Industry Partners | Master of Engineering Management | NC State University

Engaging with our industry partners is a key part of the Engineering Management degree program. It greatly contributes to the future success of our students. There are several ways for you to engage with our program:

First, share your experience and wisdom with our students as a Think and Lead Seminar speaker. Your insights can inspire and guide future engineers.

Additionally, you can solve one of your engineering problems by sponsoring a student project (practicum). This gives students real-world experience while helping your business.

By getting involved, you help shape the next generation of engineering leaders. Your participation makes a big difference in their education and career success.

Think and Lead Seminar Speaker

Each week during the fall and spring semesters, we host a guest speaker for our Think and Lead Seminar Series. Industry professionals talk with our students about various professional development topics. These topics range from networking skills to resume reviews to interviewing skills and much more.

More Information

For more information or to become a Think and Lead seminar speaker, please contact our program coordinator.

Practicum Sponsorship

The MEM program constantly looks for opportunities to work with new industry partners in different segments. We’re seeking industry partners like you to sponsor team projects. You identify a challenging business problem and provide information for the student team. Our students will analyze your data and solve that problem.

Basic Requirements

The proposal has two components:

• A clear description of your problem and the project goal.
• The names of the key contacts in your organization.

Team Assignments

We assign students to teams based on their skills, experience, and compatibility to fit your project needs. We appoint a team leader, and team members take on specific roles.

Our students have a variety of skills and professional experience. Each team will have expertise in:

• Statistics
• Database application
• Computer programming
• Simulation modeling
• Lean Six Sigma

Students also receive training in project management, communication skills, and teamwork.

Project Selection

We select projects based on how well your proposal fits the MEM program’s educational goals. While experience working with universities is helpful, it is not required.

We use these criteria to select projects:

• Educational value
• Likelihood of success
• Level of challenge and complexity
• Clarity of project goals
• Sponsor motivation and commitment
• Accessibility to specialized software tools, if needed

We aim to choose a variety of projects each year. If a viable proposal is not selected now, we can queue it for future assignments.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is essential for our projects. Unlike a master’s thesis, the practicum does not require public disclosure. Only team members access your data. Do not provide personally identifiable information and only share data according to your third-party data transfer rules.

Students learn about data privacy, security, and NDA laws. Since students are not University employees, they must individually consent to your NDA before joining a project.

Sponsor Commitments

As a sponsor, you need to:

• Provide the NDA for the student team to sign.
• Assign a liaison as the team’s main contact for resolving issues.
• Offer technical and strategic guidance to keep the project on track.
• Host the team for the kick-off and/or final presentation on-site, if possible.

You are not expected to manage or oversee the project continuously. We handle that.

Sponsorship Fees

There is no fee to sponsor a practicum project. However, we know there is a cost in terms of time and effort for sponsors.

We would appreciate it if you could cover some or all of the travel expenses for the student team to visit your location for the kick-off meeting and/or final presentation.

Proposal Submission

Proposals are submitted online and accepted throughout the year, but we are always ready to begin a dialogue with you at any time. There are two formal reviews with submission deadlines. Once a proposal receives the green light, it’s placed in the queue for the next round of project kick-offs. Proposals submitted early in the annual cycle have the best chance of acceptance. You may submit more than one proposal.

Submit your proposals online anytime throughout the year. We are always ready to start a dialogue with you.

There are two formal reviews with submission deadlines. Once a proposal gets approved, it goes into the queue for the next project kick-off round. Proposals submitted early in the annual cycle have the best chance of acceptance. You can submit more than one proposal.

More Information

For more information about becoming a practicum project sponsor, please contact our program coordinator.