Systems Engineering

Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles. The Department of Mechanical Engineering recently hired two Systems Engineering faculty who will teach 5 courses per year each (2 each Fall and Spring and 1 each in Summer). Courses are available at the undergraduate and graduate level and all will be core courses or electives for the Systems Engineering Graduate Certificate.  Students could also essentially have an M.S. in Systems Engineering if they complete the certificate plus additional electives (30 credits required for the Master’s). The program is evolving so check back again soon for updates!

Working professionals may be able to take most classes online without applying to the University.  Contact Todd Easton for more information.

Systems Engineering Graduate Certificate

The Systems Engineering Graduate Certificate program is interdisciplinary and open to all matriculated College of Engineering graduate students or any matriculated or non-matriculated student who has a bachelor’s degree from a recognized engineering program or an allied science (note: some courses may require certain engineering or math courses as prerequisites but many are broad enough that any student can take them). Students may also count courses taken for the certificate towards a Master’s degree but keep in mind that only 9 credits of non-matriculated credit can be applied to an M.S. degree.

Program Declaration Form | Let us know you’re working on the certificate

Certificate Completion Notification Form  | Let us know you’re in your last class and ready for the certificate to be awarded

Certificate Requirements

To obtain the certificate, students must complete 15 credit hours of approved course work with a 3.0 GPA or higher and minimum B- grade in the certificate courses.. The course work is made up of 9 hours of core courses, and 6 hours of electives. The 3 core courses provide engineers with a basic understanding of systems engineering and the ability to develop, analyze, and model systems of all kinds. The electives allow students to choose related courses of interest from a variety of departments from across the University.

Required Core Courses

Pass the following 2 courses with a grade of B- or better (currently special topics courses).

This course provides an overview of the science of systems engineering, and an introduction to the systems approach and methodological framework for creation and re-engineering of large-scale systems and processes. The student will develop an understanding of the larger context in which requirements for a system are developed, and learn about trade-offs between developing mission needs or market opportunities first (versus accessing available technology first).Techniques for translating needs and priorities into an operational concept and then into specific functional and performance requirements will be presented. The student will develop an understanding of risk management techniques and the circumstances where they are appropriately employed.  Fall 2021 Fundamentals Syllabus

This course provides the student with an understanding of the context and framework for carrying out a systems engineering project and the system-level responsibilities of a systems engineer, through hands-on activity. Topics covered include systems design and development, system test and evaluation, system reliability, system maintainability, human factors and system design, system producibility and supportability, balancing life-cycle cost, schedule, suitability and performance, risk management, and systems engineering project management and control. Types of systems considered will range from small-scale to large-scale and from primarily technical to primarily social-political.  Fall 2021 Systems Integration Syllabus

Three hours in selected Planning or Production of Systems course (3 hours)

ME EN 6960-Engineering Project Management

ME EN 6181 – Systems Definition and Modeling

ME EN 6182 – Design of Production and Service Systems

ME EN 6183 – Discrete Event Systems Simulation

MG EN 6520 – Discrete Event Systems Simulation

CVEEN 6720 – Project Scheduling

Approved Elective Courses

At least 6 credits of electives with a minimum grade of B- and 3.0 minimum GPA in all core classes and electives

Note: Cross listed courses only count toward fulfilling one requirement

  • CH EN 6205 – Smart Systems
  • CH EN 6208 – Machine Learning and Dynamic Optimization
  • COMP 6005 – Programming for Engineers
  • CS 6140 – Data Mining
  • CS 6180 – Clustering
  • CS 6350 – Machine Learning
  • CS 6300 – Artificial Intelligence
  • CS 6630 – Visualization for Data Science
  • CMP 6371 – Complexity and Systems Thinking (3)
  • CVEEN 6115 – Data Science in Civil Engineering
  • CVEEN 6530 – Quantitative Methods Transportation Operation (3)
  • CVEEN 6730 – Project Management and Contract Administration (3)
  • CVEEN 6770 – Design-Build Contract and Risk Management
  • ECE 6020 – Emerging Technologies and Engineering Entrepreneurship
  • ECE 6540 – Estimation Theory
  • ECE 6640 – Power System Security Analysis
  • ECE 6680 – Electrical Forensic Engineering and Failure Analysis
  • ECE 6750 – Synthesis and Verification of Asynchronous VLSI Systems
  • ECE 6810 – Computer Architecture
  • ENGIN 6020 – Emerging Technologies and Engineering Entrepreneurship
  • ENGIN 6790 – The Business of Entrepreneurship
  • ENGIN 6791 – Launching Technology Ventures
  • ME EN 6010 – Principles of Manufacturing Processes (3)
  • ME EN 6030 – Reliability Engineering (3)
  • ME EN 6035 – Design of Experiments (3)
  • ME EN 6040 – Quality Assurance (3)
  • ME EN 6100 – Ergonomics (3)
  • ME EN 6130 – Design Implications for Human-Machine Systems (3)
  • ME EN 6150 – Product-Safety Engineering and Engineering Ethics
  • ME EN 6184 – Operations Research for Systems
  • ME EN 6185 – Data Analytics for Engineers
  • ME EN 6186 –Engineering Economic Analysis
  • ME EN 6205 – System Dynamics
  • ME EN 6210 or CH EN 6203 – State Space Control (3)
  • ME EN 6810 – Thermal System Design (3)
  • ME EN 7110 – System Safety (3)
  • ME EN 7200 – Nonlinear Controls (3)
  • MET E 5690 – Process Engineering Statistics (2)
  • MST 6022 – Production and Operations Management for Scientists (1)
  • MG EN  6370 – Data Management in Engineering and Heavy Industry
  • MG EN 6110 – Operations Research
  • MG EN 6530 – Computational Intelligence
  • Special Topics Summer 2022 (subject to change): ME EN 6960 Project Management;  ME EN 6960 Advanced Engineering Economy

Notes

  • This entire certificate can be completed as a non-degree seeking/non-matriculated student, however if students decide they want to apply the courses towards a M.S. or Ph.D. graduate program, only 9 credits of non-matriculated courses are allowed to count towards the degree so students should apply to the Graduate School prior to completing their 9th non-matriculated credit.
  • This is not considered an online certificate but contact Todd Easton about the possibility of the courses being offered online for your company.

Want to learn more about Systems Engineering?  Watch Info Session recording here!  |  View Powerpoint Slides.

Our new faculty talk about systems engineering as a concept and about their Fall 2021 classes and our systems engineering graduate certificate.

Fall 2021 Classes (click title for draft syllabus):

Fundamentals of Systems Engineering
Systems Engineering and Integration
Systems Simulation
Production Systems and Operations (canceled)

Contact Information
Todd Easton
Professor (lecturer)