Models are needed for a variety of decision-making purposes in business, industry, and government to describe different environments and to relate alternative courses of action to performance. Thus, the courses in operations research and engineering focus on quantitative modeling and the analysis of complex systems.
Courses stress the use of contemporary hardware and software in modeling and analysis.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the field of operations research will be one of the fastest growing professions of the next decide. Although the department does not offer an undergraduate degree in operations research, a variety of courses are available for inclusion in other degree programs and a certificate program exists at the undergraduate level. The department offers courses designated OR in the Course Descriptions section of this catalog. The Operations Research and Engineering Department offers a certificate program to students enrolled in the computer science, decision sciences, mathematics, or systems engineering undergraduate degree programs. The certificate augments the standard curricula with material on the computational aspects of operations research.