Undergraduate Programs
Industrial Engineering
The undergraduate program is designed to develop the technical skills and intellectual discipline needed by our graduates to become leaders in industrial engineering and related professions.
The program is distinctive in its emphasis on quantitative, economic, computer-aided approaches to production and service management problems. It is focused on providing an experimental and mathematical problem-formulating and problem-solving framework for industrial engineering work. The curriculum provides a broad foundation in the current ideas, models, and methods of industrial engineering. It also includes a substantial component in the humanities and social sciences to help students understand the societal implications of their work.
The industrial engineering program objectives are:
- to provide students with the requisite analytical and computational skills to assess practical situations and academic problems, formulate models of the problems represented or embedded therein, design potential solutions, and evaluate their impact;
- to prepare students for the workplace by fostering their ability to participate in teams, understand and practice interpersonal and organizational behaviors, and communicate their solutions and recommendations effectively through written, oral, and electronic presentations;
- to familiarize students with the historical development of industrial engineering tools and techniques and with the contemporary state of the art, and to instill the need for lifelong learning within their profession;
- to instill in our students an understanding of ethical issues and professional and managerial responsibilities.
The program in industrial engineering leading to the B.S. degree is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
Operations Research
The operations research program is one of several applied science programs offered at the School. At the undergraduate level, it offers basic courses in probability, statistics, applied mathematics, simulation, and optimization as well as more professionally oriented operations research courses. The curriculum is well suited for students with an aptitude for mathematics applications. It prepares graduates for professional employment as operations research analysts, e.g., with management consultant and financial service organizations, as well as for graduate studies in operations research or business. It is flexible enough to be adapted to the needs of future medical and law students.
Operations Research: Engineering Management Systems
This operations research option is designed to provide students with an understanding of contemporary technology and management. It is for students who are interested in a technical-management background rather than one in a traditional engineering field. It consists of required courses in industrial engineering and operations research, economics, business, and computer science, intended to provide a foundation for dealing with engineering and management systems problems. Elective courses are generally intended to provide a substantive core in at least one technology area and at least one management area.
Due to the flexibility of this option, it can incorporate the varied educational needs of preprofessional students interested in law, medicine, business, and finance. In addition, most students are encouraged to add a minor in economics or computer science to their standard course schedules.
Operations Research: Financial Engineering
In the fall of 2006, the Industrial Engineering and Operations Research Department launched a new concentration in financial engineering. Financial engineering is a multidisciplinary field integrating financial theory with economics, methods of engineering, tools of mathematics, and practice of programming. The concentration is designed to provide training in the application of engineering methodologies and quantitative methods to finance.
Students graduating with this concentration are prepared to enter careers in securities, banking, financial management, and consulting industries, and fill quantitative roles in corporate treasury and finance departments of general manufacturing and service firms.
Students who are interested in pursuing the rigorous concentration in financial engineering must demonstrate proficiency in calculus, computer programming, linear algebra, ordinary differential equations, probability, and statistics. This option is available to the class of 2008 and later. Applications to the concentration will be accepted during the fall semester of the sophomore year, and students will be notified of the departmental decision by the end of that spring semester. The department is seeking students who demonstrate strength and consistency in all the above-mentioned areas. Application to this concentration is available online: www.ieor.columbia.edu/bsfe_application.html.
Undergraduate Advanced Track
The undergraduate advanced track is designed for advanced undergraduate students with the desire to pursue further higher education after graduation. Students with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.4 and faculty approval have the opportunity to participate. Students are invited to apply to the track upon the completion of their sophomore year. Advanced track students are required to take higher-level IEOR courses, including the following:
IEOR E4004 instead of IEOR E3608
IEOR E4106 instead of IEOR E3106
IEOR E4403 instead of IEOR E4003 and MATH V2500.
Students successfully completing the requirements of the undergraduate advanced track will receive recognition on their academic record.
Minors
A number of minors are available for students wishing to add them to their programs. These minors are described starting on page 186 of this bulletin.
IEOR program students may want to consider minors in economics or computer science. In addition, operations research and engineering and management systems majors may elect to minor in industrial engineering, and industrial engineering majors may elect to minor in operations research.
The department does not offer a minor in engineering management systems or financial engineering.
Major in Economics—Operations Research
Students in Columbia College and the School of General Studies may register for a major in economics and operations research. This degree provides a student with a foundation in economic theory comparable to that provided by the general economics major while at the same time introducing the student to the field of operations research. The program is recommended for students with strong quantitative skills who are contemplating graduate studies in economics, operations research, or business.
For more information on the major in economics and operations research, students should contact the departmental advisers: In Economics, Professor Susan Elmes, 1018 International Affairs Building, 212-854-3680, and in IEOR, Professor Donald Goldfarb, 313 S. W. Mudd, 212-854-8011.
Required courses
This program requires a total of 50.5 points: 23 points in economics, 11 points in mathematics, 13.5 points in industrial engineering and operations research, and 3 points in computer science.
Economics
W1105: Principles of economics
W3211: Intermediate microeconomics
W3213: Intermediate macroeconomics
W3412: Introduction to econometrics
one seminar and two electives (one must be above the 2000 level). At least one of the electives must have W3211 or W3213 as a prerequisite.
IEOR
E3106: Introduction to operations research: stochastic models
E3600: Introduction to probability and statistics
E3608: Introduction to mathematical programming
and
one elective in industrial engineering or operations research.
Mathematics: Choose one of three tracks.
1. V1101, V1102, and V1201 (Calculus I, II, and III), V2010 (Linear algebra);
or
2. V1105, V1106, and V1205 (Calculus I, II, and III), V2010 (Linear algebra);
or
3. V1107, V1108, V1207, V1208.
Computer Science
W1004 or W1007: Introduction to computer programming
or
another approved computer science course that involves substantial work in programming.
Special note: It is important to take IEOR W3600 and IEOR E3608 as early as
feasible; they are prerequisites for most other courses in the program.