A sustainability microcredential built by Siemens Digital Industries Software and the University of Colorado Boulder now carries ABET recognition on every one of its pathways. The two partners marked the milestone at an event in Boulder on May 14, 2026. The credential, Design for the Circular Economy, is the first industry credential of any kind recognized under ABET's credential standards, according to CU Boulder, and the case shows how industry partnerships between a company and an engineering school can produce short-form credentials that pass an outside quality review. For program chairs weighing similar arrangements, and for employers sorting through short credentials, the record shows how this one was built and reviewed.

What was recognized

Design for the Circular Economy is a nine-course program of about 180 hours, offered on Coursera with no formal prerequisites. It is aimed at graduate students and working professionals who want applied sustainability skills. Learners pick one of three pathways:

  • Sustainable Operations
  • Transformative Sustainability
  • Sustainable Leadership

Coursework covers sustainability, sustainable operations, supply chains and leadership. CU Boulder says completed courses can count toward a CU Boulder graduate certificate, which can in turn transfer into an aligned master's program. Completers receive digital badges they can share on professional networks and can join the Siemens Talent Directory. The program is housed in CU Boulder's Engineering Management Program, whose interim director, Wendy Martin, holds the Lockheed Martin Endowed Professorship.

A two-step recognition

The recognition came in stages. In a May 27, 2025, release, Siemens announced that the Sustainable Operations pathway had completed ABET's quality assurance review and achieved full recognition. Siemens said it had taken part in a pilot study run by ABET that helped formalize ABET's quality assurance standards for credentials, and that its feedback helped refine both the standards and the review process. The May 2026 event in Boulder marked recognition of all three pathways.

According to CU Boulder, ABET recognition had previously been reserved for degree programs at accredited academic institutions, and ABET evaluates credentials on curriculum design, learning outcomes and continuous improvement practices. The two partners describe the standard by slightly different names: Siemens refers to ABET's Certificate Recognition Standards, while CU Boulder refers to its Recognition of Credentials Standards.

A second Siemens credential, built with a seven-university pilot

Siemens has a second ABET-recognized credential that came out of a different model. On October 24, 2025, the company announced that ABET had formally recognized Expedite: Skills for Industry, a four-course microcredential covering digital transformation, systems thinking and industrial innovation. Siemens said ABET's evaluation team reviewed data from a pilot involving more than 200 students across seven universities, looking at the credential's structure, learning outcomes and continuous quality improvement processes. The release described this as the first time ABET recognized a stand-alone industry credential based on pilot-phase evaluation, and identified Siemens as the exclusive industry pilot partner for ABET's new recognition offering for credentials from industry, professional associations and education.

Expedite launched globally on Coursera earlier in 2025 and drew more than 300 enrollments in its first month, according to Siemens. The release included feedback from Magda Lagoudas, executive director of industry and nonprofit partnerships at Texas A&M University's College of Engineering, on how students at different levels responded to the material.

How the partnership model started

The arrangement grew out of a 2024 effort. In a May 13, 2024, post, Siemens announced that it would pilot its first industry credential program for ABET recognition, beginning with the CU Boulder sustainability credential and a separate future-workforce credential under development with Penn State. Penn State's College of Engineering launched that work as the Career Ready Series in July 2024: four courses of about four weeks and roughly 15 hours each, covering business fundamentals, inclusive teaming, project management and smart manufacturing. About 40 students enrolled in the first run, the courses were free to current Penn State students, and participants presented a group project to Siemens representatives. Penn State's article does not say whether that series has sought ABET recognition.

Design features of the Siemens industry partnerships

The Siemens arrangements share several design features that schools exploring industry partnerships can compare against their own plans:

  • Credit linkage. The CU Boulder courses stack into a graduate certificate and then a master's program, giving learners a route from short courses to a degree.
  • Open delivery. Both credentials run on Coursera, which lets working professionals enroll without being admitted to a degree program.
  • Outside review. Each went through an ABET evaluation of curriculum, outcomes and continuous improvement.
  • Employer connection. Completers can join a Siemens talent directory, linking the credential to a hiring channel.

Siemens' 2024 post directed schools and employers interested in the credential program to a sign-up form for updates.

Sources