UCD’s Masters in Engineering Management (MEM) first graduates from the new blended delivery of the programme

This summer will see the first cohort of graduates from the new blended delivery of UCD’s part-time Masters in Engineering Management (MEM) for industry based professionals.

Programme Director, Dr Vincent Hargaden explains how the new blended format is a meaningful response from the UCD College of Engineering and Architecture to the time pressures professional learners face, by reducing the requirement for on-campus attendance, but without compromising the quality of the learning experience.

The MEM is still designed for industry-based professionals on a part-time basis over two academic years, but the new format sees?students on campus for one Friday per month. In the intervening weeks, classes will be delivered online on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings*.

“I think that we in UCD gained invaluable experience from the online delivery of our modules during Covid. I believe there is increased awareness and wider acceptance now of alternative methods of providing masters programmes for part-time, industry-based students, and the adoption of alternative delivery formats for these types of programmes has been accelerated.

We are very conscious that our MEM students find the peer-to-peer learning as valuable as that which they get from our academic staff, so the new delivery format continues to strongly emphasise this feature of the programme through the on-campus classes. The online element provides our students with material from the same lecturers, but without the need to travel, giving them greater flexibility in managing their busy professional and personal lives”.

This masters degree programme, which has been running for over 50 years, is unique in that it draws on resources from engineering, business and behavioural sciences to bridge the divide between engineering and management, providing students with the opportunity to broaden their horizons outside specialist technical areas. Graduates of the MEM quickly progress to leadership roles across the engineering and technology sectors, with many attributing the learning from the programme as pivotal to their career progression.

“Over the years, students from a wide range of engineering, science and technology backgrounds and industry sectors have participated in the MEM programme. The range of industry sectors represented include pharmaceutical, medical technology, ICT, manufacturing, food, energy, utilities, engineering consulting and services, transportation and public services.

Previously, due to the on-campus nature of the programme, participants tended to be based in the greater Dublin area. As the Irish industrial landscape has evolved, an increasing number of companies in the engineering and technology sectors are located outside Dublin. We believe that the change in delivery format appealsl to these engineering professionals, as well as those who previously just could not commit to a masters programme that required on-campus attendance every Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.”

Programme Delivery

The MEM is undertaken on a part-time basis over two academic years (four semesters). Each semester contains 12 weeks of teaching. The programme is delivered in a blended format, comprising on campus classes (4 weeks) and on-line classes (8 weeks). On campus classes take place all day Friday in weeks 1, 4, 8 and 12 of each semester. On-line classes take place on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings in the other weeks of each semester.?

On campus days classes take place between 09.00-18.00 at the UCD Belfield campus.

Online classes take place on Friday afternoons from 14.00 and Saturday mornings 09.00-13.00.?

Find out more

If you would like to know more about the two-year part-time Masters in Engineering Management programme at University College Dublin, visit our website at?www.ucd.ie/mem?or contact Dr. Vincent Hargaden ([email protected]). Applications are currenty being accepted for September 2023 at?www.ucd.ie/apply.