Administered by the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering
The undergraduate curriculum in Industrial Engineering leads to the Bachelor of Science degree.
The Industrial Engineering Program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the commission’s “General Criteria and Program Criteria for Industrial and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.”
Industrial engineering is a versatile engineering profession that improves processes to help people around the world. Industrial engineers integrate technical expertise with business acumen and effectual people skills. They improve processes, organizations, and integrated systems of materials, methods, equipment, information, energy, transportation, and people by reducing waste and increasing quality, safety, and productivity. All industries employ industrial engineers, including, but not limited to, manufacturing, healthcare, entertainment, supply chain, banking, energy, and transportation.
Program Educational Objectives
The Industrial Engineering (IE) Program educates its future graduates to accomplish its program educational objectives (PEOs) in their early careers.
Specifically, the IE Program prepares its majors so that, within a few years after graduation, graduates’ attainments are:
- Industrial engineering solutions that are effectively created and communicated and consider relevant stakeholders and ramifications.
- Team goal accomplishment through productive and inclusive interactions and leadership.
- New capabilities, skills, and knowledge that advance professional practice and enable career advancement.
Student Learning Outcomes
The IE Program currently has the following student outcomes describing what IE majors are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation.
- An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
- 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.
- An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
- An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
- 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.
- An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
- An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
The Industrial Engineering undergraduate curriculum provides students with fundamental knowledge in mathematics and science, engineering science, social science, and humanities as well as professional industrial engineering coursework. In particular, the curriculum includes design, analysis, operation and improvement of integrated systems that produce or supply products or services in an effective, efficient, sustainable and socially responsible manner. A capstone design course provides students with an opportunity to solve open-ended problems with an industrial partner.
Students are strongly encouraged to participate in one or more key activities outside of the regular curriculum. The first is industry internships and cooperative education positions, which provide students with real-world experiences in the profession and an excellent perspective on career choices. The second is international experience through either study or work abroad. The third is undergraduate research working with faculty and graduate students on cutting-edge problems.
Qualified juniors and seniors interested in graduate studies may apply to the Graduate College to concurrently pursue both 1) B.S. and M.S. or M.Eng. degrees in Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, or Engineering Management, or 2) B.S. and M.B.A. degrees. For further information, please refer to the Graduate / Graduate College / Concurrent Programs tab.
Curriculum in Industrial Engineering
Administered by the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering.
Leading to the degree Bachelor of Science.
Total credits required: 123 cr.
See also Basic Program and Special Programs. Grades of C or better are required for any transfer credit course that is applied to the degree program but will not be calculated into the ISU cumulative GPA, Basic Program GPA or Core GPA. Note: Department does not allow Pass/Not Pass credits to be used to meet graduation requirements.
International Perspectives: 3 cr.1
U.S. Cultures and Communities: 3 cr.1
1These university requirements will add to the minimum credits of the program unless the university-approved courses are also allowed by the department to meet other course requirements within the degree program.
U.S. cultures and communities and international perspectives courses may not be taken Pass/Not Pass.
Communication Proficiency/Library requirements: 7 CR.:
| ENGL 1500 | Critical Thinking and Communication (Must have a C or better in this course) | 3 |
| ENGL 2500 | Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition (Must have a C or better in this course) | 3 |
| LIB 1600 | Introduction to College Level Research | 1 |
Remaining Communication courses: 9 cr.
| ENGL 2500 | Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition (Must have a C or Better in this course) | 3 |
| SPCM 2120 | Fundamentals of Public Speaking | 3 |
| ENGL 3140 | Technical Communication | 3 |
| Total Credits | 9 | |
Social Sciences and Humanities Electives: 12 cr.2
Six of twelve credits must be from 2000-level or above courses. Six credits must be sequential or related courses.
2For Social Sciences and Humanities, and IE Program Electives, choose from the department approved list.
Basic Program: 24 cr.3
A minimum GPA of 2.00 required for this set of courses (please note that transfer course grades will not be calculated into the Basic Program GPA). See Requirement for Entry into Professional Program in College of Engineering Overview section.
3See Basic Program for Professional Engineering Curricula for accepted substitutions for curriculum designated courses in the Basic Program.
| CHEM 1670 | General Chemistry for Engineering Students | 4 |
| ENGL 1500 | Critical Thinking and Communication (Must have a C or better in this course) | 3 |
| ENGR 1010 | Engineering Orientation | R |
| LIB 1600 | Introduction to College Level Research | 1 |
| MATH 1650 | Calculus I | 4 |
| MATH 1660 | Calculus II | 4 |
| PHYS 2310 | Introduction to Classical Physics I | 4 |
| PHYS 2310L | Introduction to Classical Physics I Laboratory | 1 |
| IE 1600 | Information Engineering | 3 |
| Total Credits | 24 | |
Math and Physical Science: 17 cr.
| MATH 2650 | Calculus III | 4 |
| MATH 2670 | Elementary Differential Equations and Laplace Transforms | 4 |
| STAT 2310 | Probability and Statistical Inference for Engineers | 4 |
| PHYS 2320 | Introduction to Classical Physics II | 4 |
| PHYS 2320L | Introduction to Classical Physics II Laboratory | 1 |
| Total Credits | 17 | |
Industrial Engineering Core: 37 cr.
A minimum GPA of 2.00 required for this set of courses (please note that transfer course grades will not be calculated into the Core GPA):
| IE 2220 | Design & Analysis Methods for System Improvements | 3 |
| IE 2480 | Engineering System Design, Manufacturing Processes and Specifications | 3 |
| IE 2710 | Applied Ergonomics and Work Design | 3 |
| IE 3050 | Engineering Economic Analysis | 3 |
| IE 3120 | Optimization | 3 |
| IE 3410 | Production Systems | 3 |
| IE 3480 | Solidification Processes | 3 |
| IE 3610 | Statistical Quality Assurance | 3 |
| IE 4130 | Stochastic Modeling, Analysis and Simulation | 4 |
| IE 4320 | Industrial Automation | 3 |
| IE 4410 | Industrial Engineering Design | 3 |
| IE 4480 | Manufacturing Systems Engineering | 3 |
| Total Credits | 37 | |
Other Remaining Courses: 24 cr.2
| MATE 2730 | Principles of Materials Science and Engineering | 3 |
| CE 2740 | Engineering Statics | 3 |
| ME 2310 | Engineering Thermodynamics I | 3 |
| IE Program Elective | IE Program Elective | 15 |
| Total Credits | 24 | |
IE PROGRAM ELECTIVES: 15 cr:
Six of 15 IE program elective credits must be from IMSE Courses in Advanced Manufacturing, Operations Research and Analytics, or Human Factors and Ergonomics. Three of 15 credits must be from IMSE Courses in System Engineering/Engineering Management. Three of 15 credits must be from Non-IMSE STEM courses.
Seminar/Co-op/Internships:
| Optional co-op/internship courses | ||
| IE 1020 | Industrial Engineering Profession | R |
See also the following grid showing course template by semester:
Industrial Engineering, B.S.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| SSH Elective | 3 | SSH Elective | 3 |
| IE 1600 | 3 | MATH 1660 | 4 |
| MATH 1650 | 4 | ENGL 1500 | 3 |
| CHEM 1670 | 4 | LIB 1600 | 1 |
| ENGR 1010 | R | IE 1020 | R |
| PHYS 2310 | 4 | ||
| PHYS 2310L | 1 | ||
| 14 | 16 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| MATH 2650 | 4 | MATH 2670 | 4 |
| IE 2480 | 3 | STAT 2310 | 4 |
| MATE 2730 | 3 | IE 2220 | 3 |
| PHYS 2320 | 4 | IE 2710 | 3 |
| PHYS 2320L | 1 | ||
| ENGL 2500 | 3 | ||
| 18 | 14 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| IE 3050 | 3 | SSH Elective | 3 |
| IE 3410 | 3 | IE 3480 | 3 |
| IE 3120 | 3 | IE 3610 | 3 |
| SPCM 2120 | 3 | CE 2740 | 3 |
| IE 4320 | 3 | IE Program Elective | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| SSH Elective | 3 | IE 4410 | 3 |
| IE 4130 | 4 | IE 4480 | 3 |
| ENGL 3140 | 3 | IE Program Elective | 3 |
| ME 2310 | 3 | IE Program Elective | 3 |
| IE Program Elective | 3 | ||
| 13 | 15 | ||
Engineering Sales Minor
The Engineering Sales Minor is multidisciplinary and open to undergraduates in the College of Engineering. The minor requires 15 credits, including at least 6 credits in courses numbered 3000 or above taken at Iowa State University. The minor must include at least 9 credits that are not used to meet any other department, college, or university requirement.
| IE 4500 | Technical Sales for Engineers | 3 |
| IE 4300 | Entrepreneurial Product Engineering | 3 |
| MKT 3400 | Principles of Marketing | 3 |
| MKT 4500 | Advanced Professional Selling | 3 |
| And one of the following: | 3 | |
| Engineering Economic Analysis | ||
| Engineering Economic Analysis and Professional Issues in Civil Engineering | ||
| Total Credits | 15 | |
Concurrent B.S./Master’s Industrial Engineering Degree
If you are considering going to graduate school, the concurrent bachelor’s-master’s in industrial engineering is an excellent opportunity to obtain both degrees within five years. In this program six credits of graduate course work can be used to satisfy your undergraduate program requirements. After completing the B.S. program, you will be a full-time graduate student for the remainder of the master’s program. The following concurrent bachelor’s-master’s degree program combinations are available to qualified students:
- B.S. IE – M.S. IE (thesis required)
- B.S. IE – M.Eng. IE (coursework-only)
- B.S. IE – M.Eng. Systems Engineering (coursework-only)
- B.S. IE – M.Eng. Engineering Management (coursework-only)
Program Policies
- Up to two semesters of concurrent enrollment are allowed.
- Students can enroll in up to nine credits of coursework at the 5000-level in industrial engineering for both the B.S. and M.S./M.Eng. degrees. Six credits will be shared with your undergraduate degree. The remaining three credits will be applied to your M.S. or M.Eng. degree.
- Students must take at least three credits of 5000-level courses each semester during concurrent enrollment and will be paying graduate tuition and fees.
- Students participating in the concurrent program must adhere to the requirements for the graduate degree program in which they are enrolled.
Admission Requirements
Students must have a record of high academic achievement and should have a GPA of at least 3.00 on a 4.00 scale. Students must be within 30 credits of completing the requirements for the B.S. degree before applying to the concurrent program. Prospective students must speak with their undergraduate advisor prior to applying.
Concurrent B.S. in Industrial Engineering and MBA in the College of Business
Accelerate Your Career with an MBA
Today’s successful engineers often need strong business management skills to complement their degree in engineering. These skills are especially important for engineers who are interested in working for technical companies, launching their own business ventures, or pursuing nontraditional jobs such as consulting. The MBA provides an opportunity for competitive advantage for advancement into management positions.
The Colleges of Business and Engineering offer an integrated, concurrent program leading to Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees. The program is designed to be completed in a minimum of five academic years or ten semesters.
The actual time for completion may be longer depending upon semester course loads, internships, and course sequencing. Careful planning with an academic advisor is essential throughout the program. This program is slightly accelerated through the first six semesters to complete the general education requirements. The remaining four semesters integrate the B.S. in IE requirements and the MBA courses. Twelve credits will be shared in common and will fulfill the requirements for both the B.S. in IE and the MBA.
Summer study is possible, although students are strongly encouraged to complete at least two internships or co-ops in engineering and business for practical experience during their academic program.
Preparation for the B.S. IE/MBA
Students interested in pursuing the MBA need to demonstrate exemplary academic performance throughout their undergraduate program. Mastery of communications, economic theory, global and diversity perspectives, statistical data analysis, and the core professional curriculum is of particular importance.
The Selection Process
The program is demanding, and admission is selective. Students are expected to exhibit superior intellectual ability, strong leadership attributes, and must be highly motivated and career focused. Although not absolute minimums, admitted students typically will have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or above and have scored 600 or higher on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT). All application materials, however, are taken into account collectively in the applicant review and student selection process.
GRADUATE STUDY
The department offers three industrial engineering graduate degrees: Master of Engineering (M.Eng. IE), Master of Science (M.S. IE), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). A graduate minor is available to graduate students having a major in another department. The M.Eng. degree consists of coursework designed to improve professional expertise in industrial engineering. The M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are designed to improve the student’s capability to conduct research as well as advancing their professional expertise. In conjunction with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the department offers a certificate in advanced manufacturing.
To be considered for admission into the graduate program, the applicant should have a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering or related field from a college, university, or technical school of recognized standing. Other educational backgrounds will be considered on an individual basis. High academic achievement or other persuasive evidence of professional accomplishments is expected for admission to the program. An applicant may apply as a direct-entry Ph.D. applicant when they have not earned a master’s degree.
The graduate program offers advanced study in advanced manufacturing, ergonomics/human factors, operations research/analytics, systems engineering and engineering management.
Well-qualified juniors and seniors in industrial engineering who are interested in graduate study may apply for concurrent enrollment to simultaneously pursue both the industrial engineering bachelor’s degree and an M.Eng. IE or M.S. IE degree. Two other attractive concurrent degree options are the industrial engineering bachelor’s degree concurrent with a M.Eng. Engineering Management degree or an M.Eng. Systems Engineering degree. For those more interesting in business management, we also offer a concurrent Master of Business Administration degree from the business college. For additional information about graduate degree programs, admission criteria, and procedures refer to https://www.imse.iastate.edu/graduate-program/.