Master’s program areas and curriculum
Program Areas
A Master’s degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan enables students from quantitative disciplines, including engineering, science, economics, mathematics and statistics, to align their interests to one or more program areas offered by the department, or to personalize the selection of classes and projects from other departments, to match individual interests and career goals.
| Business Operations Engineering
Learn about analytical approaches to production, storage, and distribution of goods and services from sources to customers. Develop the analytical skills needed for data-driven engineering of modern business operations and processes, including business-critical activities such as supply chain analytics, warehousing, distribution logistics, production operations, transportation systems, service operations, financial and risk management.
For more information and a list of recommended courses please visit the details page for the Business Operations Engineering program area.
| Data Analytics and Applied Statistics
Learn the essential methods used to translate raw data into informed decisions for a wide range of industry applications. Develop the skills and knowledge to collect, manage, and analyze data to create mathematical and statistical models for inference, prediction, machine learning, and data-driven decision-making to improve the performance of complex systems.
For more information and a list of recommended courses please visit the details page for the Data Analytics and Applied Statistics program area.
| Financial Engineering
Discover the tools of quantitative finance and financial technology (fintech) used across a wide range of institutions, from commercial banks to hedge funds. Learn the methods of asset pricing, market efficiency, arbitrage, and derivative analysis. Prepare for a career in fintech through rigorous analytic exploration and examination of financial markets, and related mechanisms, including techniques for risk assessment and management.
For more information and a list of recommended courses please visit the details page for the Financial Engineering program area.
| Healthcare and Human Safety
Learn about key topics relevant to healthcare and human safety that affect people’s lives, including the management of expensive resources in health systems, medical decisions, and the design of safe environments for people to live and work. Learn to harness data from electronic health records and use new technologies such as wearable sensors to improve health and safety. The U-M Center for Healthcare Engineering & Patient Safety offers additional opportunities for selected students to work in close partnership with the U-M Health System.
For more information and a list of recommended courses please visit the details page for the Healthcare and Human Safety program area.
| Human Systems Integration
Learn to analyze and support the critical role humans (as operators, designers, developers, and regulators) play in optimizing performance, health, and safety in a wide range of sociotechnical systems. Develop the skills to evaluate human cognitive and physical abilities and limitations throughout the entire process of system design and development to achieve effective human-machine teaming, minimize errors and the risk of injury, illness, or disability in the workplace. Application domains include transportation, healthcare, manufacturing, and military applications where autonomous vehicles, robots, and other technologies play an important role.
For more information and a list of recommended courses please visit the details page for the Human Systems Integration program area.
| Operations Research and Analytics
This area covers advanced methods for describing, predicting, and optimizing decision-making to improve system performance. Discover how to leverage techniques at the intersection of math, statistics, and computation to build data-driven models fundamental to decision-making in many contexts. Apply mathematical and algorithmic techniques and principles to improve decision-making in a wide range of industries.
For more information and a list of recommended courses please visit the details page for the Operations Research and Analytics program area.
| Quality Control and Reliability Engineering
This area of study prepares you to apply data-driven modeling, simulation, quality control, and reliability techniques for making cost-effective quality improvement and maintenance decisions in the context of a broad range of service and manufacturing enterprises. Develop the skills to cope with uncertainty and variations in the design and operation of all types of engineering systems.
For more information and a list of recommended courses please visit the details page for the Quality Control and Reliability Engineering program area.
Industry project opportunities and research experiences
Many U-M IOE Master’s students engage in projects through industry internships, team projects, or research experiences in faculty laboratories and research groups. These experiences help students develop the professional skills needed to successfully launch their career in industry or to progress to a PhD to further prepare for academic or industry research careers.