Assessing the Viability of an Interdisciplinary Design Engineering Program via a Branding Method

This paper presents the brand status of the Interdisciplinary Engineering (IDE) degree program at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), formerly the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR). The IDE degree was founded in 2005 at UMR to meet the emerging need to provide considerable flexibility to students allowing them to construct programs of study in areas of interest while maintaining a solid and rigorous foundation in mechanics, thermal science, electrical networks and linear systems. Students are able to pursue studying the latest technological fields through a collection of “tracks” enabled by the flexibility of the curriculum. This modern degree program houses energetic motivated students interested in a variety of disciplines from product design and amusement park fundamentals to industrial automation and control. The first students graduated the IDE program in December 2007. This facilitated the evaluation of IDE’s current brand status, preparation of its future marketing plans, and sharing these findings with other universities interested in increasing student retention and broadening their demographic of engineering students. This paper presents the brand status of the IDE BS degree among prospective and current students, academic faculty, and industry and weighs it against the original implementation plan proposed in 2005 at the inception of the program at Missouri S&T. This brand management study provides the current perception of the new degree program and suggestions improving the perception IDE has as a field of engineering.