Integrated Business & Engineering Honors Program

Integrated Business & Engineering - Honors Program (graphic identifier)

The Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) Honors Program is a challenging four-year program designed to help prepare the next generation of business and technology leaders to operate effectively across business and technical domains, and to learn an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving.

The Need

An increasingly interconnected global economy creates collaborative opportunities and competitive pressures for U.S. companies, generating the need for broadly educated engineers and business professionals. Ohio State’s IBE program equips graduates to meet these challenges head on.

Our Approach

The Ohio State University’s College of Engineering and Fisher College of Business jointly offer the multidisciplinary undergraduate IBE honors program where engineering and business students take classes, attack real-world problems and network with industry leaders throughout their undergraduate experience. The program supplements the standard engineering or business curriculum with core courses of the opposite degree, and includes a sequence of dedicated IBE courses and seminars focused on experiential, entrepreneurial and multidisciplinary learning. In class, IBE students work in teams to solve problems and create solutions while applying  classroom theory and learning. 

Students Served

The IBE program selectively recruits a small cohort of 72 students each year. Invitations to apply to the program are emailed in February to students accepted into Ohio State’s engineering honors or business honors programs. 

Community

In addition to the educational workload, a peer-elected student leadership board plans and executes a series of extracurricular events including welcome week activities, IBE recruitment events, executive keynotes, social retreats, alumni networking and more. 

Graduation Results

Upon successful completion of the program (both course completion and GPA requirement met), students receive a bachelor of science in business or engineering, a minor in the opposite field, and an “Honors in Integrated Business and Engineering” diploma distinction. IBE students are highly sought after graduates with a resume attractive to a large number of hiring companies.

Employment Outcomes

Our IBE students are recruited for internships and full-time positions from top employers.

  • 100% of students accepted an employment offer within three months of graduation.
  • IBE graduates have joined graduate programs at institutions such as the University of California-Berkeley, The University of Chicago, Harvard University, Stanford University, and the Stockholm School of Economics.

Below is a sample of where our students have interned and accepted full-time positions.

Application Timeline & Core Curriculum

To be considered for the IBE program, students must first be admitted to University Honors (Business or Engineering). 

For questions on the application process or timing, please contact IBE Academic Advisor, Dr. Stephanie Rinehart (Rinehart.232@osu.edu). 

All IBE students take the (6) core IBE classes with their IBE peers including: 1281, 1282, 2400, 3400, 5901, 5902. These classes are taught by dedicated IBE Faculty with broad experience from both industry and academia.   

Contacts

Kristina Kennedy

Kristina Kennedy, MBA
Senior Director, Integrated Business & Engineering Program
Associate Professor of Engineering
Biokennedy.443@osu.edu

Stephanie Rinehart headshot

Stephanie Rinehart
Senior Academic Advisor, Integrated Business & Engineering
rinehart.232@osu.edu

> Follow IBE on Instagram: @ohiostateibe
Support IBE students and programs