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Systems Engineering as a Foundation of Engineering Management Education Abstract

The Department of Systems Engineering at the United States Military Academy (USMA) offers an undergraduate major in Engineering Management. This multi-disciplinary major is accredited by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) of the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC). All Engineering Management majors at USMA start their studies with an introductory course in Engineering Design and Systems Management. In this course, students are introduced to the Systems Engineering and Management Process (SEMP), which is the foundational problem solving approach used and reinforced throughout the curriculum. This paper describes the Engineering Management curriculum at the USMA, and shows how the sequencing of courses enhances students’ abilities as problem solvers using the SEMP. Students take courses in Systems Engineering, Engineering Management, another engineering discipline of their choosing, Financial Management and Personnel Management. The program of study culminates with students solving a real-world problem following the framework of the SEMP for a Department of Defense or industry client as part of a year-long Capstone Design course. Students work in small teams of four under the direction of a Ph.D. faculty member in applying the concepts learned throughout the curriculum.

Introduction

The United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point has a unique role in our society among institutions of higher learning. Our mission is: “to educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country, and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the United States Army.”1 USMA fulfills this mission through rigorous military, physical and academic programs. The Dean of Academics (Dean’s) vision is that the academic program “educates cadets to be Army officers of character who anticipate and respond effectively to the uncertainties of a changing technological, social, political, and economic world”.2 The USMA academic program is designed as a broad, multi-disciplinary education with an extensive array of required courses in the humanities and math, science and engineering disciplines. Students (cadets) also graduate with a major in a chosen discipline. The breadth of study provided in the required, or core, courses combined with depth of study in the majors program enables USMA to meet the Dean’s vision.

The USMA mission, the vision for the Academic Program and the reality of the world- wide operations of the US Army today imply that we need to graduate cadets with the background to understand, and solve, complex problems that are multi-disciplinary in nature. Andrew Sage describes systems engineering in many of these same terms; multi-disciplinary teams working with systems that are often large and complex.3 In the Department of Systems Engineering at USMA, we offer cadets five majors: Systems Engineering, Engineering Management, Operations Research (jointly run with the Department of Mathematical Sciences), Information Engineering and Systems Management. Systems Engineering education is central to all of these majors. The Engineering Management (EM) program of study is the focus of this

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Trainor, T., & Hoyle, H. (2006, June), Systems Engineering As A Foundation Of Engineering Management Education Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--1025