Announcing a New Master of Engineering Concentration: Data Analytics & IP Strategy
The Department of Industrial Engineering & Operations Research at the University of California, Berkeley is excited to announce that starting in fall 2019, master of engineering (MEng) students will have the opportunity to enroll in a new concentration: Data Analytics & IP Strategy. Students in the new track will receive the same rigorous quantitative training and capstone experience that the IEOR MEng program is known for, and will also be equipped with skills to help them manage and develop intellectual property assets at firms.
“Intellectual property and its management is an increasing challenge in the innovation economy,” says Professor Lee Fleming, director of the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership, “While IP management has typically been practiced by lawyers and sometimes senior business people, engineers are becoming indispensable to IP management, due to increasingly complex technologies.”
While engineers often pick up their understanding of IP while on the job as patent examiners, law firm staff, and business strategists, the intent of the new concentration is to equip engineers with more background information before they enter the workforce, as part of their MEng degree.
The concentration requires the same technical depth as all IEOR degrees, along with a special capstone experience that will provide background in intellectual property and strategy. A variety of sub-tracks will be available, emphasizing technical development or business strategy. Technical development tracks will develop new analysis tools, such as the development of machine learning prediction models, natural language processing, or visualization tools. Business strategy tracks will focus on advising real clients on their current and prospective IP strategy positions.
As part of the capstone experience, students will have the chance to work with governmental entities like the United States Patent and Trademark Office or work directly with companies to help them develop an IP strategy for their firm.
If you are an incoming master of engineering student for the 2019-2020 academic year, please contact Claire Trias <ctrias@berkeley.edu> to learn how you can apply for this new concentration.
