Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the University of Porto's Business School in Porto, Portugal, have embarked on a new double-degree graduate program in engineering and business this semester.

A special event celebrating the program launch was held Oct. 23 in Portugal at Porto Business School. CMU's Ed Schlesinger and James Hoe joined Nuno de Sousa Pereira, dean of the Porto Business School, Jorge Farinha, vice dean of the Porto Business school, along with Sebastião Feyo de Azevedo director of the faculty of engineering of the University of Porto, Carlos Oliveira, Portugal's secretary of state for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Allan Katz, U.S. ambassador to Portugal, at a program that included a panel discussion about "Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Education" with the participation of representatives from several national and international IT companies and entrepreneurs.

"We have our first students enrolled in the new program, and we expect the initiative to grow as more companies globally seek the problem-solving, managerial and technical skills acquired through engineering and business studies provided by this double MS MBA experience," said Schlesinger, the David Edward Schramm Memorial Professor and head of CMU's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

The two-year program gives participants the opportunity of studying one year in Portugal at the University of Porto and another year in the U.S. at Carnegie Mellon. Students are required to meet academic requirements from both universities to receive a master's of science degree in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon and a master's of business administration ("The Magellan MBA") from Porto Business School.

Over the past decade, increasing numbers of engineering students have found career opportunities from startup companies to venerable consulting firms and Wall Street. Industry analysts and recruiters report that engineering students find unique opportunities in business because of their sharply honed technology skills and team building experience.

"This new program builds on the long-standing relationship developed with the successful ICTI program (Information and Communication Technology Institute) in which Carnegie Mellon has partnered with a number of leading Portuguese universities," Schlesinger said.

"Bringing together Engineering and Business in this double degree program will be a major step toward preparing the next generation of highly skilled individuals that will be able to handle the most advanced technologies and related products while keeping at all times a business and managerial perspective. We expect to observe here the formation of a new breed of top engineers that are able to understand the language and practices of business and to effectively use soft skills such as communication, team management, negotiation or leadership to help companies achieve success in the marketplace in very complex organizational settings" Farinha said.

For addition information about the double degree see https://www.ece.cmu.edu/programs-admissions/study-abroad/graduate.html.