By Jessie Ying

The Executive and Professional Education (Exec Ed) department of the College of Engineering is now a part of the Coleman Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership (Fung Institute). With the advent of Exec Ed, the Fung Institute’s educational offerings now span the entire work life of engineers from their undergraduate experience to career enhancement that helps them move up in organizations to increasing responsibilities. Exec Ed currently offers programs in three broad categories: Disruptive Technology, Technical Leadership and custom programs. It also has a joint program, Commercialization of Disruptive Technology, with The Haas School of Business.

“Our unique value proposition to the marketplace is programs offered by the Fung Institute are career-enhancing programs offered to engineers by engineers,” Keith Gatto, the Director of Academic Affairs for Exec Ed, said.

The College of Engineering (COE) started offering custom International Exec Ed programs in 2008. In 2010, an industry need was identified by Coleman Fung, a founding member of the Fung Institute. Engineers, as they grew in their career, began to take on more business and leadership functions. Because of the rigorous studies an engineering curriculum demands, many engineers were forced to “pick up” the business and leadership skills on the job. To address this issue, COE launched the Engineering Leadership Professional Program as a joint venture with UC Berkeley Extension. The program was a success and in 2013, the College assumed full administrative oversight of the program and went on to establish COE’s Exec Ed department. Since 2013, the department has launched eight open enrollment programs and helped many companies, other universities and organizations around the world create custom educational solutions.

The mission of the Fung Institute offers a unique opportunity for the Exec Ed team to relaunch many existing programs and develop new programs and capabilities (including online classes) which will be aimed at increasing Berkeley’s market share within the highly competitive Exec Ed marketplace. The goal is to achieve this through unique offerings that showcase Berkeley’s rich technological strengths with cutting edge practical organizational applications, thus transcending the traditional siloed approach to curriculum.

The Fung Institute is now comprised of the Fung Fellowship for Wellness and Technology Innovations, Berkeley Master of Engineering program, and Executive & Professional Education program. With the addition of the Exec Ed programs, the Fung Institute now has three pillars encompassing undergraduate, graduate and professional education. This structure allows the Fung Institute to advance its mission of cultivating engineering leaders into more spaces.

For more information about the Executive and Professional Education (Exec Ed) program in the College of Engineering, visit exec-ed.berkeley.edu.

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College of Engineering Executive Education Program joins the Fung Institute was originally published in Berkeley Master of Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.