The Systems and Industrial Engineering program is designed for those individuals wishing to pursue research at an advanced level. Only those who have already demonstrated an ability to pursue independent and scholarly work should consider applying for this program.
Systems engineering is concerned with the design, modeling and analysis of technological systems that employ people and machines, software and hardware, material and energy for such diverse purposes as communication, health care, transportation or manufacturing. This department was the first Systems Engineering department in the country. It was founded on the premise that if complex systems are to do what is intended, without unwanted side effects, they must be designed not only with imagination and technical skill, but with rigorous attention to the design process itself and to the interactions among the system components and with other systems and society. Consequently, the curriculum provides students with design viewpoints and methodologies that emphasize system integration, and with subject matter and tools for modeling and analysis especially appropriate for large complex systems, e.g., probability and statistics, system theory, decision analysis, and simulation.
Industrial engineering focuses on the design and implementation of integrated systems of people, materials, machines, energy and information. After specifying systems objectives, industrial engineers combine technical knowledge and skill from the physical, engineering and social sciences to design evaluate and monitor system performance. The industrial engineer is charged with the responsibility of ensuring high quality while simultaneously meeting cost and output goals. This is accomplished through the optimal allocation of resources throughout the system. Industrial engineers practice in both administrative and production segments of manufacturing and service organizations. Industrial engineers are commonly employed in heavy industry (such as steel), medium industry (such as plastics and computers), light industry (such as electronic assembly), health care delivery, electronics, telecommunication, transportation, service, government. In each of environments, industrial engineers are involved with a variety of systems such as marketing, production and process design, production planning, management information, facility layout, job/workplace design, material flow and distribution.