Systems Engineering
Systems Engineering (SE) cuts across the traditional Engineering departmental structure as a discipline that studies systems—be they electrical, mechanical, chemical, biological, or involving business processes and logistics—through information, decision, and control sciences. The Systems Engineering Program provides a unique graduate curriculum for students with these interests and extensive research opportunities through the interdisciplinary Center for Information & Systems Engineering (CISE) and its industry connections.
Systems Engineering is a cross-disciplinary program, offered by the College of Engineering in cooperation with faculty from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Management. The program integrates courses from Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Management. Students in the program have access to these units’ state-of-the-art computational and experimental facilities.
The Systems Engineering program offers MS, MEng, and PhD degrees. Through coursework, collaborative training projects, and dissertation research, students will learn to apply analytical, computational, and mathematical methods to all aspects of modern technology that require sophisticated modeling and intelligent information processing for design, management, and control. Students will receive instruction in communications and ethics as appropriate to the social impact and implications of Systems Engineering.
Graduates of the Systems Engineering program are equipped with the unique skills to adapt their knowledge and expertise to diverse application domains. These include, among others, automation, robotics and control; communications and networking; computational biology; information sciences; production, service systems, supply chains, and energy systems.
Admissions
Prospective students should have a strong undergraduate background in engineering, mathematics, physics, computer science, or economics. Applicants are required to submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination Test. General Graduate Record Examinations Subject Test scores are also accepted; normally, the subject test should be taken in engineering, mathematics, physics, computer science, or economics. Applicants whose native language is not English are also required to submit results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Applications may be obtained from, and all materials sent to: Boston University, College of Engineering, Graduate Programs, 48 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215. Applications are also available online at www.bu.edu/eng/grad.
Applications for admission for the fall semester, with or without financial aid consideration, must be submitted by January 15 for domestic applications and December 15 for international applications. The application deadline for spring admission is October 1 for both domestic and international applicants.
MS and MEng in Systems Engineering
Master of Science (MS) students must take 32 credits all of which must be at the 500 level or higher. The coursework requirements for the MS degree are as follows: Core (3 courses), Concentration (2 courses from one of the concentration areas in Systems Engineering), and Thesis or Graduate Project (at least 4 credits but no more than 8 credits of thesis or graduate project). MS students must also satisfy the advanced technical course requirement by taking at least two 700 or higher level courses from the Systems Engineering concentration areas, or courses approved by the Systems Engineering Graduate Committee in advance. The remaining required MS credit hours remain unstructured and can be chosen, with advisor approval, to meet an individual student’s academic needs.
Master of Engineering (MEng) students must take 32 credits all of which must be at the 500 level or higher. The coursework requirements for the MEng degree are as follows: Core (2 courses), Concentration (2 courses from one of the concentration areas in Systems Engineering). MEng students must also satisfy the advanced technical course requirement by taking at least two 700 or higher level courses from the Systems Engineering concentration areas, or courses approved by the Systems Engineering Graduate Committee in advance. The remaining required MEng credit hours remain unstructured and can be chosen, with advisor approval, to meet an individual student’s academic needs. The choice of courses must form a coherent and balanced program in Systems Engineering. MEng students should make their course selection in consultation with their faculty advisor.
MS and MEng students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 to remain in good academic standing and to graduate. All graduate courses are counted in the GPA. Grades of “C–” or lower are not acceptable for the MS or MEng degrees.
Master of Science and Master of Engineering Structured Course Requirements
Core
- SE/EC/ME 501 Dynamic Systems Theory, or
- SE/EC/ME 710 Dynamic Programming and Stochastic Control
- SE/EC 524 Optimization Theory and Methods
- SE/ME 714 Advanced Stochastic Modeling and Simulation, or
- EC 505 Stochastic Processes, or
- EK 500 Probability with Statistical Applications
Concentration
Computational and Systems Biology
- BE 505 Molecular Bioengineering I
- BE 561 DNA and Protein Sequence Analysis
- BE 563 Cellular and Molecular Systems Analysis
- BE 567 Nonlinear Dynamics in Biological Systems
- BE 571 Dynamics and Evolution of Biological Networks
- BE 760 Structural Bioinformatics
- BE 777 Computational Genomics I
Control Systems
- SE/ME 762 Nonlinear Systems and Control
- EC 702 Recursive Estimation and Optimal Filtering
- ME/MS 507 Process Modeling and Control
- ME 570 Robot Motion Planning
- SE/EC/ME 733 Discrete Event and Hybrid Systems
- SE 734 Hybrid Systems
- SE/ME 740 Vision Robotics and Planning
Network Systems
- EC 541 Computer Communication Networks
- EC/ME 544 Networking the Physical World
- EC 715 Wireless Communications
- SE/EC 741 Randomized Network Algorithms
- SE/ME 755 Communication Networks Control
- EC 744 Mobile Networking and Computing
- SE/EC/ME 725 Queuing Systems
Financial Engineering
- MA 577 Mathematics of Financial Derivatives
- MF 572 Introduction to Mathematical Finance
- MF 795 Stochastic Methods of Mathematical Finance
- MF 796 Computational Methods of Mathematical Finance
- FE 823 Investments
Production and Service Systems
- ME 510 Production Systems Analysis
- SE/EC/ME 543 Sustainable Power Systems
- SE/EC/ME 733 Discrete Event and Hybrid Systems
- SE/ME 765 Production System Design
- SE/ME 766 Advanced Scheduling Models and Methods
- OM 726 Creating Value Through Operations and Technology
- OM 854 Supply Chain Management
Operations Research
- ME/EC 514 Simulation
- SE/EC/ME 710 Dynamic Programming and Stochastic Control
- SE/ME 714 Advanced Stochastic Modeling and Simulation
- SE/EC/ME 724 Advanced Optimization Theory and Methods
- SE/EC/ME 725 Queuing Systems
- SE/ME 732 Combinatorial Optimization and Graph Algorithms
- SE/EC/ME 733 Discrete Event and Hybrid Systems
- SE/ME 766 Advanced Scheduling Models and Methods
Energy and Environmental Systems
- SE/EC/ME 543 Sustainable Power Systems
- ME/MS 545 Electrochemistry of Fuel Cells and Batteries
- EC/MS 573 Solar Energy Systems
- OM 845 Clean Technology Business Models
- CAS EC 513 Game Theory
- GRS EC 716 Game Theory
- CAS EC 571 Energy and Environmental Economics
- CAS EC 572 Public Control of Business
- GRS GE 712 Regional Energy Modeling
PhD in Systems Engineering
The Systems Engineering Division offers postbachelor’s and post-master’s PhD degrees. Doctoral studies may be pursued in areas actively researched by division faculty. Students admitted to the postbachelor’s PhD program must complete the course requirements for the MS degree in Systems Engineering. They are required to take a minimum of 64 credits during their program of study. The remaining required PhD credit hours remain unstructured and can be chosen, with advisor approval, to meet an individual student’s academic and research needs.
Postbachelor’s doctoral students will be awarded MS degrees upon completion of the MS degree requirements and the PhD Prospectus Exam.
There are no structured course requirements for post-master’s PhD students, but such students are required to complete 32 credits applicable to the degree, all of which must be at the 500 level or higher. These courses can be chosen, with advisor approval, to meet an individual student’s academic and research needs.
Postbachelor’s PhD students are required to take a minimum of 16 credits of research/dissertation coursework. Post-master’s PhD students are required to take a minimum of 8 credits of research/dissertation coursework.
Doctoral students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 to remain in good academic standing and to graduate. All graduate courses are counted in the GPA. Only grades of “B−” or better fulfill PhD curricular requirements. This requirement applies to post-BS or post-MS PhD students.
Doctoral students must satisfy a residency requirement of at least two consecutive academic-year semesters of full-time graduate study at Boston University. They must demonstrate sufficient competency in mathematics. For further information, contact Professor Hua Wang (wangh@bu.edu).
Advisors
Upon entry into the Systems Engineering Division, each student will be appointed an academic advisor from the SE faculty. The advisor will act as the student’s primary academic advisor until the student selects a research advisor(s).
Qualifying Examinations
Doctoral students must pass a comprehensive Qualifying Examination administered by the Division of Systems Engineering. They must pass this exam within the first three semesters of matriculation (those matriculating in January must pass within the first four semesters). In addition, doctoral students must present an oral defense of a research prospectus developed by the student to a prospectus committee by the student’s third year of study. The prospectus committee may also later serve as the Dissertation Committee.
Language Requirement
There is no foreign language requirement for the Systems Engineering degree. However, basic mastery of spoken and written English—as determined by oral presentations, written reports, and publishable manuscripts—is a requirement for the PhD.
Dissertation
The PhD requires original research and presentation in a form suitable for publication in an archival journal. A research advisor guides progress toward the degree. Doctoral students must defend a written dissertation before a Dissertation Committee.
Admission and Financial Aid
PhD graduate students may obtain financial aid in the form of competitive teaching fellowships or research assistantships available from grants or contracts held by faculty members. Annual (12 month) stipends are approximately $28,200. Other traineeship funding may also be available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
