Lawrence Tech in Southfield Adds Master’s Degree in Engineering Quality

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The College of Engineering at Southfield's Lawrence Technological University has introduces a Master of Science in Engineering Quality degree program. // Courtesy of LTU
The College of Engineering at Southfield’s Lawrence Technological University has introduces a Master of Science in Engineering Quality degree program. // Courtesy of LTU

Southfield’s Lawrence Technological University’s College of Engineering has introduced a new degree program: a Master of Science in Engineering Quality.

Leading the effort is LTU professor Sabah Abro, a nationally recognized quality expert who has been on the LTU faculty full time since 2000. He says the 30-credit-hour program is geared toward working professionals and designed so that students can make their master’s thesis a project that will help their employer improve quality in the workplace.

All coursework can be taken in the evening or online, allowing working students to complete their studies in approximately two years. The program currently has four students, but could support up to 20.

“We don’t want to overpopulate it, because we want to be able to provide individual attention to our students,” says Abro.

Program graduates will leave with knowledge in the methods, techniques, practices, models, and advanced tools of engineering technology — including Six Sigma training — design and analysis of quality improvement experiments, applied reliability engineering, and more. Six Sigma is a data-driven approach designed to eliminate defects in any variety of processes.

Students will be able to solve sophisticated technical and process problems and conduct applied and professional research in their fields to improve performance, quality, and profitability. The cross-disciplinary program incorporates engineering, technology, and management.

Those admitted to the program should have bachelor’s degrees in engineering or engineering technology. Those holding bachelor’s degrees in other science, technology, or management fields will also be considered for admission, although Abro said some of them may be required to take undergraduate engineering courses as prerequisites, with such decision to be made on an individual basis.

The degree is offered by the College of Engineering’s Department of Engineering Technology, which is accredited by the Council for Six Sigma Certification (CSSC), which is the largest Six Sigma accreditation provider worldwide.

Before joining LTU, Abro was program director with the National Science Foundation-supported Greenfield Coalition for Engineering Education at Focus: HOPE. He has taught in Iraq and Jordan, and was also a visiting lecturer in Kuwait and Morocco.