Systems Engineering
Master of Science
Quick Facts
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Top 25
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U.S. News & World Report, 2023
The online Master of Science in Systems Engineering develops the skills to design, model, and analyze advanced systems of diverse components — from software and hardware to the operators who employ them.
Throughout your course of study, you’ll work with expert faculty to build on your practical abilities and develop comprehensive solutions that maximize efficiency. The program not only cultivates advanced technical knowledge but also the strategic problem-solving and decision-making skills to lead projects that meet requirements, stay on budget, and function reliably for years to come.
As a student in the MS program, you’ll have the opportunity to connect directly with groundbreaking leaders in the field, benefiting from practical, real-world expertise. You’ll learn rigorous methods to plan and implement complex systems that meet organizations' needs without unwanted side effects. Program courses introduce design principles that lead to successful system integration and industry-standard tools for modeling and analysis.
Graduates from the Systems Engineering MS program have gone on to pursue their goals at leading corporations, research institutes, and universities. You can prepare to achieve your goals by taking advantage of the same resources available to on-campus students, including comprehensive career services.
*The exact number of units required may vary depending on the program pathway. Please consult the program’s catalog page for detailed information.
100% online coursework.
Internships (SIE 593) and Independent Study (SIE 599/699) cannot be used towards program completion.
*Residents of some U.S. Territories may not be eligible. Please see our Eligibility & State Authorization page for more information.
Courses depend on the program route:
- Master's Report Option: 27 units of SIE Graduate Coursework & 3 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
The following courses are required in the major:
This program covers the process and tools for systems engineering of large-scale, complex systems: requirements, performance measures, concept exploration, multi-criteria tradeoff studies, life cycle models, system modeling, etc. Graduate-level requirements include extensive sensitivity analysis of their final projects.
This course introduces model-based systems engineering (MBSE), the formalized application of modeling to support system requirements, design, analysis, verification, and validation activities beginning in the conceptual design phase and continuing throughout development and later life cycle phases. It emphasizes the practical use of the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) and MBSE methods.
This is an intensive study of continuous and discrete linear systems from the state-space viewpoint, including criteria for observability, controllability, and minimal realizations. It also optionally covers aspects of optimal control, state feedback, and observer theory.
Learn discrete event simulation, model development, statistical design and analysis of simulation experiments, variance reduction, random variate generation, Monte Carlo simulation. Graduate-level requirements include a library research report.
In this course, you will focus on modeling stochastic processes from an applied viewpoint. Markov chains in discrete and continuous time, renewal theory, applications to engineering processes.
Learn about the statistical methodology of estimation, testing hypotheses, goodness-of-fit, nonparametric methods, and decision theory related to engineering practice – with significant emphasis on the underlying statistical modeling and assumptions. Graduate-level requirements include additionally more difficult homework assignments.
Outcomes
Skills
Earning your Master of Science in Systems Engineering will build core skills, including:
- Complex systems modeling & design
- Financial modeling
- Linear systems
- Production control
- Project management
- Quality assurance
- Reliability testing & analysis
- Statistics & stochastic modeling
Potential Career Paths
Graduates of the Systems Engineering (MS) program will be prepared to pursue careers in the following fields:
