Engineering Business - Minor

The Engineering Business Minor (EBM) is designed for students interested in working in engineering and product management in fast-paced, always evolving technology-centric businesses. The coursework focuses on product and business development, professional skills, and how companies, from startups to industry leaders, ride waves of innovation to build successful businesses.

The EBM’s key learning objective are as follows:

Develop an understanding of company structures, how functions work together to serve customers, and differences between early-stage ventures and large established companies.
Be able to comprehend and create financial statements and evaluate businesses via basic financial analyses.
Learn how to apply techniques to identify unmet customer needs, evaluate market opportunities, and define compelling value propositions.
Acquire an understanding of product development and business building frameworks and learn how to apply them to achieve product-market fit.
Appreciate the role innovation plays in business and learn how to look for and develop opportunities to leverage technology to create value.
Build professional soft skills in communications, self-awareness, teamwork, and continuous learning.

Students specifically interested in founding a startup may also want to consider the Entrepreneurship Minor – Technology Concentration, which requires more project-based courses to ideate and develop ideas.

Program Requirements

The EBM requires completion of five courses, including three required courses and two courses from an approved elective list. The program is led by the EBM Faculty Lead. Please see the Engineering Business Minor web page for the latest information.

Required Courses

EBUS 1800 - Business Fundamentals Credits: 3
EBUS 2830 - Innovation and New Ventures Credits: 3
EBUS 4810 - New Product Development Credits: 3
In general, substitutions are not allowed for any of the EBM’s three required courses.

Approved Electives

Approved EBM electives meet the following key criteria: 1) Consistent with EBM learning objectives, 2) Directly relevant to working in technology and engineering sectors, and 3) Complementary to EBM-required courses.

Outside the three required EBM courses, any EBUS course in the catalog is an acceptable elective for the minor. Recent offerings include the following:

EBUS 2730 - Deals & Negotiations for Engineers Credits: 3
EBUS 2850 - Government and Entrepreneurship Credits: 3
EBUS 2890 - Driving Business Growth Through Innovation Credits: 3
EBUS 3840 - Entrepreneurial Finance Credits: 3
EBUS 3570 - Special Topics in Engineering Business Credits: 3
Approved topic: Leadership in the Tech Sector
EBUS 4580 - Special Topics for Engineering Entrepreneurship Credits: 3
Approved topic: Innovation Garage
Selected COMM courses, directly applicable to engineering business that meet the EBM’s elective criteria.
COMM 2600 - Leadership Across the Disciplines Credits: 3
COMM 3200 - Project and Product Management Credits: 3
COMM 3230 - Managing Innovation Credits: 3
COMM 3410 - Commercial Law I Credits: 3
COMM 3880 - Global Sustainability Credits: 3
COMM 4822 - Invest in Sustainable Future Credits: 3
ENTP 1010 - Startup: An Introduction to Entrepreneurship Credits: 3
Selected Engineering School departmental electives that are closely related to product development and key business capabilities, e.g., innovation, design, commercialization, and management.
APMA 3150 - From Data to Knowledge Credits: 3
BME 3030 - Design and Innovation in Medicine Credits: 3
CE 2030 - Management of Engineering and Construction Projects Credits: 3
CE 3010 - Project Business Planning Credits: 3
CS 4260 - Internet Scale Applications Credits: 3
ENGR 4880 - Business and Technical Leadership in Engineering Credits: 3
MAE 4502 - Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering Credits: 3
Approved topic: The Business of Engineering
SYS 2054 - Systems Case Studies Credits: 3
SYS 3054 - Systems Case Studies Credits: 3
For SYS 2054/3054, only the J-Term international sections are approved as electives.
SYS 4044 - Economics of Engineering Systems Credits: 3
Other selected courses that meet the EBM’s elective criteria.
ECON 2010 - Principles of Economics: Microeconomics Credits: 3

Additional Information

For further information, contact the Engineering Business Minor Lead, Department of Systems & Information Engineering, Olsson Hall, P.O. Box 400747, Charlottesville, VA 22904; (434) 924-7464.