People skills and knowledge of business fundamentals can position engineers for the creation and delivery of more effective solutions. Teamwork, communication, and collaboration are skills that you’ll need as you interface with others—especially when you’re tasked with delivering sophisticated solutions to clients or customers.
Understanding how core business functions “work” and how stakeholders measure success will help you gain support and resources to turn your engineering ideas into reality. With the business minor for engineers (BME), you’ll begin to understand how managers think and how finance, marketing, accounting, and operations can affect business decisions.
All undergraduates in the College of Engineering and select majors in the colleges of Arts and Sciences and Agriculture and Life Sciences (see full list below).
13.5 core credits across areas such as business, finance, accounting and operations. In addition, 3 credits in microeconomics.
After reviewing the requirements below and our Policies and FAQs page, you can begin the process using the Business Minors Dashboard.
You can manage your minor and track your progress using the Business Minors Dashboard.
The BME is open to students majoring in certain engineering subjects within Cornell’s colleges listed below.
This minor requires 3 credits in microeconomics. We recommend taking this course before taking the minor’s core courses and require it to be completed by your sixth semester. A letter grade of a C or better is required.
The minor’s core requirements (13.5 credits) must be fulfilled by taking courses in the five areas listed below, which includes 3 credits that are related to your career goals. Please note that 7.5 credits must be SC Johnson College of Business courses, which include any course code of AEM, HADM, NBA, or NCC.
A letter grade of a C or better is required.
Students may not “double count” courses that overlap with the other business minors – the courses you choose may only count toward one minor.
AEM 4660 – Business Simulation is the minor’s capstone course. In this course, you’ll make individual and team-based decisions based on imperfect information and aggressive time constraints. Through analysis, coaching, and facilitation, you’ll learn how business decisions influence firm performance in a dynamic marketplace. A true business management crash course!