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Management Systems Engineering

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Management Systems Engineering (MSE) is the definition and application of engineering design and analysis processes and methodologies to systems involving people and technologies within organizations. One of the primary objectives is to define and develop the science of designing complex management systems. MSE is focused on the research, design, development, deployment, measurement, and improvement of systems comprised of decision-makers, information, organizational structures, technologies, decision tools, and work processes, with an emphasis on the interactions among these components. The MSE graduate track is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to meet the challenges posed by increasingly complex organizational systems within dynamic, global environments.

The MSE academic curriculum is designed to expose students to a breadth of industrial engineering topics at the graduate level, depth in management systems engineering topics, and the opportunity to take technical electives in specialized areas within industrial engineering and other areas.

The master’s degree programs consist of at least 30 credit hours and include core, required courses (covering a broad range of IE topics), MSE required courses (in-depth coverage of management systems engineering topics), and technical electives.

Minimum credit hours for the two master’s programs are distributed as follows:

  M.S. M.Eng.
Core (Required and Core ISE) courses 18 18
Elective courses 6 12 (3 hrs. minimum in ISE)
Research (MST/ISE 5994) 6
Total 30 30

The M.Eng. is designed to provide coverage of a wide range of management systems engineering topics, and an exposure to a range of industrial engineering topics, through required and elective courses. Most students are encouraged to pursue this track. This is a 12-18 month program serving as a technical alternative to the MST.

The M.S. is designed to provide in-depth coverage of management systems engineering topics and experience in performing independent research in a chosen area of interest approved by the graduate advisory committee. The M.S. is a 21-24 month program. All students pursuing a M.S. must take core, required courses in industrial engineering and in management systems engineering and must secure an advisor who will direct the research effort — very few students are accepted into the M.S. track. The requirements in this section apply to students having a BS in engineering.

The curriculum is designed to provide maximum flexibility in selecting technical electives, within the specified guidelines, to define a program of study to support the planned research and graduate study. Technical electives may be taken from other graduate tracks in ISE, other engineering disciplines, or disciplines outside of engineering in support of the research. A student’s graduate advisory committee may require the student to take courses in particular areas to fulfill technical requirements or remedial needs.

Both the M.S. and M.Eng. programs have similar core requirements within ISE and the management systems track. These requirements are presented in the tables below.

Number Title Credits
ISE 5015 or
ISE 5124
Management of Change, Innovation & Performance in Organizational Systems I, or
Quality Management
3
ISE 5016 or    
ISE 5144
Management of Change, Innovation & Performance in Organizational Systems II, or
Efficiency & Productivity
3
ISE 5814 System Dynamics Modeling of Socio-Technical Systems    3
ISE 5804 Fundamentals of Systems Engineering 3
ISE 5024 ISE Seminar (1 hour class, no degree credit) -
Total 12

Select one course from any two of the three tracks below.

Number Title Credits
Operations Research
ISE 54XX   3
ISE 5104 Operations Research (special approval only) 3
Manufacturing Systems Engineering
ISE 52XX or 53XX   3
Human Factors Engineering
ISE 56XX or 57XX   3 or 4
ISE 5154 Applied Human Factors Engineering 3