Stevens Launches Industrial and Systems Engineering Undergraduate Program to Address Growing Need for Systems Engineers

There is a critical need for 21st Century technical leaders who can improve productivity and efficiency for enterprises in industry and government. Leaders in these enterprises are seeking engineers with analytical skills and a strong systems perspective. To help fill that need, Stevens Institute of Technology has launched a new undergraduate Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) program to prepare students with a broad-based engineering foundation, a systems thinking perspective and strong data analysis skills to improve existing systems and build new modern, efficient systems. 

“Enterprises in business and government want to do things better: increase customer satisfaction, improve efficiencies, decrease costs and more,” says Dr. Kathryn Abel, industry associate professor at Stevens and ISE program lead. “ISEs are engineering professionals with capability in systems thinking and data analytics, and they are trained to be productivity and quality improvement specialists, where they examine the entire system to make sure that people and things move together as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

The job outlook for industrial and systems engineers (ISEs) is expected to grow steadily over the next decade based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Typical roles Stevens ISE graduates are well-positioned to pursue after graduation include industrial engineer, systems engineer, systems integration engineer, quality engineer, project engineer, sales and marketing engineer, and more. 

Systems thinking, systems analytics and data science are core to the new ISE program 

The Stevens ISE program emphasizes cross-disciplinary systems perspectives and complex data analysis in its core curriculum. The aim of the program is to teach students to think about the ways in which technology can help organizations accomplish goals through the application of data science to define engineering solutions.

“Today, optimization in information and service systems is becoming increasingly important,” says Dr. Abel, placing emphasis on the systems thinking and data science core of the new Stevens ISE program. 

Another unique component of the Stevens ISE program is that students will have varied opportunities to interact with well-known systems engineering researchers at Stevens, which is home to state-of-the-art research centers: the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) and the Center for Complex Systems and Enterprises (CCSE). Through these centers, faculty, and undergraduate and graduate researchers, collaborate with interdisciplinary academic and industry partners to understand and address the increasing complexity of the world’s systems.

The undergraduate ISE program was developed by Stevens faculty who are industry practitioners, researchers and academics in the field of systems engineering. The program leverages the faculty and expertise of the systems engineering graduate program at the Stevens School of Systems and Enterprises (SSE), which is ranked amongst the top 35 graduate programs in systems engineering by US News and World Report. SSE provides a world-class, practice-based and research-supported education to empower 21st century technical leaders. 

With the launch of the ISE program, Stevens strengthens its leadership in preparing next generation systems engineers to solve relevant, real world problems. 

Interested applicants can learn more about the ISE program at Stevens by visiting the program webpage.