UMass Amherst to Launch Master of Science in Manufacturing Engineering

A new master of science degree in manufacturing engineering (MS MfE) at UMass Amherst is expected to help address a substantial skills-gap crisis in manufacturing by training the next generation of engineers to lead the digital transformation of manufacturing — the fourth industrial revolution — known as Industry 4.0.

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The Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) Department in the College of Engineering will offer the M.S. MfE degree, a 10-course, 30-credit program without a thesis requirement, beginning in the fall of 2023. The program is expected to draw students from mechanical and industrial engineering and other related engineering disciplines.

“There is currently a skills gap crisis,” says Jim Lagrant, MIE faculty member and professor of practice in manufacturing. “Half of the open positions in skilled manufacturing are unfilled nationwide.”

In Massachusetts, employment for manufacturing engineers is projected to grow steadily over the next six years. Surveys of several state regional workforce planning blueprints find that advanced manufacturing is cited as one of several sectors of the economy critical to their regions due to existing and projected growth.

The M.S. MfE degree program will take advantage of partnerships both within MIE and between MIE, the College of Engineering and the Institute for Applied Sciences (IALS). The curriculum will be primarily instructed by MIE faculty, with some overlap with the M.S. in Mechanical, Industrial and Engineering Management programs.

“Students will be able to take full advantage of existing state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and teaching laboratories on campus,” says Sundar Krishnamurty, MIE department head and Ronnie and Eugene Isenberg Distinguished Professor in Engineering. “Not only the MIE innovation shop, but the IALS core facilities, including Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication (ADDFab), the Roll-to-Roll Fabrication and Processing Facility and our new Manufacturing Automation teaching laboratory.”

The M.S. MfE program will be offered to prospective graduate students, both domestic and international. The 4+1 program will be offered to UMass Amherst undergraduates, starting in their freshman year, to increase their awareness of the MfE program on campus and allow them to tailor their senior-year program of study to accommodate MfE core courses or electives.

Through the MIE’s strong relationships with industry sponsors for its undergraduate Senior Capstone Design course, the MS MfE program will also offer industry-sponsored graduate thesis opportunities to students as part of their master’s curriculum.

The mission of the MfE, approved by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education this month, is to develop the next generation of engineers with the knowledge and skills necessary to lead the digital transformation of manufacturing.

The need for such training was intensified by manufacturing and supply chain issues caused by the pandemic and exposed the necessity of bolstering critical manufacturing supply chains while also developing and using advanced manufacturing processes, Krishnamurty says.

Graduates of the program are expected to pursue a variety of career paths both within and outside of the Commonwealth, including in materials and manufacturing processes; manufacturing planning, strategy, quality and control; manufacturing systems design and supply chain management.

A recent Summit on Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing organized by the UMass President’s Office observed, “The human impact of all other fields of applied science depends, in the end, on advanced manufacturing. Every translational innovation requires something—a smart device, a novel material, a drug molecule—to be produced reliably, safely and affordably at scale. Making that happen is the domain of manufacturing scientists and engineers.”

“It is this vision that serves as the motivation for our M.S. in manufacturing engineering program,” Lagrant says.

To find out more, visit the manufacturing engineering site or linkedin.com/company/umass-mfe.