The engineering management program is designed to prepare engineers to be effective leaders and managers. The curriculum prepares students to plan, design, optimize, and direct complex programs, processes, and systems. The systems engineering program is similar but is designed to provide a broader, interdisciplinary approach to problem solving and decision making within organizations. The curriculum is designed to prepare students to design, integrate and manage complex systems over their life cycles.

Our graduates excel in the concepts and use of quantitative methodologies for solving problems and making informed decisions in complex engineering systems. We offer practicing engineers and other professionals the analytical tools they need to plan, design, optimize, and direct complex programs, processes, and systems – and manage the teams that make them work. UD engineering management and systems engineering graduates demonstrate the ability to quantify, model and simulate situations to make informed decisions required of engineering leaders in a dynamic environment. Our graduates are equipped with the tools to enable the successful realization of engineered systems and manage their operations and retirement over the entire life cycle. Our programs provide the rigorous educational foundation that underlies current system thinking, management initiatives, and emerging trends such as Operations Excellence and Data Analytics.

Both programs require the completion of 30 semester hours (10 courses). Both require a foundational course in probability and statistics.

The engineering management program also includes foundational courses in engineering organizational development, engineering economy, as well as project-based coursework. In addition, twelve (12) credit hours of elective courses must be taken from the EMST graduate curriculum. Students will also take six (6) credit hours of graduate-level electives.

The systems engineering program also requires management of engineering systems, project management, requirements engineering and analysis, and systems architecture and model-based systems engineering. Systems engineering students also take nine (9) credit hours of courses from the EMST graduate curriculum, as well as six (6) other graduate-level electives that meet the student’s professional objectives.

Students can carefully and strategically choose their electives to earn certificates that demonstrate mastery in Foundations of Engineering Management, Modeling and Simulation, Six Sigma and Operational Excellence, Systems Architecture and Analytics, and Systems Engineering Management. Elective courses can also be chosen in areas of professional interest that relate to modern business and government initiatives in innovation and continuous improvement, supply chain management, data analytics, reliability engineering, simulation modeling and analysis, production and manufacturing, and leadership.

The completion of a thesis is optional. Students interested in completing a thesis will need adviser approval and must take six (6) credit hours of thesis. Students interested in continuing their education at the doctoral level are encouraged to complete a thesis. Those funded via graduate assistantships are generally expected to complete a thesis. Our programs offer project-based curriculum for students to demonstrate their ability to translate course work to a real-world application. The objective is to provide the student an opportunity to apply what has been learned toward the solution of a significant engineering or business problem.

Yes. While courses in our engineering management and systems engineering programs are routinely offered on campus in a traditional classroom setting, most courses are also “simulcast” over the Internet via web conferencing. Students unable to attend classes on campus can participate in real time via web conferencing software. Simulcast courses are recorded, so all students, including on-campus and Internet-based students can playback classroom sessions at their convenience.

Due to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regulations, international students attending the University of Dayton on F-1 or J-1 visas are limited to completing their degree program within the traditional classroom environment. Under special conditions (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), students may be able to take some courses online. Please visit the University of Dayton’s International Student and Scholar Services website for updates about immigration issues.