Industrial and Systems Engineering Mission and Program Outcomes

Mission

The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering is committed to empowering tomorrow's engineers to lead innovation across technical, societal, and economic frontiers; achieving excellence in education that bridges high-quality research and industrial practice for a diverse student body; and engaging in outreach and service through partnerships with regional, national and global communities.

Program Educational Objectives

The Industrial and Systems Engineering department at Northern Illinois University expects, in three to five years following graduation, that our graduates will be:

• Practicing industrial and systems engineering skills to facilitate excellence in complex systems across manufacturing, healthcare, service, or other sectors.

• Continuing self-directed learning with emerging technologies to enhance both career and personal growth.

• Upholding professionalism, ethical integrity and leadership across organizational and societal contexts.

Student Outcomes

1. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex Industrial and Systems engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science and mathematics
   1. Identifies problem/project requirements for a system where improvements can be made.
   2. Formulates the given system appropriately for the purpose of understanding qualitative and/or quantitative behavior.
   3. Applies appropriate engineering, science and/or mathematical principles to solve complex industrial and systems engineering problems.
2. An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental and economic factors.
   1. Identifies and understands the critical issues and determines the overall goal and objectives of the design project.
   2. Identifies and evaluates necessary information and resources required for the design project.
   3. Generates alternative solutions using appropriate tools, software, and innovative thinking.
   4. Evaluates and selects the preferred solution(s) considering technical, non-technical or external factors and design tradeoffs.
3. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
   1. Writes well-structured technical reports adhering to professional standards.
   2. Delivers clear, well-organized, professional presentations that effectively convey information and ideas to a range of audiences.
4. An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgements, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental and societal contexts.
   1. Demonstrates knowledge of codes of conduct that guide the professional practice of engineering.
   2. Identifies various types of impacts of an engineering solution (i.e. environmental, economical, societal, etc.).
   3. Evaluates decision by incorporating the ethical impacts the decision can have on the individual, client, company and/or public.
5. An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks and meet objectives.
   1. Performs duties, shares responsibilities and adapts to different roles when applicable.
   2. Makes decisions through consensus by analyzing alternative perspectives and ideas objectively.
   3. Develops and follows a project plan with milestones to achieve project goals.
6. An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgement to draw conclusions.
   1. Defines a problem statement, dependent/independent variables and/or appropriate hypothesis.
   2. Uses and documents measurement techniques to collect data.
   3. Applies appropriate tools and techniques to analyze data.
   4. Interprets results and draws conclusions with respect to the assumptions and constraints.
7. An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
   1. Finds and evaluates information from multiple sources, including technical literature, databases and online resources.
   2. Integrates and synthesizes new information with existing knowledge.