General Information

This program is restricted to off-campus professionals who are not in a University of Illinois on-campus degree program. On-campus students of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign wishing to pursue the STM certificate must enroll in on-campus courses and should visit the TEC Web site for certificate details.

The Strategic Technology Management (STM) certificate program is designed for students with an engineering background who aspire to rise in management, make higher level strategic technology/business decisions, and develop leadership skills. From an innovation viewpoint, this program will provide students with the understanding and the tools to propose initiatives, incubate new ventures, and participate in the process of innovation and market adoption within corporate environments.

This program is designed to provide a multiplier effect on the value of an engineering degree by offering students the opportunity to explore the ways that technological innovations are created and adopted throughout the modern world. The certificate program is composed of three credit hours of fundamental courses and at least three hours of elective courses. The required portion integrates concepts of business strategy and the entrepreneurial process of innovation. Electives are intended to allow students to choose one or more focus areas in order to develop strengths in legal, finance, design, or quality issues and to complement the main focus of technology strategy.

Strategic Technology Management courses are taught by Fortune 500 executives, leading innovators in engineering, top legal experts, and distinguished academics.

Program Requirements

STM course numbers and titles have been updated over the past few years. We are therefore now only listing the titles of each course. Please contact ocee@illinois.edu if you have any questions about the applicability of courses you've taken in a previous semester.

Please note that one course cannot be used to fulfil the requirements of more than one certificate. It is not currently possible to earn both the STM and BME certificates. Individuals who wish to obtain a certificate in Strategic Technology Management must:

• Hold a bachelor's degree
• Complete the STM form to indicate your intent to pursue the certificate
• Complete Entrepreneurship for Engineers (1 hour)
• Complete any combination of the following core courses, for a total of two credit hours
• Managing Advanced Technology in Industry (1 hour)
• Technology Innovation and Strategy (2 hours)
• Venture Funded Startups (1 hour)
• Complete any combination of the following elective courses for a total of at least three credit hours:
• Finance for Engineering Management (2 hours)
• High-Tech Venture Marketing (2 hours)
• Case Studies in Managing Advanced Technology in Industry (1 hour)
  
(Note: students may include core courses that are not used to satisfy the core requirement as elective courses. Example: if a student completes Managing Advanced Technology and Venture Funded Startups to satisfy the core two hours, they may take Technology Innovation and Strategy as an elective course.)

• Earn at least a B- in each course
• Submit the following materials upon completion of coursework (please allow 4-6 weeks after receipt of materials for processing):
  
  • Application form
  • STM course grade report from the Self-Service system.
  • Processing fee: $65 check made payable to the University of Illinois
    
  
  All materials must be submitted to the Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC).

  Room 350 Coordinated Science Laboratory
  1308 West Main Street
  Urbana, IL 61801-2307
  Attn: TEC - Certificate Programs
  

Courses completed as part of the STM certificate, may be applied to a graduate degree. We currently offer a Master of Computer Science (MCS) and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME) online. Up to 12 hours of course work completed prior to being admitted to the Graduate College, with a grade of at least a B, may be petitioned to count toward a graduate degree (courses must be no more than five years old prior to admission to the Graduate College). Admission to a certificate program is not a guarantee of future admission to a degree program.