Launching the New Design of Experiments Specialization

In a world defined by constant and complex change, the team at Arizona State University’s Office of Global Outreach and Extended Education, or GOEE, is dynamically expanding opportunities for professional development and knowledge advancement.

As an outcomes-focused example, we are thrilled to announce the launch of our Design of Experiments Specialization through Coursera, a virtual platform connecting top instructors from world-class universities with companies and people wanting to master a current skill, learn a new one or further their careers.

The specialization presents  a four-course format with each course comprising three-to-four modules. Participants can take just one course to discover key concepts or all four to achieve the certification and begin applying its full benefits. In addition to taking a course instructed by a world-renowned faculty member, students have the chance to participate in live, virtual Fireside Chat-style sessions with Dr. Montgomery and guests to listen to experiences of real-world application using Design of Experiments tools.  

Doug Montgomery, a Regents Professor of industrial engineering and ASU Foundation Professor of Engineering  in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU and an expert in experimental design, is leading this specialization for people from a wide variety of industries, such as engineering, marketing and public service.

Montgomery has taught academic courses on experimental design for over 40 years, and his Design of Experiments textbook, in its 10th edition, is the most widely used textbook on the subject in the world. He has also led numerous engagements with Design of Experiments, teaching the course and consulting for more than 250 companies, including Motorola, Intel, Boeing and IBM. Drawing from these commercial experiences, Montgomery provides new participants with an accurate understanding of modern approaches to using Design of Experiments.

What makes this course so valuable? Montgomery explains that people have been running experiments to learn how to do new things since the dawn of civilization. 

“The first humans didn’t wake up one day and know how to make fire,” he says. “There would be some success and some failure, and eventually they’d figure out how to do it. Testing and experimentation have always been part of the way we learn.”

With origins dating to the early 1900s, modern approaches to experimental design have gathered academic and commercial momentum and now contribute tremendous value to nearly every industry sector.

“If you’re trying to efficiently design a new product or develop a manufacturing process, really anything that interacts with customers, and you’re not using experimental design in the process, you’re leaving money on the table,” Montgomery says.

That money equates to unnecessary costs, unrealized profits, and loss of competitive advantage for companies. The new GOEE specialization is intended to equip people and organizations to both innovate and maximize bottom-line results.

As consumers, we are familiar with companies that already apply experimental design — from credit card companies that advertise benefits to different age groups to the producers of consumer goods that effectively deploy colors, images and language through websites and social media channels.

In every sector, well-designed experiments are powerful tools for developing and validating cause and effect relationships. For example, altering the input variables to a system allows one to observe and identify the reasons for changes that occur as a result. So, learning to design and execute experiments following the methodology explained in the course can yield significant success for any organization.

Participants who complete the full specialization, all four courses, will gain a wide range of modern experimental design tools, as well as an understanding of response service methods. They’ll also know how to manage experiments that generate unusual responses, and a variety of other specialized knowledge that supports effective experimental work.

Following this unique GOEE experience, participants will be immediately effective in driving progress across a diverse range of environments.

“We are going to teach you the concepts and techniques that will make you a good experimenter,” Montgomery says. “And there’s no limit on who should take this course. Anyone working in modern industry should see ample opportunity to apply the tools acquired in this course. The principles are broadly meaningful.”

Registration for the new Design of Experiments specialization in Coursera is open with rolling admission. To secure your place, please visit https://www.coursera.org/specializations/design-experiments. For questions regarding the specialization, please reach out to us at exec-fseonline@asu.edu or by calling (480) 727-4189.