YILDIRIM OMURTAG,
PhD, PE, Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri-Rolla (Now Missouri University of Science and Technology), and Robert Morris University Pennsylvania
A distinguished engineering educator, Dr Omurtag is a Professor Emeritus of Engineering at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania where he served as the Founding Dean of the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science from 1999 to 2006. Later he also served as Engineering Department Head for two years 2010-2012 during a transition period in the School of Engineering and retired in 2013 to move to St Louis, Missouri where he now lives.
A registered Professional Engineer, Omurtag holds a Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s degree with Co-op industrial experience, from Iowa State University, a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Middle East Technical University and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University.
Under Omurtag’s leadership as the Founding Dean of the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science at Robert Morris, the engineering programs founded from scratch, gained ABET accreditation for the BS degree programs with tracks in ME, BioMedE, IE and SoftwareE in record time, including the only BS degree in Manufacturing Engineering in the state of Pennsylvania. He also led the efforts to establish the MS program in Engineering Management and a non-residential PhD program in Engineering. A Research Center was also established to provide applied research and outreach services to industry.
In addition to engineering programs, he also spearheaded the establishment of Environmental Science degree programs, a Pre-Medicine and Nursing option in the Science Department and the Actuarial Science BS Degree program inside the Mathematics Department. Engineering and Science Labs and the curricula were established during his tenure as Dean, based on his previously developed concept of Learning Factory in Engineering Education similar to the teaching hospitals in the study of Medicine using the principles of experiential learning.
Prior to RMU he was at the University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri University of Science & Technology) where he served as a Department Head and a Professor of Engineering Management. Prior to accepting the Robert Morris University appointment he retired with the title of Professor Emeritus of Engineering Management. During his tenure as Department Head, the Department of Engineering Management achieved high rankings among the top tier schools of Industrial Engineering and Management in the US. Throughout his service at Rolla, he directed and mentored over 50 PhDs in Engineering Management.
In addition to Robert Morris University and UM-Rolla he has served as faculty at Wichita State University in Kansas, Sultan Qaboos University in Oman where he established the MS program in IE similar to MS in EMgt, University of Tennessee Space Institute, Istanbul Technical University Engineering Management department where he was instrumental in the ABET accreditation process, California State University-Sacramento School of Business, Iowa State University, and the Middle East Technical University where he was one of the co-founders of the first Industrial Engineering department in Turkey in 1968 after serving in the Turkish Army as a reserve officer 1966-68. Currently he is listed as a faculty in Engineering Management at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul and is an adjunct faculty member in Industrial Engineering at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville near his home in St Louis, Missouri.
A Fellow in the American Society for Engineering Management, Omurtag has received the Sarchet Award from American Society for Engineering Education for distinguishing professional service. Recipient of many other awards and recognitions Omurtag continues to serve as an ABET accreditation visitor and member of university advisory boards.
Engineering Management Education and Accreditation:
Past, Present and Future
YILDIRIM OMURTAG
Massachusetts Institute of Technology started Engineering Management Education in response to requests by industry for a degree program that would prepare managers to run the factories of rapidly industrializing North America. This program evolved over time becoming today’s Sloan School of Management. The BS, MS, PhD programs in Engineering Management within the Engineering at University of Missouri-Rolla, (Now Missouri University of Science and Technology) was a rebirth for this discipline. Later, many Master level tracks in Engineering Management were launched in IE Departments.
Presentation will discuss this academic discipline and its symbiotic relationship with industry. Compare and contrast it with similar degree programs with a future outlook.