Penn State’s Graduate Systems Engineering Program

James A. Nemes Engineering Division HeadProfessor of Mechanical Engineering

Penn State Great ValleySchool of Graduate Professional Studies

• Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies, part of PSU's Graduate School

• Created to accommodate the busy schedules of full-time professionals

• Enrollment of 1900, 44 full-time and 69 part- time faculty members, student/professor ratio of 18:1

• Divisions: Engineering, Management, and Education

Penn State Great Valley

PSGV Engineering Student Demographics

• Status– > 95% Part-time

• Program Distribution– 40% Information Science – 30% Software Engineering– 30% Systems Engineering

• Common Employers – Lockheed Martin– NAVSEA– Boeing– PJM– Vanguard– L-3

• Age and Gender– Average is 33yrs old

– 75% Male, 25% Female

Penn State’s Systems Engineering Program

• Master of Engineering in Systems Engineering launched in 1998 to meet the growing need for systems engineers.

• Systems Engineering offered at PNY since 2005.

• Building 100 Innovation Center at PNY completed 2007.

• Launched Systems Engineering online in 2008.

• Projected Enrollment of 250 students for 2009-2010.

• Auburn University• Air Force Institute of Technology• Carnegie Mellon University• Fraunhofer Center at UMD• Massachusetts Institute of

Technology• Missouri University of Science and

Technology (S&T)• Naval Postgraduate School

Lead University

• Pennsylvania State University • Southern Methodist University• Texas A&M University • Texas Tech University• University of Alabama in Huntsville • University of California at San Diego • University of Maryland• University of Massachusetts• University of Virginia • Wayne State University

Collaborators

As the DoD Systems Engineering Research-University Affiliated Research Center, SERC is responsible for systems engineering research that supports the development, integration, testing and sustainability of complex defense systems, enterprises and services. Its members are located in 11 states, near many DoD facilities and all DAU campuses.

5

Systems Engineering Research CenterSystems Engineering Research Center

Principal Collaborator

6/25/09DO NOT DISTRIBUTE OUTSIDE SERC

The Philadelphia Navy Yard

•Hottest-growing technology/life sciences zones in the region.

• PSU is a major partner in the Keystone Innovation Zone

•Location much more convenient for our Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware students

Why Go to Online Delivery?

Expand the geographic reach of the program.

- Sloan study showed that 85% of students in online programs come from within 50 miles of campus (classified as local ) or from surrounding states (classified as regional)

Reach student’s whose professional and personal schedules do not permit them to take classes in traditional, hybrid, or blended modes of delivery.

Factors-

Engineering programs have relatively low penetration rates into online learning compared with other disciplines.

Systems Engineering programs traditionally are not laboratory based.

Relatively few ‘system’s-engineering centric’ master’s program across the US, with a small percentage available in a fully online mode of delivery.

Systems engineering is a professional discipline, with a majority of students pursuing graduate education on a part-time basis.

IS A SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PROGRAM A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR ONLINE DELIVERY?

Open Enrollment –Greater flexibility.

Students can stop out when necessary.

Requires greater resources upfront.

Cohort – Course development can be spread over time.

Students must commit to intense period of study.

Pedagogical advantages – Known course sequence.

Helps develop a ‘learning community’

Promotes more a supportive learning environment.

Develops a sense of camaraderie.

Program Format

Mode of Delivery

• Synchronous delivery using videoconferencing technology allows traditional lectures to be broadcast to any remote location.

• Two-way communication allows remote students to be in the same ‘classroom’ as traditional students.

• Asynchronous web-based delivery is fundamentally different.

– Instructor becomes a facilitator of learning.

– Students change from being passive receptors to more responsible active learners.

Students usually have a diverse background – undergraduate degrees in aerospace, electrical or mechanical engineering, or physics, mathematics or computer science.

Very few have an undergrad degree in systems engineering or have had any academic exposure to systems engineering.

What Should Be Contained in a Graduate Systems Engineering Curriculum?

Philosophy

On SE:

Systems Engineering is an academic as well as a practitioner’s discipline that must be based on fundamental and statistically sound empirical research.

On Graduate Master’s SE Programs:

Provide students that have a solid engineering background the skills they need to become systems engineers.

Fundamentally different than training.

INCOSE Curriculum

Foundation Courses

Introductory Courses (9 Cr.)

Core Courses (12 Cr)

Specialization Courses (9 cr.)

Courses

• Foundation Courses– General Mathematics– Probability and Statistics

• Introductory Courses– Fundamentals of Systems Engineering– Introduction to Systems Engineering

Management

Courses (Cont)

• Core Courses– Systems Design/Architecture– Systems Integration/Test– Quality, Safety, and Systems Sustainability– Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization– Decisions, Risk and Uncertainty

Courses (Cont)

• Specialization Courses– Software Systems Engineering– General Project Management– Finance, Economics, and Cost Estimation– Manufacturing, Production, and Operations– Organizational Leadership– Engineering Ethics and Legal Considerations– Master’s Project

Courses (CONT)

• Specialization Courses– Software Systems Engineering– General Project Management– Finance, Economics, and Cost Estimation– Manufacturing, Production, and Operations– Organizational Leadership– Engineering Ethics and Legal Considerations– Master’s Project

Penn State Curriculum (36 credits)

Technical Project Management (S)

Engineering Analysis I (F)

Systems Engineering (I)

Systems Optimization (C)

Probability Models and Simulation (F)

Deterministic Models and Simulation (C)

Decision and Risk Analysis in Engineering (C)

Creativity and Problem Solving I (S)

Creativity and Problem Solving II (S)

Requirements Engineering (C)

Systems Architecture (S)

Master’s Paper (S)

Specified Course Sequence

Year 1 Year 2

Engineering Analysis Deterministic Models and Simulation

Creativity and Problem Solving I Systems Engineering

Technical Project Management Requirements Engineering

Probability Models and Simulation Software Systems Architecture

Creativity and Problem Solving II Decision and Risk Analysis in Engineering

Systems Optimization Master’s Paper Research