Overview Outcomes Courses Admission Instructors
Program overview
This certificate program will provide students with the capabilities to manage all the moving parts of a large technical project and ensure satisfaction of the established project requirements and objectives. Those with this certificate will be able to lead diverse engineering teams confidently, make model-based and data-driven decisions, and successfully manage complex projects to completion.
Through the Systems Engineering Leadership (SEL) certificate, students will gain expertise in financial planning, marketing strategies and conflict resolution, which are typically not covered in other engineering certificate programs. Students will acquire the credentials to assume new engineering or technical leadership roles or enhance their current leadership skills significantly.
Learning outcomes
- Align technical projects with business strategy and how to scope projects from concept to final approval.
- Formulate the role of the project manager in returning value to the organization.
- Apply conventional project management process groups and knowledge areas across project activities.
- Apply qualitative and quantitative methods for decision making, including decision trees, Monte Carlo simulation and other decision analysis tools, such as SMART and AHP.
- Leverage technology, manage risk and communicate project objectives and progress to senior management.
- Recognize that the process of value creation is a system much like any strictly technical system, which can be described through interrelated requirements, processes, decisions, and metrics.
- Leverage the design philosophies of engineering to architect a business model and articulate a business plan.
- Leverage the analytical philosophies of engineering to build predictive cash flow simulations, accounting for uncertainties and beholden to economics.
- Recognize some of the unique risks and responsibilities related to launching a technical entrepreneurial endeavor.
Courses
Completion of the certificate requires earning 15 credits among our offered courses. You may be able to take individual courses without enrolling in the certificate program.
Admission Requirements
Applicants will need to have a 3.0 cumulative grade-point-average on a 4 point scale. In addition, applicants need to submit a resume or curriculum vitae (CV), statement of purpose, and unofficial/electronic transcripts to be considered for admission.
Fall 2025 Priority Deadline: August 1, 2025
Meet your instructors
Mark Coker
Quality Production Specialist, Boeing Commercial Airplanes
Mark Coker is a quality production specialist at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, where he leads root cause and corrective action activities to improve supplier component reliability. Previously, he was a senior program manager at Microsoft, where he led global education and certification for the Quality and Business Excellence organization. At Washington Mutual Bank, he held a similar role as vice president of process management.
Stephen Montgomery
Senior Program Manager, Microsoft
Steve Montgomery is a senior program manager in the Surface group at Microsoft, where’s responsible for power consumption, system performance and battery life for all Microsoft Surface devices. Since joining Microsoft in June 2014, he’s worked on the Surface 3, the Surface Pro4, the Surface Book and a variety of developmental programs. Prior to this, he worked at Intel for nearly 14 years in a variety of roles including research and development, pathfinding, management, program management and strategic analysis. He has 14 patents and has published technical articles on a variety of topics. Montgomery is a graduate of the technical management MBA program at the University of Washington and has a Ph.D. from Purdue University.
Charles Raplee
Senior Program Manager, Microsoft
Charles Raplee is a senior program manager in the venture integration group at Microsoft. Since starting this role in February 2012, he’s led numerous technical projects supporting mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and integrations within Microsoft. Working with cross-functional organizational teams, he has helped establish and optimize the digital project library that includes collaborative team tools and approaches to standardize and accelerate overall project performance.
Tamaira Ross
Configuration Design Engineer, Blue Origin
In her role at Blue Origin, a commercial launch company dedicated to opening human access to space, Tamaira Ross is leading design of several elements necessary for orbital flight. Previously, she was a technical fellow in Boeing Defense, Space & Security, where she led preliminary vehicle design and rapid development of aircraft and spacecraft including Boeing’s Phantom Phoenix small satellite program and related efforts.