Industrial & Systems Engineering

What is ISyE?

Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) applies basic engineering skills form mathematics and the physical sciences, specialized analysis techniques, and an understanding of how people interact with machines and each other to design, evaluate, and improve the performance of systems in industry and in the service sector. Examples of the types of systems that may be analyzed by ISyEs include health care delivery systems, product distribution networks, and manufacturing systems.

The factors that most distinguish ISyE form other engineering disciplines are the close relationship between ISYE methods and effective business operations, and the attention devoted to the people in the systems being analyzed-some say ISyEs are “the people engineers.”

At USD we help you to acquire the technical knowledge needed to address the broad spectrum of problems encountered as an ISyE. We make sure you develop the liberal arts background and the communication and interpersonal skills you will need to succeed on the job. Then we ask you to help create better places for people to work and live.

What kinds of jobs do USD ISyE grads have?

Jaclyn Sonico works for Callaway Golf. Her process improvement team works with other engineers and production workers to rapidly design, develop, and produce demonstrable superior golf equipment.

Nick Barker works at Kennedy Space Center as a mission engineer with Boeing NASA systems. He is responsible for planning and managing engineering operations that ensure the integrity of shuttle payloads.

In his position at Wal-Mart, Matt Craig uses the skills he developed at USD to improve the efficiency of store operations by helping store Associates find ways to reduce unnecessary work and provide the highest level of customer service.

The Educational Objectives of the USD Industrial & Systems Engineering Program are to develop graduates who:
1. apply their education to design, develop, optimize, implement, or manage systems integrating people, materials, information, equipment, and energy;
2. provide value to the organizations where they work by identifying and resolving problems encountered by internal or external customers;
3. participate on cross-functional work teams to contribute to the success of their organizations.