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Program Details

Graduate Program: Systems Engineering (MS)

General Information

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Program/Degree
Systems Engineering (MS)  
Program Description

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.  This program is also available online

 
Department/Academic Unit(s)

Systems & Industrial Engineering

The Systems and Industrial Engineering (SIE) Department at the University of Arizona was established in 1961 as the nation's first department of systems engineering.  Since then, the SIE Department has achieved international prestige for its contributions to the inter-disciplinary design of large-scale complex systems involving people, technology, and information.  With the introduction of a modern industrial engineering curriculum in 1972 and a reliability and quality engineering degree in 1987, the department offers a truly diverse and successful graduate program.  Career opportunities for graduates of the Systems and Industrial Engineering programs are outstanding.  Over the years, graduates from these programs have found employment in the nation's leading corporations, research institutes, and universities.

 
College

College of Engineering

 
Campuses where offered

Distance Campus - Yuma

University of Arizona - Main - Tucson

Arizona Online - Online

 
Contacts
Admissions Contact
Cindy T Nguyen
520-626-4644
Graduate Program Coordinator
Cindy T Nguyen
520-626-4644
Director of Graduate Studies
Vignesh Subbian
520-621-6559
Graduate College Degree Counselor
Guadalupe Estrella
520-621-3484
 
Tuition and Fees
Please refer to the UA Bursar's Office Tuition and Fees Calculator for up-to-date information about tuition and fees. 
Please refer to the UA Registrar's's Office Special Course Fees for up-to-date information about special course fees. 

Admissions Information

Admissions Requirements

A Bachelor’s degree from an institution recognized by the University of Arizona. Students who do not have a degree equivalent to the University of Arizona Bachelor of Science degree in Systems & Industrial Engineering may be admitted into the graduate program, but may be required to complete some undergraduate deficiency courses prior to enrolling in graduate courses.

You must have a 3.0 or higher GPA in your undergraduate degree or your last 60 units of your undergraduate degree. 

A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required, Statement of purpose, 3 letters of recommendation and CV/Resume. English Proficiency is required for all international applicants who do not have a US degree. 

 
Standardized Tests

Required test(s):GRE (Only if requesting to be considered for funding from the department or College of Engineering) 
Required GRE Subject tests: Verbal,  Quantitative, Analytical 

  • Minimum GRE Verbal: 153
  • Minimum GRE Quantitative: 155
  • Minumum GRE Written: 4.0

International Applicants are required to provide English Proficiency Exams such as TOEFL or IELTS. 

Minimum TOEFL:  79
Minimum IELTS: 7 (no subject less than 6)

 

 
Funding Opportunities

The Systems & Industrial Engineering Department offers Graduate Assistantships (Teaching & Research) to eligible students on a competitive basis.  If applying for funding , GRE Scores must be submitted for consideration. 

 
Admissions Deadlines

Domestic Applicants:

  • Fall: July 1
  • Spring: December 1

International Applicants:

  • Fall: January 15
  • Spring: June 1
 
International Conditional Admission

International applicants may be considered for conditional admission to this program at the department's discretion.

Other Information
The GRE Institution Code for The University of Arizona is 4832

Completion Requirements

Minimum Credit Units

30 

Core Coursework Requirements

The Master of Science in Systems Engineering requires 30 or 33 units credit hours. The following 9.00 units are required in the major:

  • SIE 554A Systems Engineering Processes (3.00 credits) (Fall Only)
  • SIE 550 Theory of Linear Systems (3.00 credits) (Spring Only)
  • Select either SIE 520 Stochastic Modeling I (Spring Only) (3.00 credits) OR SIE 530 Engineering Statistics (3.00 credits) (Fall Only)

Students are required to select one of the following degree options to earn their degree: The Master's Report Option (30 units), the Master’s Thesis Option (30 units) or the Coursework option (33 units)

  • Master's Report Option: 27 units of SIE Graduate Coursework & 3-6 units of SIE 909 Master's Report 
  • Master’s Thesis Option: 24 units of SIE Graduate Coursework and 6 units of SIE 910 Master’s Thesis
  • Coursework only Option: 33 units of SIE Graduate Coursework. Includes one 3.00 unit course at the SIE 600 level in which an “A” or “B” grade is earned.
 
Elective Coursework

The remaining SIE graduate elective credits will be selected with the approval of an SIE Faculty Advisor.

A list of approved SIE graduate electives can be found below and on the SIE website.

  • SIE 506: Quality Engineering (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 508: Reliability Engineering (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 511: Human-Machine Interaction (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 512: Human Factors Engineering Research Methods (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 513: Ergonomics for Inclusive Design (3.00 credits) 
  • SIE 514: Law for Engineers and Scientists (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 515: Technical Sales and Marketing (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 520: Stochastic Modeling I (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 530 Engineering Statistics (3.00)
  • SIE 522: Engineering Decision Making under Uncertainty (3.00 redits)
  • SIE 525: Queuing Theory (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 530: Engineering Statistics (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 531: Simulation Modeling and Analysis (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 533: Fundamentals of Data Science for Engineers (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 536: Experiment Design and Regression (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 540: Survey of Optimization Methods (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 544: Linear Programming (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 545: Fundamentals of Optimization (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 546: Algorithms, Graphs, and Networks (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 552: Space Systems Engineering (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 555: Sensor Systems Engineering (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 557: Project Management (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 556: Fundamental of Guidance for Aerospace Systems (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 558: Model-Based Systems Engineering (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 561: Traffic Modeling and Simulation (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 562: Advanced Production Control (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 563: Integrated Logistics and Distribution Systems (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 564: Cost Estimation (3.00 credits) 
  • SIE 565: Supply Chain Management (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 566: Life Cycle Analysis for Sustainable Design (3.00 credits) 
  • SIE 567: Financial Modeling for Innovation (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 570: Intelligent Control Systems & Applications (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 571: Systems Cyber Security (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 572: Information Security and Research (INSuRE) (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 573: Engineering of Trustworthy Systems (3.00 credits) 
  • SIE 577: Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 578: Artificial Intelligence for Health and Medicine (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 583: Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems (CIM) (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 596: Special Topics in SIE (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 606: Advanced Quality Engineering (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 608: Advanced Reliability Engineering (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 631: Distributed Multi-Paradigm Simulation Systems (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 640: Integer and Combinatorial Optimization (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 645: Nonlinear Optimization (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 649: Stochastic Optimization (3.00 credits) 
  • SIE 654: Advanced Concepts in Systems Engineering (3.00 credits)
  • SIE 678: Transportation Systems (3.00 credits)
 
Additional Requirements

 

Students pursuing the Master's Report Option or the Master’s Thesis Option are required to work with their Master's Report/Thesis Committee to develop a Master's Report/Thesis and defend their report subject by degree completion.

The Master's Report /Thesis Committee must abide by the Graduate College's committee requirements. A minimum of two SIE eligible faculty members must serve on the committee. The third member may be a Special Member. 

Master’s Thesis Option Students are also required to submit their Master’s Thesis to ETD ProQuest as a part of their degree requirements per the Graduate College’s requirements.

Students may transfer up to 6.00 units of graduate coursework (non University of Arizona courses) to be applied to their Master's Plan of Study subject to approval by department. 

Students may take up to 6.00 untis of non-SIE University of Arizona Graduate Coursework to be applied to their Master's Plan of Study subject to approval by department. 

All SIE graduate students are required to submit Annual Progress Reports to the Graduate Coordinator at end of each academic year to track satisfactory academic progress.  

 
Student Handbook

Please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for students who are pursuing this program of study.

 

Program StatisticsInformation about these numbers

Program-level Information
Application Acceptance Rate 68.75%
Med. Time-to-degree (years) 1.50
 
Department-level Information
Enrollment Percent Male 74.07%
Enrollment Percent Female 25.93%
Enrollment Percent International 0%
Enrollment Percent URM 31.48%

Back to statistics
  • All application, admit, and enrollment data are from Fall 2020.
  • Median Time to Degree calculates how long graduates in the last 5 years (2015-2019) took to complete their degrees, counting back to the first semester entering their program. This measure uses the methodology established in the 2011 Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs by the National Research Council.
  • Underrepresented Minorities (URM) includes domestic students of ethnic groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education: African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders.

Persistent link: https://grad.arizona.edu/catalog/programinfo/SYEMS
Last revised 02 Apr 2021
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