Academic Catalog

Manufacturing Engineering Major

Department: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering and Technology

The baccalaureate programs in industrial engineering and manufacturing engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org. 

Program Educational Objectives

Within five years into their careers, the graduates from the Manufacturing Engineering Program at Bradley University will have successful careers based on

  • Demonstrated ability to recognize manufacturing business problems and implement effective solutions.
  • Demonstrated ability to effectively lead cross-functional teams in the design, implementation and improvement of processes and systems.
  • Demonstrated professional development through continuous learning opportunities such as varied work assignments, graduate education, or professional associations.
  • Demonstrated involvement in service activities that benefit the profession or the community.

Student Outcomes

In order to meet the program educational objectives, students graduating from Bradley’s manufacturing engineering program will attain the following outcomes.

  1. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex manufacturing engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
  2. An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
  3. An ability to communicate technical concepts effectively with a range of audiences.
  4. An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
  5. An ability to function effectively on multi-disciplinary teams whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
  6. An ability to develop and conduct experiments, analyze, and interpret data related to manufacturing processes, materials evaluation, and manufacturing systems, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
  7. An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

Manufacturing engineers apply their knowledge of the sciences of materials, processes, and information to the design, integration, and advancement of products and systems of manufacture. They understand value-added concepts through effective transformation of materials into products through manufacturing planning, strategy, and quality control.

The manufacturing engineer is responsible for designing manufacturing processes to meet specific product properties and design; and is able to design products and equipment, tooling, and facility for continuously improving manufacturing systems to add value and minimize total costs considering entire value chain. His/her role encompasses not only technological factors but also human, economic, and environmental factors, which makes the manufacturing engineer a great facilitator for team efforts in cross-functional teams.

The manufacturing engineering program is designed to provide the student with a broad intellectual horizon together with a firm technical foundation necessary to meet future challenges in manufacturing and related industries. The curriculum builds on a solid foundation of science and mathematics and combines a broad base of engineering tools and their application to analysis, synthesis, and control of manufacturing operations using statistical methods.

Graduates from the program would have a wide range of career options in industry, government, research, service, and entrepreneurship. Graduates may also choose to advance their education through post-graduate studies.

To meet the degree requirements for graduation in manufacturing engineering, students must obtain credit in the following courses and must achieve a minimum grade point average 2.25 in IME courses.

Students wishing to pursue a graduate degree in manufacturing engineering may refer to the graduate catalog, which describes course work leading to the MSMFE degree.

Programmatic Distinctions

In choosing a career option, the student should be aware of the respective functions of the engineer and engineering technologist. Generally speaking, the engineer conceives, designs, and advances the development of products and systems. On the other hand, the engineering technologist implements, maintains, and tests products and systems. The engineer creates new technologies while the engineering technologist applies existing technologies.

The distinction between industrial engineering and manufacturing engineering is one of breadth vs. depth. Industrial engineers are involved with the design, improvement, and management of technical systems. These systems may be located in service industries such as banks, hospitals, and government as well as in manufacturing industries. Manufacturing engineers are involved in the design, installation, and improvement of the production process and generally are limited to manufacturing industries.

The engineering student’s selection of humanities and social science courses provide a broad education consistent with the objectives of the engineering profession. Courses should be selected to provide both breadth and depth and not be limited to unrelated introductory courses. This objective can be met by taking two courses in the same department with at least one being at the 300 level or above. Students minoring in business are permitted to use ECO 100 Introduction to Economics/ECO 221 Principles of Microeconomics and ECO 222 Principles of Macroeconomics to meet this requirement.

The department works closely with industry and has an outstanding industrial and manufacturing engineering and technology department Advisory Council consisting of distinguished members from industry, government, and education.