UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering

To return to the contents page, click your browser's "Back" button.

BACKGROUND:
Title: Industrial and Operations Engineering (PhD, MS, and MSE)
Est: 1957
Semester
Granted last 3 years: MS/MSE 24, PhD 8
Part-time: yes
Distance learning available: no
HFES student chapter: yes
Program: For more than 50 years, The University of Michigan's Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE) has offered graduate education in ergonomics, human factors, and safety engineering. Since 1979, more than 240 Masters and 70 PhD degrees have been awarded to students specializing in ergonomics. The Masters degree is intended for students who hold a bachelor's degree in engineering or physical science. Most students can complete the program in 10-16 months. Students have flexibility in selecting courses to match specific interests. More than 60 graduate courses in ergonomics are offered by IOE and other departments, allowing students to specialize in physical ergonomics, cognitive ergonomics, safety engineering and/or safety management. Students with a relevant bachelor's degree can apply directly to the PhD program. The PhD degree typically requires 4-5 years to complete. Students take advanced courses to prepare for their dissertation research. During the final 2-3 years, students work closely with their dissertation committee performing laboratory or field-based research.
Contact: Dr. W. Monroe Keyserling, Graduate Program Chair, University of Michigan, Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering, 1205 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2117, 734/763-0563, wmkeyser@umich.edu; or Matt Irelan, Graduate Student Advisor, University of Michigan, Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering, 1205 Beal Ave., 1603 IOE Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2117, 734/764-6480, mirelan@umich.edu (additional information available at http://ioe.engin.umich.edu/degrees/grad/grad.html).

APPLICATION:
Deadlines: PhD 1/8 (students must start in Fall); MS 4/1 (fall), 10/1 (winter); international students 4/1 (fall), 10/1 (winter); U.S. students or international students in the U.S. 5/1 (fall), 11/1 (winter)
Financial aid: 1/8
Fees: domestic $60, international $75

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
GPA: MS 3.2, PhD 3.5
GRE: MS minimum of 1200 V+Q and 4.5 on writing segment; PhD minimum of 1300 V+Q and 4.5 on writing segment
Other: TOEFL 570 pbt, 230 cbt for MS; 600 pbt, 250 cbt for PhD
Course requirements: 4 semesters of calculus, 1semester probability (300 level), 1 semester statistics (300 level), 1 semester computer programming, 2 years of basic science (physics, chemistry, biology)

ADMISSIONS:
Students applying last year: 19
Accepted: 5 PhD, 7 MS
Entered program: 11
Openings/year: 7 PhD, 7 MS

TUITION AND FEES:
Resident: $8432
Nonresident: $15,880
Additional fees: Registration: $80, Michigan Student Assembly: $7.19, Student Legal: $6, School/College Govt.: $1.50

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE (for PhD students only):
Amounts: $14,500 stipend for two terms, plus full tuition and health insurance
Teaching assistantship: Yes
Tuition exempt: No (covered by department)
Research assistantship: Yes
Tuition exempt: No (covered by department)
Financial assistance deadline:1/8 ( with fall application)

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
PhD: 68 credits required, qualifying examination, preliminary examination, oral defense of thesis required, no languages required, dissertation research required, no practical experience required, typical number of years required to obtain degree: 5.5
MS/MSE: 30 credits required, no languages required, no research required, no practical experience required, typical number of years required to obtain degree: 1-2, nonthesis option available

STUDENT STATISTICS:
Active: 16 men, 16 women
First-year students: 12

FACULTY:
Thomas J. Armstrong, PhD 1976, U of Michigan; industrial and operations engineering; worker performance; health and well being; ergonomic solutions for persons with disabilities; muscle, tendon, and nerve disorders; analysis and design of work methods and equipment; computerized decision support systems for work design.
Don B. Chaffin (emeritus), PhD 1967, U of Michigan; industrial and operations engineering, occupational musculoskeletal injuries and development of models and software for simulating realistic human motions used in computer-aided design of vehicles and workplaces.
Paul Green, PhD 1979, U of Michigan; industrial and operations engineering, psychology, driver interaction with future automotive information systems (navigation, controls and displays of all types, symbols), human interaction with computers.
Barry Kantowitz, PhD 1969, U of Wisconsin; cognitive psychology, attention and multi-tasking of in-vehicle telematic systems while driving, information processing, surface transportation.
W. Monroe Keyserling, PhD 1979, U of Michigan; industrial and operations engineering, industrial health science, computer-aided methods for evaluating and predicting work posture, controlling posture-related fatigue and injuries through improved work station design, enhancing work measurement techniques to evaluate ergonomic stresses in the work place, safety/ergonomic issues in trucking and distribution operations.
Yili Liu, PhD 1990, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; psychology, human-machine information systems, human information processing, intelligent cognitive aids, cognitive engineering, cognitive ergonomics.
Bernard Martin, PhD 1981, Universite d'Aix-Marseille, France; neuroscience, vibration-induced alterations on sensory-motor systems, biomechanical stress, control of finger force in repetitive activities.
Nadine Sarter, PhD 1994, Ohio State U; industrial and systems engineering, design and evaluation of multimodal HCI and CSCW interfaces, human error and error management, design of decision support systems.

[Updated Winter 2007]