University of Texas at El Paso Academic Catalog

Academic Catalog

M.S. in Industrial Engineering

Admission Requirements 

Students should consult the College of Engineering section in the Graduate Catalog for information on general admission requirements. Applicants are expected to have a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering or a related field from an ABET accredited institution in the United States, or proof of equivalent education from an international institution.
Students apply through the Graduate School, submitting an application form and the following supporting materials:

  • Official transcripts of all previous academic work.
  • GRE (Graduate Record Examination) scores. The GRE requirement is waived for students who have obtained a degree from the College of Engineering or the College of Science at UTEP.
  • Applicants from countries where English is not the first language are required to demonstrate English proficiency. Please consult the graduate school website for required scores.
  • Personal Statement of Purpose
  • Two letters of Recommendation

General Degree Requirements

Both thesis and non-thesis options are available under this degree program. All students follow a 30 credit hour program that is composed of (15) credit hours of core coursework and (6) credit hours of approved graduate level coursework in areas outside the Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering Department. For students following the Thesis option, there is a requirement to take six (6) credit hours of thesis and (3) credit hours from the Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering department. For students following the Non-Thesis option, there is a requirement to take (9) additional credit hours of
coursework from the Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering department. 

No more than six (6) semester hours of approved upper-level undergraduate coursework can be used to satisfy the degree requirements in the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering programs. All coursework must be approved by the student's academic advisor and by the Graduate School. Specific requirements for each master’s program are available from the Industrial Engineering Program.

Degree Requirements Summary


                                                                           Thesis Option (in credit-hours)            Non Thesis Option (in credit-hours)


Core IE coursework                                                                15                                                                        15


Graduate IMSE Electives*                                                       3                                                                         9


Graduate Electives**                                                              6                                                                         6


Thesis                                                                      6 (IE 5398 and IE 5399)                                                     0


Total                                                                                        30                                                                         30


*At most, six (6) credit hours of approved senior-level undergraduate coursework, and, at most, three (3) credit hours of Individual Studies can be included in the degree plan.

**At most six (6) hours of approved graduate level coursework in areas outside the Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering Department can be included in the degree plan. IMSE Department courses can be used to satisfy the Graduate Electives requirement.

All coursework must be approved by the department’s graduate program director. All courses listed in the degree plan require a grade of C or better for successful completion. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required for graduation.

Degree Plan

Required Credits: 30

Non-Thesis Option (No Concentration)

MS in Industrial Engineering (All courses require a grade of C or better)
Non-Thesis Option
Core IE Coursework:
Select fifteen hours of the following:15
Graduate Seminar
Adv Production/Inven Control
Linear and Combin Optimiz Meth
Design/Analysis Indust Exprmnt
Computer Simulation Appli
Advanced Quality Control
Special Topics Industrial Engr
Individual Studies
Non-Thesis Graduate IMSE Electives
Select nine additional hours of graduate IE, MFG or SE courses 9
Graduate Seminar
Adv Production/Inven Control
Linear and Combin Optimiz Meth
Design/Analysis Indust Exprmnt
Computer Simulation Appli
Advanced Quality Control
Special Topics Industrial Engr
Individual Studies
Design for Manufacturability
Strategic Design-Mfg Processes
Robotics & Flexible Automation
Analysis-Mat'l Handling System
Modeling/Analysis-Mfg Process
Reliability & Maintainability
Computer-Aided Manufacturing
Green Energy Manufacturing
Special Topics
Individual Studies
Graduate Research
Systems Engr Fundamentals
Systems Engr Management
Systems Requirements Analysis
Sys Intgrtn, Verfctn, & Valdtn
Systems Architecture & Design
Systems Engr Processes
Systems Modeling & Simulation
Non-thesis Graduate Electives:
Select six additional hours of graduate courses from the College of Engineering, Science or Business6
Total Hours30

Thesis Option (No Concentration)

Thesis Option
MS in Industrial Engineering (All courses require a grade of C or better)
Core IE Coursework:
Select fifteen hours of the following:15
Graduate Seminar
Adv Production/Inven Control
Linear and Combin Optimiz Meth
Design/Analysis Indust Exprmnt
Computer Simulation Appli
Advanced Quality Control
Special Topics Industrial Engr
Individual Studies
Required Courses:
IE 5398Thesis3
IE 5399Thesis3
Graduate IMSE Electives:
Select three additional hours of graduate IE, MFG or SE courses3
Adv Production/Inven Control
Linear and Combin Optimiz Meth
Design/Analysis Indust Exprmnt
Computer Simulation Appli
Advanced Quality Control
Special Topics Industrial Engr
Design for Manufacturability
Strategic Design-Mfg Processes
Robotics & Flexible Automation
Analysis-Mat'l Handling System
Modeling/Analysis-Mfg Process
Reliability & Maintainability
Computer-Aided Manufacturing
Green Energy Manufacturing
Special Topics
Individual Studies
Graduate Research
Systems Engr Fundamentals
Systems Requirements Analysis
Sys Intgrtn, Verfctn, & Valdtn
Systems Architecture & Design
Systems Engr Processes
Systems Modeling & Simulation
Thesis Graduate Electives:
Select six additional hours of graduate courses from the College of Engineering, Science or Business6
Total Hours30

Degree Plan (With Concentrations)

Required Credits: 30 

Non-Thesis Option with Concentration in Systems Modeling and Simulation (SMS)

MS in Industrial Engineering (All courses require a grade of C or better)
Non-Thesis Option (with Concentration)
Core IE Coursework:
Select 15 hours of the following:15
Graduate Seminar
Adv Production/Inven Control
Linear and Combin Optimiz Meth
Design/Analysis Indust Exprmnt
Computer Simulation Appli
Advanced Quality Control
Special Topics Industrial Engr
Individual Studies
Prescribed Elective Courses
Select nine hours of the following:9
Computer Simulation Appli
Special Topics Industrial Engr (Industrial Data Analytics)
Special Topics Industrial Engr (AR/VR Based Simulation)
Introduction to Data Mining
Statistical Machine Learning I
If any students take the IE 5357 (Computer Simulation Application) courses from the required course he/she needs to complete the 30 SCH by taking a replacement course from the free elective course list.
Non-Thesis Graduate IMSE Electives
Select six hours of the following:6
Reliability & Maintainability
Quality Engineering
Special Topics Industrial Engr (Reliability & Maintainability)
Special Topics Industrial Engr (Data Visualization for Decision Making)
Special Topics Industrial Engr (Sustainability Engineering and LCA)
Special Topics Industrial Engr (Green Energy Engineering)
Special Topics
Special Topics Industrial Engr (Renewable Energy Systems)
Systems Engr Management
Total Hours30

Thesis Option with Concentration in Systems Modeling and Simulation (SMS)

Thesis Option with Concentration
MS in Industrial Engineering (All courses require a grade of C or better)
Core IE Coursework:
Select 15 hours of the following:15
Graduate Seminar
Adv Production/Inven Control
Linear and Combin Optimiz Meth
Design/Analysis Indust Exprmnt
Computer Simulation Appli
Advanced Quality Control
Special Topics Industrial Engr
Individual Studies
Prescribed Elective Courses
Select nine hours of the following:9
Computer Simulation Appli
Special Topics Industrial Engr (Industrial Data Analytics)
Special Topics Industrial Engr (AR/VR Based Simulation)
Introduction to Data Mining
Statistical Machine Learning I
If any students take the IE 5357 (Computer Simulation Application) courses from the required course he/she needs to complete the 30 SCH by taking a replacement course from the free elective course list
Required Courses
IE 5398Thesis3
IE 5399Thesis3
Total Hours30