Professional Development Short Course Focuses on Decision-Making About Products, Projects in Companies

Newswise — OLATHE, KANSAS — An upcoming professional development course on engineering leadership at Kansas State University Olathe will teach participants a logical, structured way to evaluate products and projects at their company so they make better use of company resources.

"Evaluating Products and Projects to Meet Corporate Objectives" is a short course for engineers and scientists who are working as technical experts and in management functions in their company. It uses the rigor of Kansas State University's engineering program to look at business and leadership from an engineering perspective.

The short course is 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 27-28 at K-State Olathe, located at 22201 W. Innovation Drive, Olathe, Kansas.

During the professional development course, participants will learn a step-by-step process designed to ensure that the products being launched and the projects being funded best support the goals and objectives of the organization. Real-world applications will be discussed and participants will have the opportunity to apply these skills to their own professional setting.

The short course is instructed by Deandra Cassone, associate professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering at K-State Olathe, and Frank Tillman, former professor and department head at Kansas State University for more than 20 years. Both are authors and engineers who have more than 50 years of combined expertise in consulting, technical and management experience at Fortune 100 companies, government, private and consulting companies, and academia.

Cassone and Tillman have used the approach in numerous consulting roles with Fortune 500 companies, the military and government agencies.

"We're excited to walk the students through this process," Cassone said. "We've seen its benefits in numerous applications and hope they find it beneficial in their own professional setting."

The short course is a collaboration by K-State Olathe and the College of Engineering at Kansas State University.

Visit olathe.k-state.edu/engineeringleadership to register and for more information.