Engineering. An instructor or graduate of an Applied Engineering program may choose to become a Certified Technology Manager (CTM) by sitting for a rigorous exam administered by ATMAE covering Production Planning & Control, Safety, Quality, and Management/Supervison.ATMAE program accreditation is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation in order to certify the quality of higher education...
(CHEA) for accrediting Applied Engineering programs. CHEA recognizes ATMAE in the U.S. for accrediting associate, baccalaureate, and master’s degree programs in technology, applied technology, engineering technology, and technology-related disciplines delivered by national or regional accredited institutions in
the United States.(2011)
External links, Associate Degree Programs
- AS Applied Engineering - Biomedical Device Engineering, Anoka-Ramsey Community College
- AT Applied Engineering & Technology, Millersville University of Pennsylvania
External links, Baccalaureate Degree Programs
- BAS Applied Engineering, Bemidji State University
- BS Applied Engineering and Technology, Eastern Illinois University
- BS Applied Engineering Management, Eastern Kentucky University
- BS Applied Engineering, Kent State University
- BS Applied Engineering Sciences, Michigan State University
- BS Applied Engineering & Technology Management, Millersville University of Pennsylvania
- BS Applied Engineering (under development), University of Hawaii Hilo