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from Texas A&M University Undergraduate Catalog #130 for 2007-2008
Industrial and systems engineering is an engineering discipline devoted to the design, installation, improvement and control of integrated systems of people, materials, and facilities in a wide range of organizations that produce goods or render services. Like other engineering fields, industrial and systems engineering is concerned with solving problems through the application of specialized knowledge in mathematics and science, as well as the principles of engineering. An important characteristic of industrial and systems engineering is its system approach to integrate the basic resources of production and service systems and other relevant resources, such as information and energy, in such a way as to create a smooth, efficient and competitive operation within an enterprise. Industrial and systems engineers are needed in virtually all types of enterprises, ranging from industries such as manufacturing, distribution, logistics, transportation, and construction; service sectors such as healthcare, retail, banking, and engineering consulting to government agencies, military, and non-profit orgaizations.
The mission of the industrial and systems engineering program is to serve the state, nation, and global community by educating industrial and systems engineering engineering students to be well founded in engineering fundamentals and to have the knowledge and skills required to design, develop, improve, implement and control sophisticated production and service systems in an environment characterized by complex technical and social challenges. Throughout this educational process, students will be instilled with the highest standards of professional and ethical behavior. It is the intent of the undergraduate industrial and systems engineering program to equip its graduates to achieve the following accomplishments a few years after graduation:
The four-year curriculum in industrial and systems engineering at Texas A&M is designed to provide students with a solid basis in mathematics and science, as well as in engineering economics, manufacturing systems, production and inventory control, operations research, quality engineering, reliability, facilities planning and materials handling. The program culminates with a senior design course in which students apply principles and knowledge acquired through the curriculum to an actual industrial problem.
Industrial and systems engineering students may participate in the Undergraduate Minor Program offered by Texas A&M. This program is usually comprised of 15 to 18 hours, some of which may be substituted as technical electives. The most common minors are math, business and economics. The department also has a Fast Track Program for academically qualified students who want to take selected graduate courses and receive both graduate and undergraduate credit by meeting specific requirements. The department encourages students to participate in industrial internships or the Cooperative Education Program to acquire practical experience to complement their industrial and systems engineering education. Internships are generally encouraged during the summer months only. Students who participate in the Co-op program during three academic semesters may count the three credit hours as a technical elective in their curriculum.
Automatic admission to upper-level status will be granted to students who complete the Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) courses with no grade below a C and a minimum cumulative GPR of 2.5 in these courses. Also, the Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and systems engineering requires a 2.0 GPR over the required industrial and systems engineering courses with at most one D among the required industrial and systems engineering courses. If a course is repeated, only the most recent grade is used in fulfilling this requirement.
Graduate degrees including the Master of Science (MS), Master of Engineering (M.Eng.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) are also offered by the department in addition to the Bachelor of Science in industrial and systems engineering Engineering. For graduate degree information please see the Texas A&M University Graduate Catalog .
