Industrial Engineering, Ph.D.

(PIE)

The Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering (IE) will prepare students for extensive research and careers in academia, industry, and government while providing a broad knowledge of industrial engineering. The Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering deals with the development of new methods and technologies that allow for the optimization of complex business, production and manufacturing processes or systems. Industrial engineers are critical to manufacturing, commodity production, information technology, and healthcare industries. This program is intended for students with a bachelor or master’s degree in Industrial Engineering or a closely related discipline. The program allows a candidate to thoroughly study both broad knowledge of industrial engineering and in depth knowledge of specialty fields in IE through faculty expertise in research areas such as management systems, quality systems engineering, human computer interaction, manufacturing systems, systems integration, ergonomics, supply chain and logistics, and information technology. 

IE Ph.D. requires a minimum of 54 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree and a dissertation acceptable to the advisory committee and the Graduate School. A minimum of 42 credit hours of non-research coursework, with 2 required and 4 elective (IE 7000 level) IE courses, and 8 other elective courses. These other elective courses may be additional IE courses and/or courses from other university programs to satisfy the needs of research goals or career objectives. In addition to the non­research coursework, at least 12 credit hours of dissertation research (IE9000) and approved dissertation must be completed. All courses are determined in consultation with the faculty adviser and approved by the dissertation research committee.

Two exams are required: 1) a general exam to be taken after the majority of the coursework is complete; and 2) a dissertation defense to present novel and significant findings to the public and to defend the dissertation to the committee. 

PhD in Industrial Engineering (IE) courses include: 
Required Courses (6 credit hours) 

• IE 7722 Special Topics in Industrial Engineering (3)  
• IE 4362 Advanced Engineering Statistics (3)      

IE Elective Courses (12 credit hours)

• Four IE 7000-level courses from the list below.

Other Elective Courses  (24 credit hours)

• These courses may be additional IE courses and/or courses from other university programs to satisfy the needs of research goals or career objectives. Selected courses must be approved by the student’s committee. 

Dissertation Research (12 credit hours)

• IE 9000 Dissertation Research (1-12) 

Statistics courses

• EXST 7011 Nonparametric Statistics (3)  
• EXST 7034 Regression Analysis (3)  
• EXST 7036 Categorical Data Analysis (3)  
• EXST 7037 Multivariate Statistics (3)  
• EXST 7039 Statistical Methods for Reliability and Survival Data (3)  
• EXST 7142 Statistical Data Mining (3)  

IE 7000 courses

• IE 7211 Project Engineering (3)  
• IE 7425 Advanced Information Systems Engineering (3)  
• IE 7428 Semantic Analysis (3)  
• IE 7455 Lean Process Improvement (3)  
• IE 7464 Work Physiology (3)  
• IE 7465 Occupational Biomechanics (3)  
• IE 7466 Human Interaction with Computers (3)  
• IE 7467 Cognitive Ergonomics and Work Environments (3)  
• IE 7541 Linear Programming Algorithms (3)  
• IE 7561 Programming Methods in Operations Research (3)  
• IE 7565 Metaheuristics (3)  
• IE 7722 Special Topics in Industrial Engineering (3)  
• IE 7724 Independent Study in Industrial Engineering (1-3)  
• IE 7762 Supply Chain Systems (3)  
• IE 7764 Logistics & Distribution Systems (3)  
• IE 7765 Lean Production Systems (3)  
• IE 7768 Sequencing and Scheduling (3)  
• IE 7771 Design of Manufacturing Systems (3)