Are you interested in pursuing graduate education in manufacturing systems engineering but not ready to commit to a master’s degree yet? Then, consider enrolling in the Online Graduate Certificate in Manufacturing Systems. The certificate is structured as a four-course program with all courses available entirely online. It provides graduate-level qualifications for engineers and manufacturing professionals in industry who are interested in expanding their qualifications with less of a time investment than is required for a full master’s degree.
Admission Requirements
Any student currently enrolled, or accepted, to the University of Kentucky Graduate School as a graduate student, or in post-baccalaureate or university scholar status**, can be considered for admission.
Program-specific admission requirements are:
- A bachelor’s degree in engineering from an ABET-accredited post-secondary school (or equivalent) or a bachelor’s degree in technology management, business, chemistry, mathematics, physics, or other related areas,
- Earned an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or greater,
- Demonstrate (via official transcript) successful completion (grade B or better) in each of 2 courses (minimum total 6 credit-hours) of college mathematics (consisting of differential and integral calculus).
- Statement of Purpose
- Resume/CV
- Two Letters of recommendation. The applicant will be asked to supply the name and contact information of recommenders. Once the application is submitted, the system will contact each of these individuals asking that the recommendations be sent on-line directly to the Graduate School.
[**Note: University scholar students must have senior standing, have completed all University studies requirements (a minimum of 90 hours, 3.5 GPA in major, 3.2 GPA overall)].
Graduate Certificate Completion Requirements
As required by the University of Kentucky Graduate School, a student must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the set of courses required for completion of the Graduate Certificate.
Course Requirements
Four courses are required for the Graduate Certificate in Manufacturing Systems. Two core courses and two electives must be selected from the available courses (see list for details). In addition to those listed, one other course may be selected with the approval of the Certificate Director, to satisfy the elective course requirement.
The certificate courses can also be transferred towards an MS in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, if you decide to pursue a graduate degree later (Note: a separate application is required for the MS degree).
Courses Available
Course work to satisfy the 12 credit-hour requirement must be selected from the two following categories:
Core Courses (Select two)
- MFS 505 Modeling of Manufacturing Processes
- MFS 605 Systems for Factory Information and Control
- MFS 606 Global Issues in Manufacturing
- MFS 613 Sustainability, Ethics, and Leadership in Manufacturing Organizations
Elective Courses (Select two)
- MFS 501 Mechanical Design with Finite Element Methods
- MFS 503 Lean Manufacturing Principles and Practices
- MFS 507 Design for Manufacturing
- MFS 512 Manufacturing Systems
- MFS 513 Mechanical Vibrations
- ME 514 Computational Techniques in Mechanical System Analysis
- ME 515 Rotordynamics of Turbomachinery
- MFS 526 Operations Management in Lean Manufacturing
- ME 556 Introduction to Composite Materials
- MFS 609 Leadership for a Lean System (In the process of being changed to MFS 509)
- ME 647 Systems Optimization
- MFS 780 Special Topics in Manufacturing Systems Engineering
- MFS 599 Topics in Manufacturing Systems Engineering
- MFS 699 Topics in Manufacturing Systems Engineering
Application Deadlines
| International Students | Domestic Students | |
|---|---|---|
| Fall Semester | March 15 | August 15 |
| Spring Semester | July 15 | December 1 |