Industrial & Systems Engineering

Welcome to Industrial and Systems Engineering!

California-bound Badgerloop team aims for top prize. Read more.
Nancy Spelsberg helped found BCP Transportation in 2011. Since then, the company has grown from four trucks and fewer than 10 employees to around 100 trucks and a team of 135. Read more .

The UW-Madison Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering has a long track-record of excellence in the field – consistently ranked in the top 10 nationwide, the department offers the highest quality educational experience, world-class research opportunities and cutting edge facilities to work and study in. Please see the department’s Snapshot for more details and stop by the Department main office in Mechanical Engineering Room 3270.

How do we compare to other programs?

Our undergraduate program is ranked #5 in the U.S. (U.S. News and World Report, 2018)
Our graduate program is ranked #7 in the U.S. (U.S. News and World Report, 2019)

What is industrial and systems engineering?

Industrial and systems engineers make things better! We focus on improving goods and services, making them more cost-effective and of greater value to people, industries and society.

Academic Programs

Bachelor of Science, Industrial Engineering

Work on real problems for real companies while you learn in one of the best IE programs in the country. Whether it's helping a hospital redesign emergency department workflows to make sure the sickest patients get treated quicker, helping a small manufacturing company worried about its bottom line redesign its processes to do more with less.

Master of Science Programs in Industrial Engineering

The department is one of the nation’s premier teaching and research facilities devoted not only to improving contemporary production and service systems but also to aiding people who operate the systems. We maintain strong ties to local industries and service institutions, many with national and international reputations.

PhD in Industrial Engineering

As a graduate student, you benefit from the fact that we are the current national leader in research funding with world class faculty, opportunities, and facilities at your fingertips. We are recognized for our strength and leadership in: Operations Research, Manufacturing, Health Systems Engineering, and Human Factors and Ergonomics.

Department News

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