It may have taken him three decades, but Mario Beruvides said he could not be happier to be back on the University of Miami campus.
An award-winning educator and researcher with expertise in systems and engineering management, Beruvides served most recently as associate vice provost of international affairs at Texas Tech University. He joined the College of Engineering in Miami last summer.
"It's my dream to be back here," said Beruvides, who did his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and his master's in industrial engineering at the U in the late 1980s. "I fell in love with this University many, many years ago."
Still, it's not nostalgia that brings him back.
Beruvides, a leader in distance learning who created highly regarded online graduate programs while at Texas Tech, has returned to help build the same caliber of online engineering programs at the U. As director of the new online Master of Engineering Management (M.E.M.) program, Beruvides heads the effort to launch the University's first online engineering master's degree this fall.
"I wanted to give back to my alma mater," Beruvides said. "I'll do whatever I can to make this program a success. I'd love to see an online Ph.D. in engineering too, but we will take it one step at a time."
The online master's program has been in the planning stages for several years, led by associate dean Nina Miville and a team of faculty members. The 30-credit, fully online program is designed for professionals who want to combine technical engineering expertise with business and leadership skills.
"We prepare graduates to manage complex technical systems across many different industries or organizations," Beruvides said. "This program bridges the gap for engineers and others in STEM fields to get the technical management skills they need to move ahead in their careers."
Although not required, students in the program will have some opportunity to visit campus for networking with other students and faculty. It is expected that students will complete the program in less than two years.
Since he first began working with distance learning in the engineering field in the 90s, Beruvides said the demand for technical management skills has steadily increased.
"It's an incredibly broad area of opportunity," he explained. "There are engineers working on quality management, for example, in hospitals and banks. Or they are managing complex inventory control systems at large organizations in a variety of industries."
Courses for the program are drawn from the College of Engineering and the Miami Herbert Business School, blending subjects like data analytics, systems engineering, and supply chain management, with leadership, financial engineering, and entrepreneurship.
Before graduation, students must complete a capstone course in engineering entrepreneurship. Instead of a traditional thesis, students will work in teams to build a real-world business plan, from product design to financial forecasting, helping to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Graduates of the program are prepared for leadership roles that require engineering knowledge as well as management skills, such as engineering managers, project leaders, and operations supervisors.
The median annual salary for engineering managers is more than $138,000, and job growth in the field is projected to remain steady, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"For companies and organizations that deal with complex technical systems, a technical management degree is a very sought-after credential," Beruvides noted.
According to Harvard Business Review, 34 percent of the world's top-performing CEOs have engineering degrees, more than those with M.B.A.s. But while engineers excel at solving complex problems, many find they need a stronger foundation in leadership, project and innovation management, economics, and organizational strategy to reach the next level.
That is precisely where the M.E.M. program comes in, Beruvides said.
"This program fills the void for people with an engineering or STEM background, who want to move ahead in their careers as managers on up to CEO," he said. "There is a strong and growing demand for this skill set."
