The graduate program in industrial engineering provides a scholarly environment in which highly qualified, creative students may obtain the knowledge and develop the skills necessary to solve complex industrial, governmental and societal system design problems. These systems are required to operate within increasingly complex constraints, thus requiring the use of sophisticated and creative designs. The industrial engineer responsible for such designs must be capable of applying a broad spectrum of scientific tools if the most effective systems are to be obtained.

The Master of Science in Industrial Engineering (MS) degree consists of two options: a 30-credit hour research oriented program requiring a thesis or a 30-credit hour application oriented program requiring a project report. The MS Industrial Engineering thesis option curriculum is built upon the choice of a concentration area around which students can mold their overall academic effort including six hours of research. The three current focus areas are Operations Research and Statistics, Manufacturing/Production/Service Systems and Human and Enterprise Systems. Other focus areas are in development. The MS Industrial Engineering project option requires three hours of an approved project advised by a faculty member in lieu of a thesis, and one more course.