Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering draws faculty from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Public Health, Carlson School, and more. Students gain skills for a variety of challenging careers including global supply chains, healthcare delivery systems, revenue management, and manufacturing operations.

Tradition of excellence

The College of Science and Engineering has offered master’s and doctoral degrees in Industrial and Systems Engineering for years. The undergraduate degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering was added in 2012. Led by world-renowned faculty, the program is designed to unleash the potential for undergraduate students to thrive in sectors such as logistic operations, healthcare, and financial services locally and worldwide.

World-class academic programs

The curriculum includes a broad math and science foundation spanning chemistry, physics, engineering design, calculus, differential equations, statistics, and computer science. Students choose from specialized courses including operations research, systems engineering, engineering management, and production, inventory and distribution systems. Students will learn to use computer simulation along with extensive mathematical tools and modeling and computational methods for system analysis, evaluation, and optimization.

Faculty members are active in several research areas with a particular focus on operations research and its applications, including supply chains and logistics, health care, revenue management, transportation, and service and manufacturing operations.

Cutting-edge research

Faculty and students have access to state-of-the-art research facilities including the Enterprise Logistics Laboratory, the Geometric Optimization and Transportation Laboratory, the Stochastic Modeling Laboratory and Supply Chain and Operations Research Laboratory (SCORLAB). Integrating science, engineering, mathematics, and management, researchers work in a wide range of industries developing processes that improve quality, productivity, and efficiency.

Business and industry connections

With 17 Fortune 500 companies located in the Twin Cities, students have a variety of opportunities to engage in co-op learning, internships, and experiential learning located close to campus. Companies include UnitedHealth Group, 3M, Medtronic. St. Jude Medical, and General Mills in areas such as computer technology, medical devices, and consumer products