Skip to Main Content

SIEPHD - Systems and Industrial Engineering

Download as PDF

Systems & Industrial EngrGraduate Degree SeekingPHD - Doctor of Philosophy

Overview

Program Requirements

Completion requirement

68

Completion requirement

The Doctor of Philosophy in Systems and Industrial Engineering requires a minimum of 68 credit hours (including the docoral minor). This includes:

  • A minimum of 48 units of course work

  • Of the 48 units, at least 36 must be SIE-type courses approved by the faculty advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies. In addition at least 21 units of the course work must be taken from the SIE Department

  • A minimum of 2.00 units of SIE 695A Doctoral Seminar (Colloqium). No more than 3.00 units can be taken. 

  • A minimum of 18.00 units of SIE 920 Dissertation. 

Systems and Industrial Engineering PhD Core Coursework: 

The Doctoral Qualifying Examination (DQE) is given at the start of students' second year in the program.  In consultation with their faculty advisor, students are required to complete three of the following areas for the Doctoral Qualifying Exam:  

  • Three core courses, one from each core area (9 units total) :

    • Probability & Statistics

      • SIE 520 Stochastic Modeling I (3) or SIE 530 Engineering Statistics (3)

    • Optimization

      • SIE 540 Survey of Optimization Methods (3)or SIE 545 Fundamentals of Optimization (3)

    • Systems Engineering

      • SIE 554A: The Systems Engineering Process (3)​​​​​​​ or SIE 550 Theory of Linear Systems (3)

To register for this exam, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher in courses selected for the DQE.   

Completion requirement

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)

  • SIE 508: Reliability Engineering (3)

  • SIE 511: Human-Machine Interaction (3)

  • SIE 512: Human Factors Engineering Research Methods (3)

  • SIE 514: Law for Engineers and Scientists (3)

  • SIE 515: Technical Sales and Marketing (3)

  • SIE 520: Stochastic Modeling I (3)

  • SIE 522: Engineering Decision Making under Uncertainty (3)

  • SIE 525: Queuing Theory (3)

  • SIE 530: Engineering Statistics (3)

  • SIE 531: Simulation Modeling and Analysis (3)

  • SIE 532: Sports Analytics (3)

  • SIE 533: Fundamentals of Data Science for Engineers (3)

  • SIE 536: Experiment Design and Regression (3)

  • SIE 540: Survey of Optimization Methods (3)

  • SIE 544: Linear Programming (3)

  • SIE 545: Fundamentals of Optimization (3)

  • SIE 546: Algorithms, Graphs, and Networks (3)

  • SIE 552: Space Systems Engineering (3)

  • SIE 554A: Systems Engineering Process (3)

  • SIE 555: Sensor Systems Engineering (3)

  • SIE 556: Fundamental of Guidance for Aerospace Systems (3)

  • SIE 557: Project Management (3)

  • SIE 558: Model-Based Systems Engineering (3)

  • SIE 561: Traffic Modeling and Simulation (3)

  • SIE 562: Advanced Production Control (3)

  • SIE 563: Integrated Logistics and Distribution Systems (3)

  • SIE 564: Cost Estimation (3)  

  • SIE 565: Supply Chain Management (3)

  • SIE 566: Life Cycle Analysis for Sustainable Design and Engineering (3)

  • SIE 567: Financial Modeling for Innovation (3)  

  • SIE 570: Intelligent Control Systems & Applications (3)

  • SIE 571: Systems Cyber Security (3)

  • SIE 572: Information Security and Research (INSuRE) (3)

  • SIE 573: Engineering of Trustworthy Secure Systems (3)

  • SIE 577: Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (3)

  • SIE 578: Artificial Intelligence for Health and Medicine (3)

  • SIE 581 Design for Additive Manufacturing (3)

  • SIE 583: Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems (CIM) (3)

  • SIE 596: Special Topics in SIE (3)

  • SIE 606: Advanced Quality Engineering (3)

  • SIE 608: Advanced Reliability Engineering (3)

  • SIE 631: Distributed Multi-Paradigm Simulation Systems (3)

  • SIE 640: Large Scale Optimization (3)

  • SIE 645: Nonlinear Optimization (3)

  • SIE 649: Topics of Optimization (3)

  • SIE 654: Advanced Concepts in Systems Engineering (3)

  • SIE 678: Transportation Systems (3)

Completion requirement

On the way to a PhD degree, students must pass three exams: 

  1. The Systems and Industrial Engineering Doctoral Qualifying Exam

  2. The Doctoral Comprehensive Exam (both a written and an oral component)

  3. The Final Oral Defense Exam 

Subject to the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee, a maximum of 30 units of coursework applied toward a Master's degree may be applied toward the PhD as well. Research or thesis credit that was applied toward a Master's degree cannot be applied toward the PhD degree.

At most 3 units of SIE 699 Independent Study may also be included for the major, provided the study covers a topic not available through normal courses. A tangible course project is submitted to the Graduate Studies Committee, and prior approval is obtained from the Graduate Studies Committee.  SIE 900 Research units may not be counted toward a PhD Degree.  

Completion requirement

All PhD students must choose at least one minor subject area.  The purpose of choosing a minor is to add breadth to their training. Per the recommendation from the SIE faculty minor advisor, students may select any of the eligibe courses that will benefit their dissertation research. 

Active Systems and Industrial Engineering Ph.D (major) students cannot minor in Systems and Industrial Engineering.

A split minor between two departments is also possible.  All selections are subject to the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee.  The minor requires 12 units. Even if the doctoral minor the student selects only requires 9 units, students within this program will still be required to complete 12 minor units. Split minors require 6 units from each area (with approval from each academic department).

Completion requirement