Department Mission and History

As the products and services that support our society rapidly increase in complexity, systems engineering skills have become increasingly vital. 

The Cornell Systems Engineering Program is designed to develop the skills in students necessary for them to effectively undertake Systems Engineering activities throughout an organization and to position them for leadership positions as their careers unfold. Our program is designed to build these skills in students wishing to pursue employment across a range of systems engineering application areas including aerospace and defense systems, manufacturing and logistics, transportation, infrastructure,  and automotive, energy systems, health care, embedded systems, and information systems. 

Founded in 1999, the Cornell Systems Engineering Program grew out of strong corporate interest from General Motors, Xerox Corporation, Applied Materials and Lockheed Martin. 

Based on continued feedback and input from industry and other employers, our course content and curriculum continue to evolve and are designed to be highly responsive to societal and industry needs.  

H. Oliver Gao

Director

Systems Engineering Program