2025-2026 Academic Catalog
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
The mission of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering is to:
Industrial and systems engineering is one of the most diverse fields in engineering. ISE is concerned with the design, improvement, and installation of integrated work systems of people, materials, equipment and technology, processes, information, and capital. The industrial and systems engineer is concerned with creating value and improving performance of integrated systems, whether that involves improving quality and productivity, reducing costs and non-value adding activities, improving customer satisfaction, or improving worker safety.
The applications for industrial and systems engineering capabilities include industry, government, and service organizations. Graduates of the ISE program at Virginia Tech work in manufacturing facilities, distribution warehouses, hospitals, airlines, railroads, banks, amusement parks, the military, federal government, and management consulting firms. The boundaries of where ISEs make contributions are limitless.
The mission of the ISE Undergraduate Program is to prepare industrial and systems engineering students to create value for organizations, the profession, and society. We achieve this mission by recruiting, retaining, and educating high quality from a wide background. We create a rigorous and collegial environment enabling students to learn industrial engineering methods and tools, built upon a foundation of mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences, and to apply them in any global organizational setting. Students achieve academic and professional success through opportunities to participate in various educational experiences, develop capabilities as future leaders, and embark on a lifelong journey of professional development and learning.
The Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering (BSISE) degree program at Virginia Tech is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Industrial and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.
Within 3-5 years of graduation, Industrial and Systems Engineering alumni will have:
Upon completion of the undergraduate program curriculum in Industrial and Systems Engineering, students will attain the following outcomes:
The BSISE curriculum (ISE Undergraduate Program) encompasses coursework addressing the technical, organizational, human, and economic elements of work systems. Our aim is to provide graduates with the knowledge and capabilities to enable them to successfully pursue careers in industrial engineering or to continue on to graduate study.
ISE emphasizes instruction in fundamental engineering principles based on the physical sciences, engineering sciences, mathematics, and statistics. These principles are applied in practical design experiences throughout the undergraduate curriculum.
Coursework in the physical sciences and mathematics provides a solid background for basic engineering science courses, which in turn support courses in industrial and systems engineering. ISE courses are focused in the areas of operations research, manufacturing systems, human factors and ergonomics, and management systems. In each of these areas, modern computing and software tools support analysis and design activities. Electives provide students with the opportunity to explore other areas of engineering, as well as cultural, societal and creative experiences, which makes for well-rounded, diverse, and globally-aware engineers.
Students gain valuable hands-on experience in multiple areas of the BSISE curriculum via state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. These include the Harris Manufacturing Processes Laboratories (conventional and numerically-controlled machine tools, robotics and automation equipment, and welding and foundry facilities), the Learning Factory (Industry 4.0 sandbox laboratory for undergraduates), and the Human Factors Work Measurement and Methods Engineering Laboratory (equipment for in-class exercises and experiments in work measurement, motion economy and time study, psychophysics, human audition and vision, and work station design).
The capstone experience in the ISE Undergraduate Program is ISE 4005-ISE 4006 Project Management & System Design (also referred to as "Senior Design"). The two-course sequence involves students working in project teams with external company sponsors to solve real-world problems. This provides ISE students with engineering project experience that develops not only their capabilities in applying ISE tools and techniques, but technical and professional skills such as teamwork, communication, project management, and life-long learning skills as well. Student project teams present their findings at the annual Senior Design Symposium, which is attended by company sponsors and the ISE Advisory Board.
Many ISE students participate in Undergraduate Research, working more closely with ISE faculty members, to gain a more in-depth development of particular ISE capabilities and enriching their educational experience.
The ISE program also provides students with the opportunity to pursue minors, such as Business Minor, Green Engineering Minor, or Statistics Minor. Specific information about minors available to ISE students can be found on the ISE website. Students and employers alike are seeing the benefits of these minors for adding value to the ISE major.
The ISE department participates in the Cooperative Education & Internship Program, in which qualified students may alternate semesters of study with semesters of professional co-op employment or internships. Students are encouraged to pursue these experiences before they graduate to make them more competitive in the work force. Students are also encouraged to participate in career fairs and job interviews on and off campus.
The ISE department also provides students with many significant scholarship opportunities at the undergraduate and graduate levels to encourage and acknowledge high academic performance and achievements. The department also maintains bilateral student exchange agreements with international universities, where students can take ISE courses, which will transfer back to their BSISE. Students may also select other universities at which to perform a study abroad semester.
Students are supported throughout their time in ISE by ISE-specific professional academic advisors. Potential students are strongly encouraged to meet with one of these advisors to discuss the BSISE curriculum.
Head: E.M. Van Aken
Associate Head: J.P. Shewchuk
Assistant Head and Graduate Program Director: M.A. Nussbaum
Undergraduate Program Director: N. Cherbaka
Charles O. Gordon Professor: G.D. Taylor, Jr.
John Grado Professor: M.A. Nussbaum
Paul T. Norton Professor: S.C. Sarin
Ralph H. Bogle Professor: Z. Kong
John Lawrence Professor: K.P. Triantis
Grado Senior Faculty Fellow: M.L. Madigan
Grado Early Career Faculty Fellows: N. Hosseinichimeh, S. Lim
CCAM Fellow: T. Sun
Professors: J.L. Gabbard, M. Jeon, R. Jin, B. Johnson, B.M. Kleiner, Z. Kong, M.L. Madigan, M.A. Nussbaum, S.C. Sarin, G.D. Taylor Jr., E.B. Toy, K.P. Triantis, and E.M. Van Aken
Associate Professors: M. Bansal, X. Chen, D.E. Dickerson, K.P. Ellis, N. Hosseinichimeh, N. Ghaffarzadegan, S.G. Klauer, A. L’Afflitto, N. Lau, P.K. Rao, and J.P. Shewchuk
Assistant Professors: A. Avsar, E. Brubaker, R. Hildebrand, R. Kannan, S. Khodadadian, S. Lim, R.N.C. Patrick, T.G. Topcu, S. Tunc, H. Zhong, and Y. Zhong
Collegiate Professor: N. Cherbaka
Collegiate Associate Professor: L. Savage
Collegiate Assistant Professors: K. Carper, J. Godfrey, and W.P.V. Nguyen
Research Associate Professors: S. Kim. T. Sun
Research Assistant Professor: K. Lee
Associate Professor of Practice: K. Coleman
Affiliate Faculty: P. Agee, T. Cody, X. Deng, M. Fowler, Y. Hong, S. Hotle, J. Moreland, M. Perez, N. Roofigari-Esfahan, S. Trent, M. Vaughn-Cooke, and G. Vining
Courtesy Faculty: A. Leonessa, M. Smith
Adjunct Faculty: M. Deegan, J. Geraghty, J. Moreland, M. Muscatello, T. Riley, W. Vaneman, and P. Wach
Professors Emeritus: M.P. Deisenroth, J.G. Casali, K.H.E. Kroemer, H.A. Kurstedt, H.D. Sherali, and H.L. Snyder
Associate Professors Emeritus: K. Harmon, P.T. Kemmerling, C.P. Koelling, J.A. Nachlas, M.R. Taaffe, and R.E. Taylor
Associate Professor of Practice Emeritus: M.R. Earnest
Academic Advisors: J. Kerstiens and P. Van Curen
Print this page.
The PDF will include all information unique to this page.