Advising Information for the Masters of Science in Systems Engineering
This page provides advising information for students pursuing the MSSE. Although there are a lot of possible electives, this page also lists some common electives taken by students pursuing their MSSE. Some additional advising suggestions are also presented.
Transfer Coursework
At most 6 hours of courses from another institution can be transferred in to fulfill the requirements, but these credits cannot have been used to satisfy the degree requirements from the other institution. These classes will most likely be transferred as either engineering electives or electives. The determination will be made by the Program Director and formalized on the Program of Study.
Nonmatriculated Coursework
A total of 15 hours of nonmatriculated course work can be applied toward either the MSSE or MEM degrees. All nonmatriculated courses must have been taken within 3 years of being admitted to the relevant graduate degree. Please note, that any transferred courses also count toward the 15 hour limit. So a student transferring 6 hours can only apply 9 hours of nonmatriculated courses toward their MEM or MSSE degree.
Program of Study
The Program of Study is the listing of courses that the student will take to earn their MSSE. This form should be completed prior to completing 15 hours or the student may end up needing to take more than 30 hours to complete the MSSE degree requirements. More information on the Program of Study is in the MSSE Curriculum page. Once the Program of Study is completed and approved, that becomes the degree requirements for that particular student. The student should follow their Program of Study, unless a Change of Program of Study form has been completed.
Prerequisites
- One year of calculus
- One semester of statistics
- It is highly encouraged that students have had at least one computer programming course.
Mastering the Prerequisite Material
Many students entering the program will have passed the prerequisite courses years ago and may have forgotten the bulk of the material. The following advising notes provide classes where students can gain sufficient mastery of the prerequisite material for the MSSE. These graduate classes can also be used to fulfill the MSSE course requirements.
- Individuals meeting the statistics requirement but feeling weak in their statistical knowledge should take either SIME 6000 - ME EN 6185 or SIME 6060 - ME EN 6183 early in their coursework.
- Individuals that have no computer coding experience or feel weak in this area should take SIME 6000 - ME EN 6185 early in their coursework.
- Any relevant calculus topics will be covered, when necessary, in their respective courses.
Course Section Numbers
The U uses standard section numbers for enrollment. These sections differ by on-campus and online, and also whether or not a student is enrolled in a graduate program or is a nonmatriculated student. While registering for courses, online students should not use the U's scheduler tools. Online courses are offered without times, and these courses may never show in the scheduling tools. Online students should search for the desired course name/number and make sure that they enroll in the correct section.
- On-campus students wishing to attend the lectures of a course should enroll in the 001-010 sections
- On-campus students wishing to enroll in a course that is offered online should enroll in the 090 sections (never have an in class lecture or activity). Most on-campus courses do not offer these sections. There is also no guarantee that a student could earn a degree using only 090 sections. Furthermore, 090 sections are not scheduled with the same regularity as the other sections on this list. See the current semester's on-campus schedule for existing 090 sections.
- Online students admitted to an online degree program (Bachelors, Masters, or Ph.D.) or nonmatriculated online students should enroll in the 290 sections of courses.
- If your company has created a contract for online education, then the section is 030-039.
MSSE typical courses and corresponding requirement
Please note that planned course offerings may change due to extraordinary circumstances. For the most up-to-date information on an upcoming semester, check the U’s official course schedule for all available Systems Engineering offers.
| Course Number | Course Title | Semester Offered | Core MSSE class | Eng Elective | Elective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ME EN 6035* | Design of Experiments | Spring | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6100 | Ergonomics | Fall | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6110 | Introduction to Industrial Safety | Fall | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6150 | Product-Safety Eng & Eng Ethics | Fall | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6160* | Fundamentals of Systems Eng | Fall | Yes | ||
| ME EN 6165* | Requirements Eng & Management | Spring | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6166* | Model-Based Systems Eng | Fall | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6170* | System Engineering and Integration | Spring | Yes | ||
| ME EN 6180* | Project Management for Engineers | Spring | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6182* | Design of Production & Service Sys | Summer | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6183* | Discrete Event Sys Simulation | Fall | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6184* | Operations Research for Systems | Spring | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6185* | Analytics for Systems Management | Fall | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6186* | Engineering Economic Analysis | Summer | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6210 | State Space Control | Spring | Yes | Yes | |
| ME EN 6960 | Space Mission Engineering | Fall | Yes | Yes |
* Indicates courses that are typically offered both on campus and online
Typical Schedules for the MSSE starting fall or summer
There are no prerequisites, students can start any semester. The following schedule is just a sample, but there are numerous other paths to graduation. The Program of Study, which must be approved, becomes that student's required courses for the MSSE degree. See MSSE curriculum page for more details about the Program of Study.
A full time student is 9 hours (3 classes). However, some people wish to finish in a single year. Each semester lists 4 classes. Students should generally take the top classes each semester. So if a part-time student only wishes to take one or two classes a semseter, then the student should enroll in the top one or two courses. All courses listed in this schedule are available on-campus and online.
| Suggested Class Schedules | |
|---|---|
| Fall | SIME 6400 |
| SIME 6060 | |
| SIME 6460 | |
| Eng. Elective (SIME 6000 if you are lacking in computer coding skills) | |
| Spring | SIME 6410 |
| SIME 6430 | |
| ME EN 6035 | |
| Elective | |
| Summer | Eng Elective |
| Elective | |
| Graduating Semester | Capstone Experience |
Additional Advising Comments:
The first two courses to take are SIME 6400 and SIME 6410, which are crosslisted with ME EN 6160 and ME EN 6170. These courses provide a broad overview of Systems Engineering. These courses with B+ or better grades also waive INCOSE's Knowledge Based Exam for professional certification.
One Year Graduate Certificate in Systems Engineering
Taking the top 2 courses in the Fall, 2 courses in the Spring and the top class in the Summer provides the core and elective credits to earn the Graduate Systems Engineering Certificate (subject to grade requirements). Do not forget that you need to fill out the departmental form in the semester you want to earn the certificate.