Courses in the Systems Engineering programs can be grouped into four categories: Foundations courses, Systems Engineering courses, Applications courses, and Projects. The purpose and content of these courses can be summarized as:
The SE Foundations courses are undergraduate-level courses that provide a broad coverage of basic scientific, mathematical, and engineering principles that will be necessary to understanding the material covered in the Systems Engineering and Applications courses and to participate successfully in the Projects. Laboratory content in these courses is designed to instill familiarity with the scientific method and demonstrated basic experimental techniques.
The Systems Engineering courses teach the basics of the systems engineering process, project management, systems suitability (incl. human factors, safety, reliability, maintainability, supportability, etc.), and systems assessment (operations analysis, simulation & modeling, test & evaluation, cost analysis, etc.). These courses form the core of the requirements for the M. S. degree in Systems Engineering.
The SE Applications courses are graduate-level courses that provide domain knowledge needed to successfully complete the SE Projects and to satisfy Naval Subspecialty code requirements. Laboratory content in these courses is designed to demonstrate critical concepts and tools that may be useful in student research projects.
The SE Projects include both an individual research project culminating in a M.S. thesis and an extended team-oriented design project culminating in a formal project report. These courses provide a concrete validation that the student has mastered the principles presented in the Foundations, Systems Engineering, and Applications courses.
