Through a multi-disciplinary approach, students will take a combination of engineering and business courses to earn a Master of Engineering in Design and Commercialization from the School of Engineering, as well as a graduate certificate in technology commercialization and entrepreneurship from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Collat School of Business.

Students in the program will complete an "Innovation Design Project," in which they will develop a new engineering material, process, or device, while also participating in an industrial internship. "For our students, this is a unique opportunity to get in-depth practical experience while working on a master's degree," says program director Alan Eberhardt, Ph.D.

The certificate program will teach the business principles of product commercialization and will allow the students to enter their projects in the Alabama Launchpad Business Competition.