Project Management Concentration

Admission and course requirements are the same as for the Systems Engineering program listed above with the exception that students wishing to elect a concentration in project management should select the following two courses:

• 595 . 461 - Technical Group Management
• 595 . 465 - Communications in Technical Organizations

Biomedical Systems Engineering Concentration

Systems engineering is playing an increasing role in the development and implementation of modern complex biomedical systems. If today’s practicing engineers and scientists are to develop new and much needed biomedical technologies and systems, they need to plan, coordinate, and oversee interdisciplinary team efforts that translate operational needs into technology solutions, and whose tools and skills determine whether a system will meet cost, schedule, and performance goal. At the same time, they should understand the fundamental nature and interaction of biological and physiological systems.

This new concentration trains students to integrate the diverse areas of biomedical engineering with the skills and tools of a systems engineer. Students should expect they will have a deeper understanding of the field and a broader perspective of the system challenges of biomedical systems that they will be able to immediately implement in their places of employment.

Information Assurance Systems Engineering Concentration

Systems engineering methodologies are required to develop, evaluate, protect and maintain highly integrated and complex information systems to ensure these systems are able to work together effectively and efficiently in the face of increasing threats and advancing technologies. When sophisticated attempts are made to exploit weaknesses in information systems, attention is required in the computing environments, the supporting infrastructure, and the boundaries and interfaces of their networks. A systems approach to the security architecture, design, development, and testing of information systems will address information assurance requirements to control access, protect assets, validate security subsystems, train users, and to manage the systems.

The Information Assurance (IA) operations protect and defend information and information systems to ensure their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, and non-repudiation. IA provides for restoration of information systems by incorporating protection, detection, and reaction capabilities focused on risk management to address threats using a cost-effective approach in the context of the environment of the fielded systems. Using systems engineering, techniques and methodologies are employed to determine where vulnerabilities might exist, modeling and simulation to determine trade-offs in the protection of systems, and a variety of techniques for the creation of systems that protect and defend information systems.

This concentration trains students to integrate the diverse areas of information assurance with the skills and tools of a systems engineer and a computer scientist. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the field and a broader perspective of the system challenges which they will be able to immediately implement on the job.

Modeling and Simulation Systems Engineering Concentration

One of the most important tools in systems engineering is the use of modeling and simulation processes to help elicit system requirements, support the analysis of alternatives, estimate and optimize cost and schedule, predict system performance, and to improve systems processes. Models and simulations help perform experiments that may not be possible in the real world due to physical, environmental, or economic constraints.

Modeling and simulation should be used to support engineering activities throughout the full systems life cycle. From concept, design, testing, to evaluating product performance, model-based tools provide the means for experimentation and analysis to better understand the attributes and expected behavior of the system and to evaluate the processes and strategies needed to optimize the system performance. M&S also accounts for human systems integration, manufacturability, and sustaining the product. 

In this systems engineering concentration, students complete the core systems engineering courses, followed by a rigorous course in statistical methods and data analysis. This latter course from the Applied and Computational Mathematical Program provides an understanding of statistical techniques and the use of several methodologies for practical world problems. Two additional required courses provide the use of modeling and simulation following the systems engineering life cycle and experience in advanced modeling and simulation topics including VV&A, markup languages, cost modeling, simulation interoperability and collaborative environments. Students are expected to take the two-semester Systems Engineering Master’s Thesis course that will lead to a publication.

Software Systems Engineering Concentration

Systems engineers are increasingly responsible for developing software-intensive systems. This concentration provides the fundamental knowledge and skills required for specifying and implementing a system development, combined with the competencies needed to define and document software requirements, analyze and design software systems, and manage the software project activities. Following the core systems engineering courses, software courses emphasize structural and design techniques, software safety, software project cost and schedule estimation, and techniques for evaluating software maturity and efficiency.

This concentration will provide systems engineers with the knowledge of software engineering and management to improve their effectiveness with systems development with significant software components. Teamwork and group projects are emphasized throughout the curriculum to prepare students for real life work environments.