Florida Tech, Harris Corporation Collaborate on New Degree Program

– In another example of the strengthening bond between Florida Tech and the Central Florida business community, the university has started a new master’s
degree program in Systems Engineering for the employees of the Government Communications Systems Division (GCSD) of Harris Corporation. The program enrolls
over 25 students, and is designed for employees who have earned degrees in the fields of engineering, physical science, computing or mathematics.

The degree is being taught exclusively for GCSD employees at Florida Tech’s main campus. It attracts GCSD employees from Melbourne area facilities.

Florida Tech professor Muzaffar Shaikh, department of engineering systems, said the new degree is designed to help employees improve key systems
integration skills and to emphasize processes that ultimately build products and services.

“An engineer or scientist who joins the high-tech workforce faces the challenge of integrating design and development work with emphasis on process
engineering,” he said. “Courses taught in this program will prepare the student to meet this challenge, because we emphasize technical as well as cost and
schedule requirements.”

Dr. Ron Bailey, dean of the College of Engineering said the new degree program is an important part of Florida Tech’s mission to the community.

“We hope that this program will give enrolled students the knowledge and skills that they need to extend their productivity and provide competitive
advantage for Harris,” said Bailey.

“Harris has a long-standing partnership with Florida Tech, and this latest program is an excellent example of win-win relationships between industry and
education,” said Hank Eyster, division vice president of engineering for Harris GCSD. “Having these quality programs on a local level meets the needs of
the working professional and also allows us to grow our future systems engineering leaders from within the company.”