Marcelo Mazzetto

As the Operations Manager for a fast growing medical distributor in Brazil, my goal is to develop creative and efficient solutions for continuous improvement and sustainable growth. Therefore, a few months ago, I recognized the need to continue to reinvent myself professionally.

Initially, while considering the online ME in Engineering Management Program at UB, I thought that I would be overwhelmed trying to balance a fast pace program and a full time job. A few months later, I find myself in a challenging yet manageable program by matching the classes’ projects with my company’s needs. Therefore, optimizing my time.

One of the most important benefits is exactly that. By spending the day at work and learning new methodologies at night, I find myself constantly reflecting back on how the methodologies can be applied at my company. This has allowed me to bring value to my position immediately. Especially considering I am able to get the assistance from professors that have a lot of experience on the subjects and are able to provide insights on lessons learned from successes and failures, cutting down on project implementation time.

Another important benefit of the online program is that by having the ability to rewind or pause the lecture to do further research on the topic online, you can immediately clear any doubts before moving forward on the lecture. I use this a lot to dive deeper on each topic of interest or challenge, or as I am reflecting back on possible projects.

Last but not least, the program prepares us to communicate and collaborate with people from a distance all over the world. This ability is extremely useful as the business world continues to become more global and digital, allowing for an easier transition to the workplace. 

In summary, this online program has been more valuable to me than originally anticipated and I would encourage future engineering managers to take on this dynamic challenge.