Minor in Systems Engineering and Operations Research

For many students, a minor in Systems Engineering and Operations Research will offer an attractive complement to their current major.  Systems engineers define, design, develop and integrate, and test systems. Whereas other engineering disciplines concentrate on individual aspects of a system (electronics, ergonomics, software, etc.), systems engineers focus on the system as a whole.

 This minor will provide students with the fundamentals of systems engineering and operations research. In these courses, students will learn how to deal with the system life cycle and to use scientific methods for analyzing operations of a system or organization. The structured set of courses for the minor will help students across the technical fields prepare for the information technology work now common in public and private industry.

This minor is open to all majors, and especially appropriate for students in ECE, CEIE, AIT, CS and MATH. The minor is not available for students receiving a B.S. in Systems Engineering.

Minor Requirements

The general university requirements for a minor can be found in the Academic Policies section of the GMU catalog, which states that:

"Students may elect minor programs of study in addition to major fields by submitting a completed Undergraduate Declaration of Minor form to the Office of University Registrar. Minors usually require between 15 and 21 credits of study, at least 8 of which must be applied only to that minor and may not be used to fulfill requirements of the student's major, concentration, an undergraduate certificate, or another minor. Students must complete at least 6 credits in their minor at Mason and achieve a minimum 2.00 GPA in courses applied to the minor. Students interested in a minor should consult the appropriate departmental sections in this catalog."

The minor in Systems Engineering and Operations Research consists of 15 credit hours of coursework, including:

Two required SEOR courses:

• SYST 101 - Understanding Systems Engineering or
  SYST 210 - Systems Design, and,
• SYST 473 - Decision and Risk Analysis

They must also choose three courses from the following:

• SYST 371 - Systems Engineering Management;
• either SYST 469 - Human Computer Interaction or SYST 470 - Human Factors Engineering
• OR 335 - Discrete Systems Modeling
• OR 441 - Deterministic Operations Research
• OR 442 - Stochastic Operations Research
• OR 481 - Numerical Methods in Engineering
• SYST 460 - Introduction to Air traffic Control
• SYST 461 - Air Transportation System Engineering

Some of the courses listed above have additional prerequisites. 

The course descriptions can be obtained from http://seor.gmu.edu/courses.html

Declaring the Minor

A student wishing to complete the SEOR minor should fill the Undergraduate Declaration of Minor form available online on the registrar's website.  This form should be taken to their advisor and then given to the SEOR department administration staff for processing.

A Sample Set of Feasible Paths to Get SEOR Minor

SEOR Minor for ECE students

Two required SEOR courses:

• SYST 101 - Understanding Systems Engineering or
  SYST 210 - Systems Design
• SYST 473 - Decision and Risk Analysis

And three courses from the following:

• SYST 371 - Systems Engineering Management
• OR 335 - Discrete Systems Simulation Modeling
• OR 441 - Deterministic Operations Research
• OR 442 - Stochastic Operations Research
• OR 481 - Numerical Methods in Engineering
• SYST 460 - Introduction to Air traffic Control
• SYST 461 - Air Transportation System Engineering

Some of the courses listed above have additional prerequisites.

SEOR Minor for CEIE students

Two required SEOR courses:

• SYST 101 - Understanding Systems Engineering or
  SYST 210 - Systems Design
• SYST 473 - Decision and Risk Analysis

And three courses from the following:

• SYST 371 - Systems Engineering Management
• SYST 470 - Human Factors Engineering
• OR 335 - Discrete Systems Simulation Modeling
• OR 442 - Stochastic Operations Research
• SYST 460 - Introduction to Air traffic Control
• SYST 461 - Air Transportation System Engineering

Some of the courses listed above have additional prerequisites.

SEOR Minor for AIT students

Two required SEOR courses:

• SYST 101 - Understanding Systems Engineering or
  SYST 210 - Systems Design
• SYST 473 - Decision and Risk Analysis

And three courses from the following:

• SYST 371 - Systems Engineering Management
• SYST 469 - Human Computer Interaction
• OR 335 - Discrete Systems Simulation Modeling
• SYST 460 - Introduction to Air traffic Control
• SYST 461 - Air Transportation System Engineering

Some of the courses listed above have additional prerequisites.

SEOR Minor for CS students

Two required SEOR courses:

• SYST 101 - Understanding Systems Engineering or
  SYST 210 - Systems Design
• SYST 473 - Decision and Risk Analysis

And three courses from the following:

• SYST 371 - Systems Engineering Management
• SYST 470 - Human Factors Engineering
• OR 335 - Discrete Systems Simulation Modeling
• OR 441 - Deterministic Operations Research
• OR 442 - Stochastic Operations Research
• OR 481 - Numerical Methods in Engineering
• SYST 460 - Introduction to Air traffic Control
• SYST 461 - Air Transportation System Engineering

Some of the courses listed above have additional prerequisites.

SEOR Minor for Math students

Two required SEOR courses:

• SYST 101 - Understanding Systems Engineering or
  SYST 210 - Systems Design
• SYST 473 - Decision and Risk Analysis

And three courses from the following:

• SYST 371 - Systems Engineering Management
• OR 335 - Discrete Systems Simulation Modeling
• OR 441 - Deterministic Operations Research
• OR 442 - Stochastic Operations Research
• OR 481 - Numerical Methods in Engineering
• SYST 460 - Introduction to Air traffic Control
• SYST 461 - Air Transportation System Engineering

Some of the courses listed above have additional prerequisites.