Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering

Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering

Overview

Industrial engineering involves the design and analysis of systems that include people, equipment, and materials and their interactions and performance in the workplace. An industrial engineer collects this information and evaluates alternatives to make decisions that best advance the goals of the enterprise.

Innovative Curriculum

The program in industrial engineering offers students a base of traditional engineering courses, such as work design, human-machine systems, probability, statistics, and engineering economy, while emphasizing such contemporary areas as simulation modeling, engineering database systems, quality assurance, logistics and supply chain management, operations research, and facilities planning. Students integrate the knowledge acquired in these courses in a two-semester capstone design project.

Industrial engineers work in manufacturing firms, hospitals, banks, public utilities, transportation, government agencies, insurance companies, and construction firms. Among the projects they undertake are design and implementation of a computer-integrated supply chain or manufacturing system; facilities planning for a variety of industries; design of a robotics system in a manufacturing environment; long-range corporate planning; development and implementation of a quality-control system; simulation analyses to improve processes and make operational decisions; design of healthcare operations to enhance patient safety; and improve efficiency, productivity, and development of computer systems for information control.

Students have the option of selecting from several minors to complement their degree and personalize their path. Students can select from minors in the department, in other engineering departments, or from across the university.

The Accelerated Master’s Degree PlusOne program allows current undergraduate students to accelerate the attainment of the master’s degree by applying graduate credits taken as an undergraduate toward both the undergraduate and graduate degrees. Current students apply to enroll in the PlusOne program. Students attain their bachelor’s degree followed by a PlusOne year to complete the master’s degree.

Students currently earning a BS in Industrial Engineering can select from the below MS degree PlusOne pathways.

BS in Industrial Engineering PlusOne PathwaysAdditional Prerequisites
PlusOne in Bioengineering
PlusOne in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concentration in Water, Environmental, Coastal SystemsCIVE 2331, CIVE 2334, CIVE 2340
PlusOne in Civil Engineering, Concentration in Construction Management
PlusOne in Civil Engineering, Concentration in Structures
PlusOne in Civil Engineering, Concentration in Transportation
PlusOne in Cyber-Physical Systems
PlusOne in Data Analytics Engineering
PlusOne in Data Architecture and Management
PlusOne in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concentration in Communication, Control, Signal ProcessingEECE 2150, EECE 2412, EECE 2413, EECE 2520, EECE 3468*
*May be replaced with another probability course
PlusOne in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concentration in Computer Networks and SecurityEECE 2150, EECE 2160, EECE 2412, EECE 2413, and two of the following: EECE 2322 (with EECE 2323), EECE 2540, or EECE 2560
PlusOne in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concentration in Computer Systems and SoftwareEECE 2150, EECE 2160, EECE 2412, EECE 2413, and two of the following: EECE 2322 (with EECE 2323), EECE 2540, or EECE 2560
PlusOne in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concentration in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, AlgorithmsEECE 2150, EECE 2160, EECE 2412, EECE 2413, and two of the following: EECE 2322 (with EECE 2323), EECE 2540, or EECE 2560
PlusOne in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concentration in Electromagnetics, Plasma, OpticsEECE 2150, EECE 2160, EECE 2412, EECE 2413, EECE 2530, EECE 2531
PlusOne in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concentration in Microsystems, Materials, DevicesEECE 2150, EECE 2412, EECE 2413, and one of the following: EECE 3393, EECE 3410, or EECE 4524 (with EECE 4525)
PlusOne in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concentration in Power SystemsEECE 2150, EECE 2412, EECE 2413, EECE 2520
PlusOne in Energy Systems
PlusOne in Engineering & Public Policy
PlusOne in Engineering Management
PlusOne in Human Factors
PlusOne in Industrial Engineering
PlusOne in Information Systems
PlusOne in Mechanical Engineering, General ConcentrationME 2355
PlusOne in Mechanical Engineering, Materials ConcentrationME 2340, ME 2341
PlusOne in Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics ConcentrationME 3455, ME 2355
PlusOne in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics ConcentrationME 3455, ME 4555
PlusOne in Mechanical Engineering, Thermofluids ConcentrationME 3475
PlusOne in Operations Research
PlusOne in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering Concentration
PlusOne in Software Engineering Systems
PlusOne in Telecommunication Networks

The Bachelor of Science Program in Industrial Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.

Experiential Learning

Experiential learning is the heart of a Northeastern education, combining rigorous coursework with hands-on experience in the classroom, in the lab, and in the field—locally and abroad. With our signature cooperative education (co-op) program, students typically gain six months of work experience integrated as part of the educational program. Both five-year, three-co-op and four-year, two-co-op program options are available.

Co-op jobs generally increase in level of responsibility as students gain theoretical and technical knowledge through their academic work. A sophomore might begin as a computer/data analyst evaluating the performance of a manufacturing system and progress to designing manufacturing engineering workstations by the senior year. There are a variety of co-op employment opportunities ranging from small local firms, to consulting firms, large global companies as well as hospitals and healthcare facilities, and government and banking offices.

Sharon Melul Steinfeld, BS, Industrial Engineering and MS, Engineering Management, completed co-ops at Hasbro as a project engineer on the Transformer toy line, and at PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a management consultant for company mergers. Sharon got a full time job offer 18 months before graduating and contributes this to her co-op opportunities.

Program Contacts


Emanuel Melachrinoudis
Professor and Associate Chair for Operations and Director for Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum,  Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Deterministic operations research and multi-criteria optimization; facility location; supply chain, transportation and logistics; wireless sensor networks wildfire prediction and mitigation

Faculty Advising

For support with questions about career opportunities in industrial engineering and in selecting technical electives, contact a faculty advisor in your area of interest.

IE AreaIE Faculty Advisor
Data AnalyticsSagar Kamarthi
Healthcare SystemsJacqueline Griffin
Human FactorsBeverly Kris Jaeger-Helton
Logistics & Supply Chain ManagementMehdi Behroozi
ManufacturingXiaoning “Sarah” Jin
Operations ResearchKayse Lee Maass
Process Improvement (Lean & Six Sigma)Hugh McManus
Quality Assurance and ReliabilityDayna Martinez
Systems EngineeringBabak Heydari

    Academic Advising

    For support with academic questions, contact the academic advisor assigned to this program.

    Admissions & Aid

    Ready to take the next step? Review Degree Requirements to see courses needed to complete this degree. Then, explore ways to pay for your education. Finally, review Admissions Information to see our deadlines and gather the materials you need to Apply.

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