While UW-Madison does not have minors, it does offer organized programs in specific disciplines that lead to a certificate and a transcript notation indicating successful completion.
The College of Engineering offers certificates in Biology in Engineering, International Engineering, Japanese Studies and Technical Communications. Others are available from units outside the college.
- Biology in Engineering Certificate
The Biology in Engineering Certificate, administered by Academic Affairs in the College of Engineering, is designed for engineering students who want to strengthen their biology backgrounds. It is offered especially to encourage engineering students in traditional disciplines to prepare themselves to understand the special engineering problems in biology and medicine. A student successfully fulfilling the requirements will have the notation "Biology in Engineering Certificate" added to their transcript.
The 15-credit Biology in Engineering Certificate (BEC) program was designed and will be administered by a Biology in Engineering Certificate Committee composed of faculty from multiple engineering disciplines. Students normally should begin the program during their sophomore or junior year, but seniors may also apply.
Prerequisites required to enter the certificate program
-
Prior admission to an engineering B.S. degree program or Biological Systems Engineering through the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the UW-Madison or alternatively have an accredited B.S. degree in any engineering discipline.
-
Students pursuing an undergraduate degree at UW-Madison need to have completed at least one intermediate-level (minimum 200-level) engineering course.
More information …
-
Certificate in Engineering for Energy Sustainability
Equity and sustainability of energy resources in the face of increasing global population and economic development are key issues at the center of the public discourse today.
The objective of this certificate program is to offer undergraduate students a suite of courses addressing energy sustainability that span across the engineering curriculum, with firm roots in “real world” design and engineering practices.
More information …
-
Certificate in Engineering Risk, Uncertainty, and Decision Analysis
The design and analysis of engineering systems are becoming much more dependent on the ability of the engineer to analyze the system in the context of uncertainties in system performance, evaluate the reliability of normal operation and the risk of off-normal operation, and then make appropriate decisions to maintain reliability with optimal performance. As a result, many industries such as manufacturing, chemical, and nuclear are looking for engineering graduates with appropriate understanding and knowledge in these areas. The Certificate in Engineering Risk, Uncertainty and Decision Analysis includes courses in statistics and probability, modern uncertainty analysis, decision analysis, and probabilistic reliability and risk assessment. The primary goal of this program is to significantly increase the number of engineers with a fundamental understanding of uncertainty, reliability and risk-based decision making.
More information …
-
Certificate in Integrated Studies in Science, Engineering and Society (ISSuES)
Interested in becoming a leader in your field?
Today’s engineering graduates are entering an increasingly global economy and
job market, shaped by revolutionary technological advances. To be successful,
engineers need broad knowledge in order to understand science, technology and engineering in their social context.
The Certificate in Integrated Studies in Science, Engineering and Society (ISSuES)
is a new program offered by the Robert F. and Jean E. Holtz Center for Science and
Technology Studies and was created especially for undergraduate engineering students.
ISSuES is designed to aid engineering students in fulfilling their liberal arts requirements,
while giving them coherent exposure to the social sciences and humanities in a way
that emphasizes the relationship between science, technology, engineering and society.
The curriculum of ISSuES is constructed to aid engineering students in
fulfilling their College of Engineering liberal arts requirements in way
that will benefit their future engineering practice. It is possible
to fulfill both the liberal elective requirements of the engineering majors
and the Integrated Studies in Science, Engineering and Society certificate requirements with a single set of classes.
Students enrolled in the ISSuES program take STS 201 “Where Science Meets Society,”
a 3-credit course designed to give students the tools and language with which to approach
the relationship between science, engineering and society in an integrated and interdisciplinary fashion.
Students then complete 12 additional credits (typically 4 courses) chosen from one of four focus clusters:
Ethics, Leadership, Design and General.
Ethics Focus: This cluster of courses aims to provide students with the tools
to rigorously consider the ethical issues that are raised by engineering
and science research and by the commercialization of the products of that research.
Leadership Focus: This cluster of courses concentrates on the kind
of public policy issues that are raised by science and engineering work and
the widespread use of new technologies.
Design Focus: This cluster of courses aims to expose students to the esthetic
and social issues raised in engineering practice.
General Focus: This cluster is the broadest and allows students
to create their own emphasis in approaching the relationship between science, engineering and society.
Please see the Holtz website for further details about ISSuES:
http://sts.wisc.edu/education/ISSuES.html
- Certificate in International Engineering
The Certificate in International Engineering provides recognition for
a student's efforts to prepare for an international career by
learning about one or more countries other than the United States. An
undergraduate student in the College of Engineering or the Department of
Biological Systems Engineering can earn the Certificate by completing
at least 16 credits worth of courses with a primary focus on the
language, culture, history, geography, society or institutions of a
particular country or region of the world. For reference, information
on Area Studies Programs at the UW-Madison is available from the International Institute.
More information …
- Advisors
- Biological Systems Engineering — David Bohnhoff, Professor
- Biomedical Engineering — Willis Tompkins, Professor
- Chemical and Biological Engineering — Thatcher Root, Associate Professor
- Civil and Environmental Engineering — Tuncer Edil, Professor
- Electrical and Computer Engineering — Thomas Jahns, Professor
- Engineering Professional Development — James Davis, Professor; Laura Grossenbacher, Director, Technical Communication Certificate Program; and Donald Schramm, Faculty Associate
- Engineering Physics — Michael Corradini, Professor
- Geological Engineering Program — Tuncer Edil, Professor
- Industrial and Systems Engineering — Patricia Brennan, Professor
- Materials Science and Engineering — Susan Babcock, Professor
- Mechanical Engineering — Roxann Engelstad, Professor
- College of Engineering — Amanda Hammatt, Director, International Engineering Studies and Programs
- Course Requirements
- Application Form [PDF] [Word]
- Certificate in Japanese Studies for Engineering Majors
The Certificate in Japanese Studies for Engineering Majors helps undergraduate engineering students gain conversational and written skills in colloquial Japanese, reading and translation skills in technical Japanese, and an understanding of Japanese culture. Japanese has become an important language in engineering and business.
Increasing numbers of American companies conduct business in Japan, and many Japanese companies have expanded their activities in the United States.
These companies need engineers who can read and communicate in both English and Japanese.
The Certificate in Japanese Studies addresses this need.
The certificate requires 27 credits, including three semesters of Japanese language, two semesters of intermediate-level technical Japanese, and one additional course related to Japanese language or culture.
Interested students should begin taking Japanese courses in their first year.
For more information, contact Professor James L. Davis, Room M1056D Engineering Centers Building, 608/262-4810, or visit the website for the certificate program at www.engr.wisc.edu/epd/tjc.
- Technical Communication Certificate
The Technical Communication Certificate (TCC) complements all undergraduate engineering degrees.
The TCC curriculum helps students gain a broad range of skills in these areas:
- Written, oral, and graphic communication
- Online communication and electronic publishing
- Team projects and interpersonal communication
- Professional communication through the TCC internship
The Technical Communication Certificate has established itself as a program that meets industry and government agencies' demands for engineers with skills as communicators and for communication specialists.
Typically, engineers spend half of their time or more communicating in their roles on project teams, as technical experts, or as managers.
Because employers value well-developed communication skills, TCC courses will enhance success in co-op/intern positions and postgraduation careers.
The more than 200 TCC graduates overwhelmingly confirm not only that the certificate gave them an edge over other candidates during the recruitment process,
but also that the communication knowledge, skills, and attitudes they acquired while in the program helped them succeed in their jobs and helped prepare them for the communication and management tasks in today's multifunctional team environments.
The TCC requires 24 credits, including 9 credits in technical courses (many already required for any engineering degree) and 15 credits in technical communication (3 or 5 communication credits might count toward technical, liberal, or free electives, depending on the major).
While the certificate is designed especially for engineering students, students from other science fields and the humanities, as well as graduate students, seek out the program.
Aside from the relevant courses offered in the TCC, students especially value the close contact with faculty through advising, independent study projects, and collaboration.
Students in the program often take on leadership roles in other college or campuswide student organizations and projects, further developing their communication, team, and management skills.
For up-to-date information, visit the Technical Communication Center website at
or
contact the TCC Office
http://tc.engr.wisc.edu/contact.html
at
608/262-2472.
The Technical Communication Center is located in
M1080 Engineering Centers Building.
