Human Systems Engineering, MS

Required Core

Culminating Experience (0 or 6 credit hours)

portfolio (0)

Additional Curriculum Information

For the culminating experience, students have the option of completing a thesis (with industry guidance), an applied project to develop and demonstrate professional knowledge and skills, or a portfolio. Students who select the thesis option work on the thesis, under faculty supervision, for at least one calendar year. The first three thesis credit hours are devoted to developing an idea and preparing a proposal for approval by a faculty committee. The next three credit hours involve preparing the details of research design and data collection for the thesis (materials, computer programs, experimental test beds, questionnaires, etc.). The final six credit hours are devoted to collecting and analyzing data, and writing and revising the thesis under the direction of the student's committee chair. Students defend the thesis in an oral examination. If the student is engaged in a project initiated by industry, they may opt for the applied project. Students carry out the applied project, under faculty supervision and guided by industry, in a calendar year in which the 12 credit hours outside the core are allocated to a combination of research, applied project and report writing appropriate to the goals of the student and the industry partner. In all cases, the project culminates in a substantial written report followed by a comprehensive oral examination that covers the project and other materials from required courses. The portfolio should demonstrate a high level of mastery of the principles and practice of human systems engineering through a compilation of work that the student has completed over the course of their graduate study. The specific details depend on the student's specialization, but all portfolios must describe three notable projects completed or academic accomplishments over the course of graduate study; the evolution and advancement of the student's technical expertise and mastery of the field of human systems engineering should be illustrated. Submitted with the portfolio is a written document comprising an overview of graduate experience and descriptions of the projects presented in the portfolio. Applied project students take 12 elective credit hours, thesis students take nine elective credit hours plus three credit hours of HSE 592 Research, and portfolio students take 18 elective credit hours.