Undergraduate Course Planning

Our Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering curriculum emphasizes the fundamentals of analytics and management to support the modeling, design, and optimization of systems across a wide range of applications and domains. Students will learn the skills and tools necessary to succeed in a variety of industry, nonprofit and government settings.

Undergraduate Curriculum

All students are required to take a core set of courses that together ensure a strong foundation in the fundamentals of industrial and systems engineering. After the completion of core coursework covering calculus, chemistry, physics, computer science, probability and statistics, students gain solid industrial and systems engineering competencies through a rigorous curriculum of required ISyE courses.  Each student customizes a technical elective course plan to prepare them for the career that most interests them. A student's chosen electives can result in a minor or emphasis in one of a number of fields, such as financial services, manufacturing and service operations, supply chain management, and healthcare operations.

All students complete a final capstone project that provides them with real-world experience by collaborating with a sponsoring company or organization. Students work in teams of four to five and receive guidance from a faculty advisor and industry mentor for 15 weeks during their senior year. This capstone project provides students with hands-on experience and proof of their abilities as they prepare to launch their career.

Elective Course Options

Elective Course Requirements

The Industrial and Systems Engineering degree allows students flexibility to tailor their studies to their interests and career goals through three groups of electives: Industrial Engineering Course Electives, Business Course Elective, and Technical Electives. A single course can at most be counted as one elective type. Students who are admitted to ISyE in Fall 2022 or later must meet the following requirements:

1 Business Course Elective
8 credits IE Electives
11 credits Technical Electives

View Approved Elective Courses

Submitting an Elective Course Plan

During the spring semester of their junior year, each ISyE student should submit an ISyE Elective Approval Form to isyeundergrad@umn.edu for review. ISyE Student Services will contact students via email with any questions about their form. Once the planned electives are approved, they will be entered in your APAS report the summer before your planned degree completion.

If a student wants to change their elective plan after submitting the form, they should email isyeundergrad@umn.edu as soon as possible with the list of courses they want to add and to remove from their Elective Approval Form.

Elective Approval Form

Submitting a course for technical elective evaluation

If a student is interested in taking a course that is not in the above list as a technical elective, they may request it be evaluated. The student should send an email to isyeundergrad@umn.edu with two attachments: (1) copy of the course's syllabus, and (2) a completed copy of the Technical Elective Evaluation Form. Evaluations are usually completed within 4 weeks.

Technical Elective Evaluation Form

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Students pursuing their Bachelor's in ISyE have the chance to deepen their academic and career interests by taking part in research, scholarly and creative projects with a faculty member. ISyE's diverse faculty offer many opportunities for students to prepare for their career or graduate school, or even start a research project of their own creation.

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Engineering Co-op Program

After the completion of their sophomore year, students have the opportunity to make money while gaining valuable on-site engineering work experience with leading companies in their intended field. At least two semesters of co-op experience can earn a student technical elective credit.

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How Kaitlyn Erdmann is utilizing her degree...

Before earning her Bachelor's Degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering, Kaitlyn interned at Boston Scientific and worked part-time at the medical device manufacturer's local offices during her senior year. When she graduated, Boston Scientific hired Kaitlyn as an internal consultant for process improvement. She now supports two divisions within the medical device manufacturer. Her role includes engaging with leaders and contributors across all of the company's non-operations based functions (such as sales, research and development, supply chain, and marketing) to uncover ways to reduce waste and improve productivity.

In her job, Kaitlyn facilitates many kaizen events, which focus on mapping out a current process and identifying potential solutions for improvement. She also develops and teaches lean training so her colleagues may apply those principles in the office space.

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How David Busacker is utilizing his degree...

David, a summa cum laude graduate from the ISyE program, began focusing his electives and honors thesis work on additive manufacturing after taking a technical elective on 3D printing in the fall of his junior year. Upon graduating, he began consulting Fortune 500s as a business consultant at branding agency SGK Inc. Separately but at the same time, David started teaching the same 3D printing class that had captivated his attention as an undergraduate student.

Eventually, after growing his teaching network, he became an Applications Engineer at Stratasys, the world's largest 3D printing company. There he advised the most advanced additive users in the Midwest territory on additive applications and best practices. In 2018, he joined a growing consultancy within Stratasys focused on driving additive adoption in a variety of industries including medical, automotive, and consumer goods.

David's philosophy on additive manufacturing is that the true barriers to 3D printing adoption are more often a lack of strategy or knowledge than the technical immaturity of the manufacturing practice. His goal is to bring future-ready companies to the doorstep of innovation.

How Olivia Evanson is utilizing her degree...

Olivia is currently in her fifth year at the University of Southern California, pursuing her Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering. Her dissertation research focuses on using health analytics to understand the role of patient-reported outcomes in the evaluation of chronic disease care-management models.

She plans to complete her Ph.D. in December 2019 and pursue a career in industry working as a product manager for a digital health startup. Long term, her goal is to return to USC as a teaching professor of industrial and systems engineering courses.

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Ready to apply?

Review our admission requirements and start your application today!

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Questions?

Reach out to Katie Sharpe at Student Services at isye@umn.edu or (612) 625-4469 with any additional questions about the ISyE Undergraduate program.