MS -Intelligent Engineered Systems and Society (IESS)

Our Intelligent Engineered Systems and Society (IESS) program addresses pressing global issues such as climate change and urbanization by equipping you with the necessary interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to enhance society's adaptability. We focus on intergrating the built, natural, and digital environments to analyze and respond to these challenges autonomously.

Along with a technical focus on system design, data-driven analysis, and autonomous decision-making, coursework will train you to identify and account for potential biases and inequities introduced by automation and the data revolution.  Responsible engineering practices, including privacy-focused technology integration, are also prioritized.

Mastery in Leading-edge Areas

Our program takes an interdisciplinary approach to implementing technology advances in areas such as smart sensors, big data, computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and systems engineering, emphasizing the intricate interaction and complexity of the infrastructure systems supporting society.  Leveraging cutting-edge technologies, we strive to make infrastructure design, operation, and management more adaptive and responsive while promoting sustainability and livability. 

You gain expertise in pivotal areas such as systems theory, information theory, decision theory, and management of the built and natural environments, and AI. This preparation equips you to improve the performance, resilience, sustainability, and accessibility of diverse infrastructure systems.

The program offers two specialization tracks to cater to the specific technological solutions students will master. Both program tracks apply foundational systems science and management to diverse infrastructure systems and processes. This includes buildings, transportation, construction, power, water treatment, and water distribution, to name a few.

Design, Construction, and Infrastructure Management

In the first track, Design, Construction, and Infrastructure Management, students will focus on improving design and construction operation processes for adaptive infrastructure systems. They will be introduced to technologies that support autonomy and gain proficiency in using and designing tools for the digital transformation of infrastructure design and construction operation.

Dynamical Infrastructure System Operation

The second track, Dynamical Infrastructure System Operation, provides students with a solid foundation in the essential pillars necessary for operating intelligent and autonomous infrastructure systems and encompasses a multidisciplinary view to promote interconnectedness between the built, natural, and digital environments. This includes embedded systems and sensing, AI, digital design, dynamic systems theory, and control.

Notably, this program not only considers the design and operation of physical infrastructure but also pushes the frontiers of civil and environmental engineering by expanding infrastructure to include the resources that flow over or through them and the humans they support.

Academic Outcomes

The IESS program prepares you to solve pressing global challenges within the new frontier of civil and environmental engineering, radically pushing the boundaries of traditional civil and environmental engineering practices. Upon completion, you will be equipped with a comprehensive skill set and knowledge base situated at the nexus of emerging technologies, advanced computing, systems engineering, and automation, which are necessitated within new and exciting civil and environmental engineering fields such as smart and sustainable infrastructure systems, climate change adaptation, smart cities, Industry 4.0, advanced manufacturing, environmental justice, intelligent transportation systems, hydroinformatics, and digital twins.

Our program welcomes students from various backgrounds, including mechanical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, engineering and public policy, and more, extending beyond the traditional boundaries of civil and environmental engineering. At the center of the IESS program is encouraging and harnessing collaboration among our students and faculty from diverse fields.

You will work with your faculty mentor to collaboratively curate course packages that align with your academic and career goals, explicitly considering your distinct backgrounds. This flexibility allows you to customize your course selection, gaining a broad understanding of the diverse range of courses available while also specializing and delving deeper into specific areas.