Development of an information engineering and management program

A shortage of executive-level technical talent exists in industry that is not being filled by educational institutions. The University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB) worked with corporate executives to identify how the talent gap could be closed. This paper gives the results of two years of work in the development of a new Master's degree specialty in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, UAB. The entire process from defining the objectives of an educational program to developing courses and managing a special group of executive students is covered.