"The Management Science and Engineering Certificate gave me the ability to look at the technical work I was doing from a business point of view," says Juan Wu, Senior Software Engineer, Sybase.

While working at Sybase, Wu heard about the certificate program through human resources and decided that it was a good match for what she was seeking-breadth in management and strategic analysis. This certificate interested Wu, who has two master's degrees-one in Information Systems and another in Mathematics and Statistics-because it would allow her to explore management topics and earn a credential from Stanford that her employers valued. "I chose Stanford because of its great reputation and the unique and interesting courses available," Wu explains.

Working full-time while earning the certificate was, at times, a challenging balancing act. However, Wu found the benefits well worth the time and effort. "The courses provided me with great knowledge and information resources in the areas of decision analysis, product and marketing strategy, and management and organization skills," says Wu.

While earning the certificate, Wu was working on a development tool to help customers create new mobile applications or mobilize existing applications. When a critical decision needed to be made as to what technology or platform should be used for the project, Wu applied her knowledge from Professor Howard's Decision Analysis course. Wu says, "The course helped me put things in perspective and weigh the risks involved with the project."

After Wu earned the certificate, Sybase gave her more opportunities to take on challenges in areas outside her typical work scope. "I have started doing more competitive analysis in the mobile industry, giving more presentations and demos to customers, and doing strategic analysis for the company's products."