MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS ENGINEERING


CONTENTS


MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PROGRAM

 Manufacturing is the use of resources (personnel, information, energy, materials and facilities) to make products that satisfy customer needs. Manufacturing systems engineering, a broad-based multi-disciplinary activity in which unit manufacturing operations are integrated into a system, requires knowledge about unit processes and an understanding of the systems approach. Various unit processes can be very different, e.g., chemical processes, assembly, machining. Systems issues involve automation, control, queueing, scheduling, and forecasting. A unifying activity in manufacturing is the use of information to control the unit operations and the flow of materials. This is the essence of computer-integrated manufacturing.

Participating academic units in the multi-disciplinary graduate program in Manufacturing Systems Engineering (MFG) at The University of Texas at Austin include the Departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering within the College of Engineering and the Department of Management in the College of Business Administration. Under normal circumstances, a full-time student should complete the MFG curriculum in three semesters. Variations in an incoming student's background, and program flexibility to incorporate additional electives, may result in a program of longer duration. Candidates who successfully complete the course of study will receive the degree of Master of Science in Engineering with a major in Manufacturing Systems Engineering.

A Graduate Studies Committee composed of faculty in the participating departments administers the program and is responsible for curriculum and admissions polices. Individual faculty members initiate research projects and recruit research assistants, who work under their supervision.

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PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

 -- Educate engineers to help American industry remain competitive and stay at the forefront of manufacturing technology. This will be achieved, in part, by:

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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

-- Recent graduates of the MFG program have had a wide range of job opportunities which include some of the most prestigious corporations and research institutions in the US. The expanding high-tech industry in Austin continues to attract a large share of these students, with employment opportunities existing locally with IBM, Motorola, 3M, AMD, Applied Materials, Dell Computer, and TI, among others. There is a steadily growing demand for engineers and managers trained in advanced manufacturing techniques.

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MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

To enter the graduate program in manufacturing systems engineering, a student should normally have an undergraduate degree in engineering or in one of the physical sciences. Standards for entrance into the program generally exceed the minimum standards established by the University; a subcommittee of the Graduate Studies Committee recommends admission to the program.

Students seeking the master's degree are expected to write a Master's Thesis or Master's Report. The Thesis option requires thirty semester hours of approved coursework: three Core Courses, five courses from a Technical Area Option, and six hours for the thesis course. The Report option requires thirty-three semester hours of approved coursework: 3 Core Courses, 5 Technical Area Option courses, 2 electives and three hours for the report course.

A master's degree without a thesis or report is available by written petition only to the Graduate Studies Committee. This no thesis/no report option requires thirty-six semester hours of approved coursework. The petition, addressed to the Graduate Advisor, must detail the reason(s) for the request. The Graduate Advisor may approve requests for the No Thesis/No Report option either from engineers working full-time in industry who wish to pursue their MS degree on a part-time basis, or from full-time students who have extensive industrial experience in a field related to their concentration. In other cases, the graduate advisor will grant the request only after the petition has been approved by a majority vote of a committee consisting of the Graduate Advisor, Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee, and the Program Director.

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This information was last updated Aug. 18, 1995 by mbryant@mail.utexas.edu