Systems engineering is concerned with the design, modeling and analysis of technological systems that employ people and machines, software and hardware, material and energy for such diverse purposes as communication, health care, transportation or manufacturing. This department was the first Systems Engineering department in the country. It was founded on the premise that if complex systems are to do what is intended, without unwanted side effects, they must be designed not only with imagination and technical skill, but with rigorous attention to the design process itself and to the interactions among the system components and with other systems and society. Consequently, the curriculum provides students with design viewpoints and methodologies that emphasize system integration, and with subject matter and tools for modeling and analysis especially appropriate for large complex systems, e.g., probability and statistics, system theory, decision analysis, and simulation.
The Systems and Industrial Engineering (SIE) Department at the University of Arizona was established in 1961 as the nation's first department of systems engineering. Since then, the SIE Department has achieved international prestige for its contributions to the inter-disciplinary design of large-scale complex systems involving people, technology, and information. With the introduction of a modern industrial engineering curriculum in 1972 and a reliability and quality engineering degree in 1987, the department offers a truly diverse and successful graduate program. Career opportunities for graduates of the Systems and Industrial Engineering programs are outstanding. Over the years, graduates from these programs have found employment in the nation's leading corporations, research institutes, and universities.