The Whiting School of Engineering has added the MITRE Corp. to a growing list of companies now taking advantage of its on-site part-time engineering and applied science programs.

One day a week for five weeks starting in December, Johns Hopkins Part-Time Engineering faculty members will travel to MITRE's Bedford, Mass., facility to deliver graduate-level systems engineering courses to 20 employees. In addition to the five weeks of on-site meetings, the students will receive four weeks of instruction via video conferencing. To strengthen the partnership and ensure that the programs fully meet the needs of the MITRE students, each class will include a MITRE employee as co-instructor. MITRE employees will be able to earn a master of science degree in systems engineering through this program.

MITRE is a nonprofit corporation that provides systems engineering, research and development, and information technology support to government agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Internal Revenue Service.

"MITRE is excited about this new relationship with one of the nation's leading universities," said Raymond A. Shulstad, senior vice president and general manager of MITRE's Center for Air Force Command and Control Systems. "As a national technology resource, MITRE serves the public interest by addressing issues of critical national importance that need our special expertise in systems engineering. This partnership will enable us to further develop and hone these skills."

Johns Hopkins' Part-Time Engineering started its corporate partnership program in 1999. Since that time, instructional agreements have been formed with corporations and government agencies located across the region and elsewhere, including Maryland, Virginia and New Hampshire. The agreement with MITRE represents the 10th such partnership. Other partners have included Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and the Navy Test Pilot School.

Jim Teesdale, director of Hopkins' Applied Physics Laboratory Education Center, describes the corporate sponsorships as the Part-Time Engineering program's response to changing continuing education demographics. "Engineering and applied science fields are in a constant state of change. Our mission is to ensure that these partnerships meet the needs of working adults in a way that makes a difference for the employee and the company, now and in the future."

Teesdale said that the Hopkins program establishes a partnership only if it has the faculty and resources to offer quality, company-specific instruction. Based on the needs of the employer, partnerships available through the Part-Time Engineering program can take many forms: on-site instruction, a combination of on-site and campus instruction, instruction solely at a Johns Hopkins educational center, a combination of on-site and online instructions, or noncredit, on-site courses.