{"id":1223,"date":"2019-08-08T14:24:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T21:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=1223"},"modified":"2024-09-15T19:58:12","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T02:58:12","slug":"engineering-management-masters-degree-amanda-kniepkamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/engineering-management-masters-degree-amanda-kniepkamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering management master\u2019s degree propels NASA pro to new heights"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intrinsic-container intrinsic-container-16x9\" style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"744\" height=\"419\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SdiH4AIoFok?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>When your day job has you reaching for the stars, you need something to keep you grounded.<\/p>\n<p>For NASA mission operations engineer Amanda Kniepkamp, that something was the pursuit of a <a href=\"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/online-degrees\/graduate\/engineering\/management\/\">Master of Engineering in Engineering Management<\/a>, earned 100% online through Oregon State University Ecampus.<\/p>\n<p>Amanda has worked as a NASA contractor since 2007 and is currently at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. As a mission operations engineer, she works on the Deep Space Network with a team that supports 45 spacecraft missions on the moon or further into space.<\/p>\n<p>She personally represents three spacecrafts and negotiates the use of ground antennae that communicate with and collect data from each spacecraft.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"smartquote\">&ldquo;<\/span>NASA is constantly trying to get the best and the brightest, which is why I got my master\u2019s to remain competitive with my peers.<span class=\"smartquote\">&#8221;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"textBox\" style=\"width: 30%;\">\n<h2>Like an MBA customized for engineers<\/h2>\n<p>Advance or start your career in organizational leadership, technical management or project leadership with a top-ranked Oregon State engineering management degree online.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"button\"><a title=\"Master of engineering management\" href=\"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/online-degrees\/graduate\/engineering\/management\/\">Learn more<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very intense. If you mess something up \u2014 even just a character, a single letter of the alphabet, a number \u2014 you could bring down a million- or billion-dollar spacecraft,\u201d says Amanda. \u201cBut with high risk comes high reward. In the end, it\u2019s worth it when you see these great discoveries that we\u2019ve made on other planets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That high-stakes environment is competitive. Not everyone can say they work at NASA. But Amanda can, and she wants to keep it that way.<\/p>\n<p>So when she noticed that most new recruits at the lab had earned a graduate degree, she decided to go back to school so she could secure her spot for years to come and move up the career ladder.<\/p>\n<p>Her search for <a href=\"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/about\/welcome\/online-learning.htm\">flexible<\/a>, top-ranked programs led her to Oregon State\u2019s online Master of Engineering in Engineering Management .program in the College of Engineering.<\/p>\n<p>OSU\u2019s online engineering graduate programs are nationally ranked by U.S. News &amp; World Report. The program\u2019s engineering management focus was just what Amanda needed to gain the business, financial and organizational expertise that will make her an effective leader in a management role within NASA.<\/p>\n<p>Her online courses let her interact with experienced engineering faculty from diverse industry backgrounds, all while tailoring her coursework to confront the real challenges of her aerospace workplace.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"smartquote\">&ldquo;<\/span>My confidence has definitely gone up. I\u2019ve learned a lot of skills that I can put to use now.<span class=\"smartquote\">&rdquo;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_1247\" class=\"wp-caption wp-caption-250 alignright\" style=\"width: 250px\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1247\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Amanda-Kniepkamp-NASA.jpg?resize=250%2C250&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cI wanted to use real-life examples and things that I was working on. That\u2019s the whole point of the program: to use it for my personal advancement,\u201d says Amanda, who was offered a team lead position after graduating.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to use real-life examples and things that I was working on. That\u2019s the whole point of the program: to use it for my personal advancement,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Whether creating a matrix organization chart to understand how the approximately 6,500 employees at her facility relate to one another or investigating a spacecraft failure within a class project, Amanda ensured that her degree program would grant her a better understanding of the problems she\u2019d face each day at work.<\/p>\n<p>All of her hard work paid off when, just a month after graduating, she was offered a team lead position.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNASA is constantly trying to get the best and the brightest, which is why I got my master\u2019s to remain competitive with my peers,\u201d says Amanda, who traveled to Corvallis to receive her degree at Oregon State\u2019s commencement ceremony. \u201cMy confidence has definitely gone up. I\u2019ve learned a lot of skills that I can put to use now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\"><\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minute read<\/span><\/span>\u201cNASA is constantly trying to get the best and the brightest, which is why I got my master\u2019s to remain competitive with my peers,&#8221; says engineering management master&#8217;s graduate Amanda Kniepkamp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6,3,677,8],"tags":[160,23],"class_list":["post-1223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-ecampus","category-features","category-students-and-alumni","category-students","tag-college-of-engineering","tag-engineering"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Amanda-Kniepkamp.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-jJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1776,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/2021-graduation-preview\/","url_meta":{"origin":1223,"position":0},"title":"To the Oregon State Ecampus Class of 2021, your time has come","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"June 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"June 2021 is the month you officially become a college graduate, the one in which you\u2019ll put a celebratory bow on all of your hard work and perseverance. You\u2019re primed to enter a community of thousands of Oregon State Ecampus graduates who are out there, changing the world.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A large black sign surrounded by red brick that reads \"Oregon State University\" in white lettering.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Sign-from-head-on.jpeg?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Sign-from-head-on.jpeg?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Sign-from-head-on.jpeg?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Sign-from-head-on.jpeg?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":751,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/learning-while-you-earn\/","url_meta":{"origin":1223,"position":1},"title":"Learning while you earn","author":"Erin J. Bernard","date":"February 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A manufacturing engineer for Boeing by day, Michelle Cramer doubles as an engineering management master's student online with Oregon State University Ecampus, all to gain a better understanding\u00a0of Boeing\u2019s managerial workings.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Archives&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Archives","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/archives\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ecampus student Michelle Cramer leans against a wooden deck with a forested area in the background.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/michelle-cramer-ob.jpg?fit=638%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/michelle-cramer-ob.jpg?fit=638%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/michelle-cramer-ob.jpg?fit=638%2C410&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":507,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/graduation-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":1223,"position":2},"title":"OSU Ecampus class of 2017 spans the nation, world","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"June 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly 1,000 Oregon State distance students, hailing from 49 states and more than a half-dozen countries, will graduate Saturday, June 17, after completing degree requirements online through OSU Ecampus. The 960 students earning their diplomas this year far surpasses the previous high of 692 set last June.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Archives&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Archives","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/archives\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Oregon State University's Memorial Union building, a centerpiece on campus with with red bricks and white granite accents including a dome in the center.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/MU-web.jpg?fit=638%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/MU-web.jpg?fit=638%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/MU-web.jpg?fit=638%2C425&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2582,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/engineering-management-masters-employer-tuition-benefits\/","url_meta":{"origin":1223,"position":3},"title":"Engineering master\u2019s degree is a long time coming, and employer tuition benefits helped","author":"Tim Edwards","date":"July 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Had I enrolled in a traditional in-person program, I would not have achieved the success that I now enjoy.\u00a0The flexibility of Oregon State\u2019s online program allowed me to achieve honors in the engineering management program and now graduate with my master's degree.\" \u2014 Tim Edwards, OSU graduate","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A man wearing a black graduation cap and gown smiles in a selfie in an arena filled with other graduates.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/800x450-ge.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/800x450-ge.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/800x450-ge.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/800x450-ge.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1760,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/new-center-for-online-engineering-students\/","url_meta":{"origin":1223,"position":4},"title":"New center to advance online engineering education at Oregon State","author":"Keith Hautala","date":"May 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon State University College of Engineering and Ecampus have announced a plan to launch a new center on campus for exploring innovation in online engineering education.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ecampus computer science student, Mark Moore, works happily from his laptop.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Mark-Moore-744x478.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Mark-Moore-744x478.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Mark-Moore-744x478.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Mark-Moore-744x478.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":805,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/ingrid-scheel\/","url_meta":{"origin":1223,"position":5},"title":"From the file room to the boardroom","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"February 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Twelve years ago, Ingrid Scheel burned out in an engineering program and worked part time filing papers at a small fiber optic technology firm. You wouldn\u2019t have predicted her future success. But now Ingrid holds two college degrees. Those papers she used to file? Now she signs them as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Archives&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Archives","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/archives\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ecampus engineering management student Ingrid Scheel stands on a balcony with a glass barrier. 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