PSU Magazine Spring 1989

This curriculum is fairly typical of engineering management programs around the country. More than 100 universities now offer the degree. Pioneered in the 1940s and '50s, graduate EM programs experienced a growth spurt in the 1970s and their numbers have quadrupled in the last decade, according to Kocaoglu . Portland State's program may be a latecomer to the national scene but with Kocaoglu's help, recognition is coming fast. The editorial offices of a national engineering management magazine and textbook company are now located on campus, and PSU has been chosen , along with eight other institutions, to create a National Science Foundation research pro– gram in engineering and technology management. On a more local level the Oregon Center for Advanced Technology Educa- . tion (OCATE) is co- sponsoring with Portland State a year-long series of free lectures by experts in technology manage– ment. Most of the lectures are being held at Tektronix . I nvolving local experts and companies in the EMP is important to Kocaoglu. It was pressure from Westinghouse, Rockwell and U.S. Steel that started the engineering management program he directed at University of Pittsburgh. Looking for this same kind of support, Kocaoglu visited technical company ex– ecutives in the Portland area before com– ing to Portland State and found them receptive. Taking into consideration the pattern of growth of the high tech in– dustry in Washington County, he recog- PSU 10 nized the community's need for a technical management program. Tom Long, vice president for the Technology Group at Tektronix , shares Kocaoglu 's vision . As chairman of the program's advisory council, Long joins other company and agency executives in providing advice and counsel on the changing needs of the technical community. "What I see coming out of engineering management is a kind of marriage be– tween science, technology and business. Currently that need is not being met ," said Long. Long himself has a bachelor's in elec– trical engineering and a master's in business administration. Most of the managers at Tektronix are engineers, but MARTIN: Every time I think I've done all I can in programming and it's getting old, it all changes. the company has what they call a dual ladder: an engineer can choose to rise through the corporate management ranks or remain on a technical track. "There are people who just don't want to be bothered with people issues ," said Long. "I often tell people electrons are far more predictable than people are." Bob Martin has chosen Tektronix's management track. As a software engineering manager in Tek's Vancouver plant, Martin manages from 3 to 15 soft– ware engineers depending on the project. Martin has also chosen PSU's engineering management program. "My experience with the industry in general indicates very few people in engineering management are actually trained in management by the time they get into it,'' said Martin . He uses himself as an example. Starting in 1967, Martin spent five years as a programmer and then , finding that most commercial soft– ware was developed by teams, took a leadership role. Through the years, Martin, 44, has moved back and forth between "engineer– ing grunt jobs" and management. As far as he is concerned there is a penalty for going too far too soon. "Technology is changing very rapidly and you can get in– to a position where you are trying to manage engineers and you really don't understand what they are doing. It is not what you used to be doing when you were an engineer." Martin is determined to ride the boun– dary between the two, keeping his technical competence and at the same time improving his management skills. That is where Portland State's EMP comes in . Obviously Martin would not be where he is today without having acquired com– petent management skills. But he is the first to admit that he has his strengths and weaknesses. " For instance, figuring out how to optimize allocation of resources is easy for a simple project but the big projects can be overwhelming." When he began looking around for schooling to fit his needs he talked with Kocaoglu , and the EMP sounded right. "Every single class has something valuable to give. It is very relevant and has given me a much broader view of ac– tivities as a manager." Martin is in no hurry to finish Portland State's program just as he is in no hurry to become a full - time manager. " Every time I think I've done all I can in programming and it's getting old, it all changes." Performing two roles simultaneously, that of specialist and manager of technology, has its appeal for Martin, Cross and many of the engineering management program's students. Armed with an EM degree these technology pro– fessionals can advance in management without sacrificing the satisfaction and the competitive edge of their own technical expertise. D