Penn State

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Penn States Graduate Systems Engineering Program
James A. Nemes Engineering Division
Head Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate
Professional Studies
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Penn State Great Valley

• 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
  181
• Divisions Engineering, Management, and Education

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PSGV Engineering Student Demographics

• Status
• gt 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

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Penn States 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.

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Systems Engineering Research Center
Lead University
Principal Collaborator
Collaborators

• Auburn University
• Air Force Institute of Technology
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Fraunhofer Center at UMD
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Missouri University of Science and Technology
  (ST)
• Naval Postgraduate School

• Pennsylvania State University
• Southern Methodist University
• Texas AM 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

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.
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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

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

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Is A SYSTEMS ENGINEERING Program A Good Candidate
For Online 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 systems-engineering centric
  masters 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.

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Program Format

• 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.

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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.

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What Should Be Contained in a Graduate Systems
Engineering Curriculum?

• 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.

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Philosophy

• On SE
• Systems Engineering is an academic as well as a
  practitioners discipline that must be based on
  fundamental and statistically sound empirical
  research.
• On Graduate Masters SE Programs
• Provide students that have a solid engineering
  background the skills they need to become systems
  engineers.
• Fundamentally different than training.

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INCOSE Curriculum
Specialization Courses (9 cr.)
Core Courses (12 Cr)
Introductory Courses (9 Cr.)
Foundation Courses
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Courses

• Foundation Courses
• General Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Introductory Courses
• Fundamentals of Systems Engineering
• Introduction to Systems Engineering Management

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Courses (Cont)

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

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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
• Masters Project

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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
• Masters Project

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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)
• Masters Paper (S)

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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 Masters Paper Research