Reinventing MBA for future? MS Engineering Management

 Reinventing MBA for future? MS Engineering Management

 

 

I questioned myself one night. What is the future of technology ? Many interesting terms popped up Nanotechnology, Hologram, 6th Sense technology, More than $10 trillion expected industry of Internet of Things. But then I questioned myself , What is the future of management to handle all this complex technologies ? A background in Engineering and a conventional MBA is enough ? or do we need to reinvent MBA ?  

When I graduated from a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering with flying colors, I had no idea what to do with a personality like me. On one hand I wished to stay with the exciting research in Electrical Engineering, to understand, contribute and be a part of the excitement of new ideas and researches while on the other hand I wished to understand the nuances of management, utilizing the upfront leadership skills I acquired during under graduation. To some, the path of Entrepreneurship is the answer but I was looking for something else.

I choses to be the dark horse in the race, humbly dropping job offers from Tata Consultancy services and Infosys. I flew from INDIA to USA and joined this unique and unconventional course of MS in Engineering Management in UC Irvine which will help me to take courses with both Electrical Engineering graduates and MBA students. MSEM program was designed as a hybrid of both MS-EECS and MBA.Almost at the end of this remarkably extensive yet so enthralling and learning experience I observed three major points that separate black from the white and give a very fine reason for companies to bet on the dark horses.

• Fine Blend of Technology and Management: While the MBA students are very busy and strict towards understating profit & loss, chart sheets and on other hand Engineers working day and night on researches and new technologies. MSEM student gets the opportunity to understand the connection while smartly picking the best of both.
•   Abreast with Technology and Entrepreneurial mindset : This course not only help understand best of both the world but help, engage and challenge student mindset to find the connection. The compulsory course of Entrepreneurship for Scientists & Engineer is one such example.
• Overcoming the disadvantage of both world : Engineers are famous for being more introvert while MBA students are said to be more upfront, articulate but often avoid dealing in details with high tech industry. With my experience and observing my colleagues of MSEM working on technology projects with MBA students, I found that ideas and new comments flow easily in team and it is interesting to see the blend working.

I live and study in California where Entrepreneurship is a language next to English. In this fast moving world of technology which is just at its nascent stage, a degree is much required which cater the needs of both technology and management and act as a bridge. Industrial Management is a famous course that came up with Industrial revolution to fulfill the same purpose but now we are in the age of "Digital Revolution" which brings me back to the question I asked in the beginning - Do we need to reinvent MBA ?

 

The answer is Yes! Along side MBA , universities and companies need to make a new lane, they need to bring more dark horses if they want to stay ahead in the race of coming and present revolutions in technology.

 

The Author: Ali Muzaffar 

 

                                

 

About: 

Ali is currently working as an Advisory Senior Consultant at Deloitte within their Cyber Risk Strategy, Integrated Risk Management Practice. He has a Masters degree in Engineering Management and prior project experience in India and Malaysia in the area of Embedded Technologies and Smart Home.   Ali also focuses and inclined towards the area of Ethics in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and currently work with Deloitte AI Institute in the Go-to-market strategy team. Outside Deloitte, he also holds the positions as the Co-chair of IEEE Ethically Aligned Design Global Outreach Committee to foster his knowledge and growth in the area of AI Ethics and Standards.   

Ali had been active in Non-profit work in United Nations SDG for Education. Focusing mostly in Quality early education and STEM program mentorship programs,  He got an opportunity to lead 50+ team of mentors, operation team members, technical team during his 3 years chairmanship of and later joined the board position in this 10 year old successfully running non profit scholarship program (501c3 based out of Boston, MA) to help students become technical leaders by getting higher education opportunity around the world

What matters to him in professional and personal career: 

-  Ethics and Supportive Behavior   

-  Learning Environment with Positive Challenge  

-  Technology, Innovation and Business Strategy   

-  Continued growth in Bringing meaning and protecting the growth of data and innovation

 

 A proven leader, counsellor, mentor and worked on the professional development of students, capable of leading change and working in challenging conditions. He is looking forward to network, discuss and collaborate on exciting opportunities

-Experiences in   

✔ Technology Risk Strategy  

✔ Governance and understanding of Policies in Financial side , Public Sector and Medical Devices  

✔ Privacy Impact Assessment 

✔ IT Resource Management  

✔ Robotic Process Automation for Cyber Risk use cases 

✔ Third Party Risk Management  

✔ R&D : Memory Design, Internet of Things, Smart Home  

✔ Hiring process : In the team of recruitment for Deloitte   

✔ Business Development  

✔ Creating client deliverables 

-Technical  

✔ CISM Certified - Certified Information Security Manager   

✔ GRC Tool Certified Professional - RSA Archer, ServiceNow  

✔ ITIL Certified   

✔Programming and tools : C, Matlab, VHDL, Verilog, Cadence, P-Spice, H-Spice