Early and mid-career scientists and engineers now have a new opportunity to advance their careers and add additional value to their organizations. 

The Virginia Tech Office of Continuing and Professional Education is offering a Certificate in Leadership for Scientists and Engineers.

The leadership training will combine classroom instruction with one-on-one coaching to people in technical fields.

"As the scientific, design, and engineering challenges increase in complexity, we need scientists and engineers who are not just well-trained in their technical areas, but well-trained in leadership and management," said Matt Earnest, an assistant director in the office.

For engineers, leadership competencies may be different from those needed to successfully manage projects, Earnest says. People in technology fields may focus on technical competencies with little attention to developing leadership abilities. 

"The gap in preparedness for the challenges of managing people results in a lot of failure and stalled projects," he says.

The first session starts Feb.14 at the Virginia Tech Research Center – Arlington, with registration ending Feb. 11. Over six weeks, participants will join learning laboratories coupled with leadership assessment and coaching sessions. The course – designed and facilitated by Moe Carrick and Jim Morris, principals at Moementum, Inc.– provides 5.6 continuing education units (CEUs) for participants.

Virginia Tech plans to offer the certificate training at least twice a year, Earnest says.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

Written by Dana Cruikshank
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