Engineering Business Success

Business education isn’t just for business students anymore.

A series of new program options as well as experience beyond the classroom is giving students in U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering in-demand business skills.

“In today’s global marketplace, we want to graduate engineers with a strong technical foundation who are also business-literate, with international knowledge, leadership and entrepreneurial skills,” said U of T Engineering Dean Cristina Amon.

Among the new programs is a minor and certificate program in Engineering Business. These options, which were launched to huge demand in September 2011, are available to all undergraduates studying traditional engineering disciplines.

“The goal of the new Engineering Business minor is to give our students important concepts that will enable them to move across the technology-business barrier that often exists in companies,” said Professor Jonathan Rose, the program’s director. “They will be able to engage in the strategic business thinking that goes on and bring much more to the table when combined with their technological and scientific acumen.”

Students studying Engineering Science at the U of T, one of the world’s most selective and advanced engineering programs, can also major in Engineering Mathematics, Statistics and Finance. Professor Roy Kwon, who oversees that option, explained that students who complete the major graduate with an in-depth understanding of applied mathematics that can be used to model the financial markets.

“The markets are typically characterized as being random, but we can use applied mathematics to create a model that can explain its behaviour and help predict certain outcomes based on certain conditions,” said Professor Kwon.

For Engineering Science student Garrett Kuhlmann, who will complete the major this coming school year, the combination of business and engineering was a natural fit.

“I’ve always been business-oriented,” he said. “This program lets me mix my people skills and quantitative mathematic skills… which will give me a leg up in the financial and investment world.”

In addition to courses, students also have the opportunity to participate in the Entrepreneurship Hatchery, which serves as an incubator for students’ entrepreneurial ideas.

“[The Entrepreneurship Hatchery] will add value to U of T undergraduate engineering degrees by exposing students to technology, commercialization, wealth creation and business management,” said the program’s acting director, Adjunct Professor Joseph Orozco.

The program serves students starting entrepreneurial ventures by providing a space where they can exchange ideas in an “ecosystem” of support, including mentorship and networking opportunities.

“By creating multidisciplinary teams and facilitating the commercialization of new technologies and ideas, the program will give U of T Engineering students the opportunity to become entrepreneurs and help to improve the economic welfare of their communities,” said Orozco.