By choosing a minor that is complementary to their major, full-time master's students enhance their credentials and marketability.Graduate Study / ProgramsMaster's with Interdepartmental Minors
Students enrolled in McCormick’s full-time master’s programs have the option of choosing a major in their home department and one of the two minors currently available. By choosing a minor that is complementary to their major field, students can enhance their credentials and marketability.
Students choosing this option will receive a degree in their major field and a certificate in the minor field. The course and other requirements for the major and minor may vary by department. Check with the directors of graduate studies of the respective departments to discuss pursuing your interdepartmental minor.
Please note: These minors are only available to students currently enrolled in a McCormick master’s program. View a list of qualifying programs
Minor in Engineering Management
One particularly popular combination is a major in any engineering field with a three-course minor in engineering management, or EM Minor, offered through the Master of Engineering Management (MEM) Program within the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences.
Students must earn a cumulative GPA of at least a 3.0 in their EM minor courses to earn the EM Minor award. The EM minor consists of taking a total of 3 credits:
- Two required course credits as indicated below.
- A one-credit elective course OR two half-credit elective courses chosen from the list below*.
If interested in the minor program, please contact mem@northwestern.edu
Required Courses:
- MEM 402 – Engineering Management (only offered in fall)
- MEM 407 – Decision Tools for Managers (requires statistics, only offered in winter)
Electives:
- MEM 410 - Managerial Analytics
- MEM 412 - Operations Excellence
- MEM 414 – Supply Chain Management
- MEM 415 - Computer Simulation for Risk and Operations Analysis (requires strong statistics background)
- MEM 416 - Business Process Change Management
- MEM 417 - Product Development
- MEM 419 - Technical Entrepreneurship
- MEM 420 - Organizing for Innovation
- MEM 426 – Project Management
- MEM 490 - Systems Engineering and Architecture
- MEM 490 - Legal Aspects of Engineering and Entrepreneurship
- MEM 490 - Product Management
- MEM 490 - Digital Marketing for Engineers and Entrepreneurs
*NOTE: The MEM program, at the discretion of the director, can update the elective course list as new courses are added to the MEM curriculum. No outside course substitutions will be allowed.
Enrollment Considerations:
- Courses may not be offered every quarter
- Students must have approval from their department advisor to participate in the EM Minor
- MEM students are given enrollment priority
Contact Us
If you have any questions about the engineering management minor option, please email the Master of Engineering Management program.
Minor in Entrepreneurship
The Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation offers the graduate minor in entrepreneurship, designed to provide the requisite skill sets to students who plan to create or participate in a start-up endeavor during their careers. It can also provide knowledge to assist researchers when traditional funding sources no longer exist and commercialization is the next logical step.
The minor requires four additional courses in addition to a student's graduate degree requirements. Applications are accepted annually for students planning to commence coursework in the fall quarter
Minor in Scientific Computing
The minor in scientific computing offers a substantive programming and algorithmic knowledge base to science students. It certifies that a student has the programming and algorithmic skills to develop codes to solve modern engineering problems.
The minor is open to all graduate students and consists of taking one required course and two electives courses.
