Madison Pahl

After Madison Pahl graduated with a bachelor’s of science in software engineering from a university in California, she went to work as a software engineering manager at Northrop Grumman, a company which does everything from building advanced aircraft to preventing cyber-attacks.

Now living in Gallatin, Tennessee, and still working for the same company, she found many of her duties revolved around project management. Pahl started searching to ways to expand her knowledge and skill sets to make her even more successful in her career.

“I was focused on MBA programs, but I found engineering management to be a more well-rounded program that had a mix between engineering-specific topics while still including the topics critical to business,” Pahl said. “When choosing a university with an engineering management program, there were a few key items I was looking for: a remote learning option, affordable tuition and a program that included project management-focused courses. Tennessee Tech filled all those requirements for me.”

The master’s of science in engineering management at Tech combines the College of Business and the College of Engineering to focus on technical leadership and management knowledge. Pahl said she appreciates that the faculty who run the program have worked in the industry themselves and are therefore able to provide relevant, up-to-date information that professionals need in their job today.

“One of the most relevant projects I have worked on at Tech was during the Project Management 2 course,” she said. “The final project required us to use Microsoft Projects software to create a project timeline with details regarding staff, costs and milestones. This ended up being one of the skills I was able to immediately implement in my job as a software engineering manager and has helped me to create project with more structure and ensure the projects meet important deadlines.”

Because the degree is completely remote, Pahl has been able to fit her classes and projects around the schedule of her current career. Even though she has not yet graduated, she is already seeing benefits to her decision to pursue her master’s in engineering management.

“The topics I am learning from the master’s of science in engineering management program directly correlate with projects I am involved in with the company,” she said. “Terms and topics are often brought up in my daily meetings that I wouldn’t have known before pursuing engineering management degree. This program has taught me to make better management decisions and how to be a strong leader.”

For more information visit, https://www.tntech.edu/engineering/programs/grad/msem/index.php