What this concentration adds
Focuses on lean methods, value-stream mapping, and continuous improvement.
A concentration is a defined set of courses taken within the Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering major — you still complete the full major and its capstone. It appears on your transcript and gives your degree a clear focus for employers and graduate programs.
Focused coursework
- Lean Manufacturing
- Value Stream Mapping
- Six Sigma Methods
- Facilities and Systems Design
- Capstone Project
Representative; the offering department sets the exact required and elective courses.
Where it leads
Students who take this concentration commonly move toward continuous improvement engineer, lean coordinator, operations. Pairing it with a co-op in the same area is the strongest signal on a résumé.
Declaring it
Add the concentration through your adviser in the Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering program; it is easiest to fit if you plan it by the end of your sophomore year. You can change or drop a concentration without changing your major.
How it fits the major
The concentration courses count inside the Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering degree — most of them fill major-elective slots you would be choosing among anyway, so for students who plan early it adds focus without adding credits or terms. The constraint is usually sequencing rather than total credits: if a required concentration course has its own prerequisite or runs only once a year, that chain sets how early you can finish, so build the plan around it with your adviser.
Because you still complete the full Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering major and its capstone, dropping the concentration later costs you nothing — the courses simply revert to counting as general major electives.
Common questions
Concentration, minor, or double major? A concentration stays inside one major and signals depth in a slice of it. A minor is a separate field. A double major is two full degrees. For most students who want their Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering degree to point somewhere specific, the concentration is the lowest-cost option.
Will it show up for employers and graduate schools? Yes — it is printed on the official transcript alongside the major. Pairing it with an internship or co-op in the same area is what makes it read as more than a course list.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. This program of study, its courses, and its credit values are invented; nothing here describes a real credential you can earn.