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Mason Blanchard knew he wanted a career in construction or engineering — but not as a traditional civil or mechanical engineer. 

So, fresh out of high school, he enrolled at the ������ý��׿�ƽ��, earning his bachelor’s degree in engineering and technology management and utilizing resources from the University’s Office of Career Services to land his first job as a field engineer for an energy services company, where he quickly earned a promotion to project engineer. 

“After working in the field, I fell in love with applied engineering even more, and I wanted to further my education,” Blanchard says.

That desire led him back to his alma mater to earn his M.S. in Systems Technology online. Despite his 40–60-hour work weeks, the program fit perfectly with his busy life. 

“The instructors made it very, very easy to do everything online,” he says. “Everything is planned out and scheduled in Moodle, so I knew exactly when things were due and what goals I needed to set for myself each week.” 

Blanchard found direct applicability of the curriculum to his work in oil and gas, too. 

"As a project engineer, it’s my job to evaluate the financial performance and health of our projects and use those insights to plan future projects," he explains. “Courses like STEC 502: Total Quality Control and STEC 508: Project Management fit perfectly with my role.” 

The systems technology program also requires students to write a thesis or complete a professional project before graduating. 

Like the program’s coursework, Blanchard’s project aligned seamlessly with what he was doing at work. Titled “Digital Transformation and Project Management: An Analysis of Breaking the Norms of Traditional Project Management,” it explored the evolution of and recent advances in project management. 

“Originally, project management was all paper-based or Excel-based,” he explains. “Now, there’s a lot of new, advanced tools that utilize things like AI and big data to generate reports, analyze project health, and forecast for future projects.” 

“At the time I was completing my project, we were transitioning to a new project management software at work. The transition at work gave me a lot of material I could use in my project to fill in the gaps I had.” 

With a master’s degree now on his resume, Blanchard hopes to continue advancing, becoming a lead project manager, project controls lead, or director. 

He encourages other students to embrace the opportunity to learn and grow in their careers. 

“Try to absorb as much as possible,” he advises. “I know you might think it’s just schoolwork, but the curriculum really aligns with how the industry works. If you apply yourself in the program, it can be very useful.” 

Become a leader in manufacturing, energy, construction, or chemical engineering through the ������ý��׿�ƽ��’s 100% online M.S. in Systems Technology.

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