Engineering leaders today face unique challenges that demand both technical skills and a strong capacity for strategic, people-centered leadership. As engineers progress in their careers, there is a need for continued learning in both leadership and technical domains to lead effectively in complex, interdisciplinary environments. Berkeley Engineering’s Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership is well positioned to help leaders and organizations in the engineering space meet these ongoing challenges.
Our custom Executive and Professional Education programs provide an opportunity for engineers to acquire the skills needed to bridge this gap with the essential leadership, communication, and strategic decision-making skills required to lead high-performing teams and drive innovation. Combined with UC Berkeley’s expertise across multiple fields of engineering, we are able to integrate technical skill building within our leadership program.
Program Overview
Customized to meet your organization’s needs, our programs emphasize specific leadership skill sets like innovation management, advanced communication for technical leaders, or cross-functional collaboration based on the program’s focus. We are also able to customize our program model to accommodate the timing, duration, and location that works best for your needs.
- Choice of Format: Online (asynchronous or synchronous), hybrid, or in-person
- Choice of Location: Onsite at your organization, UC Berkeley, or other
- Choice of Duration: 3-4 day or week-long bootcamp, weekly series, or other
Leadership Objectives:
- Acquire best-in-class tools to lead teams through change with resilience and adaptability, focusing on continuous improvement and learning.
- Strengthen your ability to lead, engage, influence, and integrate both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Gain insights into managing and resolving conflicts to foster a collaborative culture.
- Refine communication and influence skills to engage stakeholders at all levels.
- Explore best practices in decision-making, risk management, and innovation.
Technical Objectives:
- Learn fundamentals of sensing and modeling tools for infrastructure engineering
- Explore emerging technologies in the infrastructure and smart cities industry
Using case studies, simulations, and real-world scenarios, participants will emerge from the program with enhanced confidence, ready to leverage their technical expertise for broader strategic impact. This course is ideal for technical and engineering professionals who aspire to lead innovation and contribute to their organization’s success at a higher level.
About Us
The Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership at UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering—ranked among the top three engineering schools in the nation—was founded on a bold premise: as the pace of technology accelerates, the world needs professionals who can lead with both technical fluency and human-centered judgment.
The Institute has spent more than 15 years developing and delivering advanced education for engineers and non-engineers, equipping thousands of learners with the leadership, innovation, and systems-thinking skills demanded by modern industry.
Building on this proven foundation, the Fung Institute now extends its mission into professional education, offering best-in-class programs for technical professionals across sectors. Our curriculum integrates rigorous engineering insight with leadership, collaboration, and applied problem-solving, preparing today’s and tomorrow’s changemakers to tackle society’s most urgent challenges.
To implement this vision, a cohort of world-renowned leaders in their fields have been recruited as Fung Institute Instructors to engage both undergraduate and graduate students with the curricula outlined below under Sample Module Topics.
- Build a foundation of leadership skills, tools, and abilities to lead technical teams.
- Develop communication and influence skills to collaborate with and engage diverse stakeholders.
- Learn best practices in decision-making, risk management, and innovation.
- Explore fundamental operational, leadership, and financial concepts relevant to technology-driven enterprises
Sample Module Topics*
Positive Leadership and Innovation: This strength-based module empowers leaders to create a leadership style focused on the creation of positive culture, which fosters both the mindset and behaviors and allow teams and employees to be more innovative
Power and Persuasion: The module will provide you with a sense of organizational “political intelligence.” After taking this module, you will be able to: (1) diagnose the distribution of power in organizations, (2) identify strategies for building sources of power, (3) develop techniques for influencing others, (4) understand the role of power in building cooperation and leading change in organizations, and (5) make sense of others’ attempts to influence you.
Teaming & Collaboration: This module teaches leaders how to effectively build and manage high-performing teams through shared trust, collaboration, communication, and decision transparency. These skills provide the foundation for overcoming challenges within your teams, manage conflict, and overcome cross-functional barriers.
Organizational Behavior and Negotiation: Negotiation skills are critical for leaders in technology and scientific fields to have their solutions accepted and implemented. This module is designed to provide participants the opportunity to hone in on the necessary negotiation skills. Topics: best/worst negotiation practices, exploring conflict attitudes, and approaches to influencing and persuading will be explored.
Communication for Technical Leaders: This module will encourage engineers to develop their visual, auditory, vocal, and kinesthetic skills to find effective ways to describe and explain their work and connect with an audience on an emotional, social, and intellectual level.
Marketing and Product Management: This module explores a wide variety of product and marketing approaches, technologies, and business models by examining companies and their product and marketing strategies.
Accounting and Finance: This module is designed to introduce participants to basic accounting and finance, including the concepts and techniques necessary to analyze and implement financial management decisions.
*The above list represents sample modules. New modules can be developed to meet current or expected organizational needs.