Students in class room

The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering offers a number of master of science (MS) degree programs in Industrial Engineering:

Industrial Engineering:  Research, MS
Industrial Engineering:  Human Factors and Health Systems Engineering, MS
Industrial Engineering:  Systems Engineering and Analytics, MS

The Industrial Engineering MS degree with a named option in research takes approximately two years to complete. The program has a significant research component, giving students valuable hands-on research experience with mentoring by faculty in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. This program may require a written thesis and defense.

The Industrial Engineering MS degree with named options in Human Factors and Health Systems Engineering as well as Systems Engineering and Analytics are considered accelerated graduate programs. Each take approximately 16 months to complete, and must be completed within two (2) calendar years. These two programs include only coursework.

All students are mentored by the world-class faculty in the industrial and systems engineering department at UW–Madison. For a list of faculty and their corresponding research interests, please visit our faculty directory. For more information on research areas see our page on research in Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Admissions

Students apply to the Master of Science in Industrial Engineering through one of the named options:

Funding 

Graduate School Resources

Resources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School. Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding.

Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding.

Program Resources

Tuition and funding opportunities vary according to the specific MS program. Funding information for each named option program is available on the corresponding pages:

Industrial Engineering:  Research, MS
Industrial Engineering: Human Factors and Health Systems Engineering, MS
Industrial Engineering: Systems Engineering and Analytics, MS


Please note that the Human Factors and Health Systems Engineering graduate program, as well as the Systems Engineering and Analytics graduate program, are considered accelerated programs. As such, students enrolled in these programs are ineligible to receive tuition remission for graduate assistantships, per UW-Madison policy.

For more information specific to graduate assistantships within the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, please consult the department's graduate program handbook.

Minimum Graduate School Requirements

Review the Graduate School minimum academic progress and degree requirements, in addition to the program requirements listed below.

Major Requirements

Curricular Requirements

Minimum Credit Requirement 30 credits
Minimum Residence Credit Requirement 16 credits
Minimum Graduate Coursework Requirement 15 credits must be graduate-level coursework. Refer to the Graduate School: Minimum Graduate Coursework (50%) Requirement policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1244.
Overall Graduate GPA Requirement 3.00 GPA required.
Refer to the Graduate School: Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1203.
Other Grade Requirements Grades of C and D received by a candidate in any graduate course will not be counted as satisfying degree requirements. These grades will, however, be counted in the graduate GPA.
Assessments and Examinations None.
Language Requirements No language requirements.

Required Courses

Select a Named Option for courses required.

Named Options

A named option is a formally documented sub-major within an academic major program. Named options appear on the transcript with degree conferral. Students pursuing the Master of Science in Industrial Engineering must select one of the following named options:

Professional Development 

Graduate School Resources

Take advantage of the Graduate School's professional development resources to build skills, thrive academically, and launch your career. 

Program Resources

The Individual Development Plan

An Individual Development Plan helps with self-assessment, planning, and communication:

  • An IDP can help you communicate your professional development and career planning needs and intentions to others including your mentor, which can lead to helpful advice and resources.
  • You can use the IDP to make sure you and your mentor’s expectations are clearly outlined and in agreement so that there are no big surprises, particularly at the end of your training.
  • The current job market is challenging and research has shown that individuals who perform structured career planning achieve greater career success and satisfaction.

The onus to engage in the IDP process is on you – although your mentor, PI, or others may encourage and support you in doing so. The IDP itself remains private to you, and you choose which parts to share with which mentors. Through the IDP process, you may decide to identify various mentors to whom you can go for expertise and advice. 

Engineering Career Services

Julie Rae, Assistant Director for Graduate Student Career Services

Graduate students in all Engineering programs

Employer Recruitment List for Industrial Engineering Students: https://ecs.wiscweb.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/86/2017/03/IE-Employer-Recruitment-List-17-18.pdf

UW Writing Center

Location: 6171 Helen C. White Hall

Phone: (608) 263-1992

The UW Writing Center provides free face-to-face and online consultations that focus on a number of different writing scenarios (i.e. drafts of course papers, resumes, reports, application essays, cover letters, theses, etc.). Writing Center instructors will not edit or proofread papers; instead, their goal is to teach students to edit and proofread on their own in order to become better, more confident writers.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Articulates, critiques, or elaborates the theories, research methods, and approaches to inquiry or schools of practice in industrial and systems engineering including areas such as decision science and operations research, quality engineering, manufacturing and health systems, and/or human factors.
  2. Identifies sources and assembles evidence pertaining to questions or challenges in industrial and systems engineering.
  3. Demonstrates understanding of the industrial and systems engineering field of study in a historical, social, or global context.
  4. Selects and/or utilizes the most appropriate industrial and systems engineering methodologies and practices.
  5. Evaluates or synthesizes information pertaining to questions or challenges in industrial and systems engineering.
  6. Communicates clearly in ways appropriate to industrial and systems engineering.
  7. Recognizes and applies principles of ethical and professional conduct.

People

Professors

Laura Albert 
Oguzhan Alagoz
John D. Lee
Jeffrey Linderoth
Kaibo Liu
James Luedtke
Ranjana Mehta
Robert Radwin
Raj Veeramani

Doug Wiegmann
Shiyu Zhou (Chair)

Associate Professors

Alberto Del Pia
Tony McDonald
Gabriel Zayas-Cabán

Assistant Professors

Dan Li
Carla Michini
Yonatan Mintz 
Hantang Qin
Andi Wang
Qiaomin Xie

Teaching Professors

Amanda Smith

Teaching Faculty

Hannah Silber
Sinan Tas
Tina Xu

Lecturers

Terry Mann

Undergraduate Advisors

Michele Crandell
Missy Moreau

Jamie Utphall

Graduate Program Coordinator

Pam Peterson

See also Industrial and Systems Engineering Faculty Directory.