Tauber Manufacturing Institute
Uniqueness that Delivers
Ken LaRose, MBA/MC '06
Issue date: 4/4/05 Section: Features
When I attended GBR last year, in addition to wanting to get a feel for the Michigan MBA experience, one of my main hopes was to gain some insights about the Tauber Manufacturing Institute (TMI), ideally from current students. While I was well aware of TMI's strong reputation and was intrigued by the program's unique combination of business and engineering, several questions still remained: What are the advantages of the program? What are the additional requirements of the TMI program? What is the TMI summer project and what makes it different from an ordinary internship?
Knowing how hectic and busy GBR can be, I thought it would be useful to provide some basic information about the TMI program from a student's perspective. Hopefully, this article will answer many of the questions that you may have about TMI and convey both the uniqueness and the advantages of the program.
Excellence in Business, Engineering, and Industry
The Tauber Manufacturing Institute is a multi-disciplinary program between the Ross School of Business and the College of Engineering. The TMI program facilitates a relationship between the two schools to provide students with an educational experience that combines the most important elements of both business and engineering. Moreover, TMI is closely tied with major industry partners, which enables the program to remain dynamic and responsive to real-world needs.
TMI Program Requirements
Throughout the first year of TMI, students are required to participate in the LeadershipAdvantageSM program. Through a series of program modules, TMI students expand upon their professional leadership style and learn to better manage team dynamics. Mark Ascione, a first-year TMI MBA student, claims, "I never thought that my MBA education would include learning how to work as a member of a pit crew for an actual NASCAR racecar as part of a team building exercise. Many team building exercises can be boring and, to be honest, not very useful. But those offered through the TMI LeadershipAdvantageSM program are valuable and interesting."
Knowing how hectic and busy GBR can be, I thought it would be useful to provide some basic information about the TMI program from a student's perspective. Hopefully, this article will answer many of the questions that you may have about TMI and convey both the uniqueness and the advantages of the program.
Excellence in Business, Engineering, and Industry
The Tauber Manufacturing Institute is a multi-disciplinary program between the Ross School of Business and the College of Engineering. The TMI program facilitates a relationship between the two schools to provide students with an educational experience that combines the most important elements of both business and engineering. Moreover, TMI is closely tied with major industry partners, which enables the program to remain dynamic and responsive to real-world needs.
TMI Program Requirements
Throughout the first year of TMI, students are required to participate in the LeadershipAdvantageSM program. Through a series of program modules, TMI students expand upon their professional leadership style and learn to better manage team dynamics. Mark Ascione, a first-year TMI MBA student, claims, "I never thought that my MBA education would include learning how to work as a member of a pit crew for an actual NASCAR racecar as part of a team building exercise. Many team building exercises can be boring and, to be honest, not very useful. But those offered through the TMI LeadershipAdvantageSM program are valuable and interesting."
