Industrial Engineering

The School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering brings together great students and inspiring faculty on a campus equipped to promote innovation and excellence in its research endeavors. MIME has a strong commitment to recruit engineers who believe firmly in engineering for good.

Fully funded graduate research assistantships for highly qualified candidates are available across a number of projects.

If Oregon State is your preferred choice for graduate study, and you believe that you have superior qualifications, then we encourage you to apply. Admission is very competitive. The most successful applicants over the years:

• had GPAs above 3.50 on a 4.00 scale
• submitted a Statement of Purpose demonstrating alignment of their and their intended supervisor’s research
• had published as an author or co-author on academic publication(s)

Highly qualified applicants may be offered a graduate research assistantship or graduate teaching assistantship.

Priority Deadline for Applications

If you are seeking a graduate assistantship, and wish to be included in the priority consideration pool, you must complete and submit the University application by December 15.

Each year, faculty win externally competitive research grants. These grants support graduate research assistant positions. When faculty are actively recruiting M.S. and/or Ph.D. students to work on projects funded by these grants, a brief synopsis of the research project will be listed on the webpage linked below.

Please note that not all faculty who are hiring have projects listed below. If you are considering graduate school, we encourage you to apply. Faculty who are hiring will reach out to you individually if your application is of interest to them.

The Master of Science in Industrial Engineering degree is a research degree which requires students to complete required and elective coursework as well as a capstone thesis or non-thesis project.

Thesis option
M.S. thesis students conduct original industrial or manufacturing engineering research or apply existing industrial or manufacturing engineering knowledge to a practical problem. The research topic must be approved by the student's graduate committee, and their work will be supervised and evaluated by their major professor. Eventually, the student will register their thesis title with the Graduate School and submit their thesis manuscript to the Graduate School for review and approval. In addition to completing and submitting a thesis, the student will prepare an article that is based on their research and co-authored with their major professor and any other significant contributors to their work. This article must be suitable for publication in a refereed journal or conference proceedings. Learn more about the thesis option.

Project (non-thesis) option
With the M.S. project option, you will fulfill the Graduate School’s research-in-lieu-of-thesis requirement by completing a project in which they apply industrial or manufacturing engineering knowledge and methods to a practical problem. The project  must be approved by the student's graduate committee, and their work will be supervised and evaluated by their major professor. As with the thesis option, the student will document their project with a final report, but the report will not be registered with or reviewed by the Graduate School. Learn more about the project (non-thesis) option.

The Master of Engineering degree in Industrial Engineering (MEng IE) offers students the opportunity to pursue advanced study in the fields of industrial and/or manufacturing engineering without also having to complete a research thesis or project. This coursework-only degree is concerned with the practical application of specialized, graduate-level engineering knowledge.

The purpose of the courses in the Ph.D. program of study is to develop exceptional expertise in the major area. It should also provide the background and adjunct knowledge required to practice and/or teach this specialty at the highest professional level and to conduct significant research in this field. The Ph.D. thesis shall make an original and significant contribution to engineering knowledge.

To be eligible to earn a minor in Industrial Engineering students must have previously taken at least one course in each of the following preparatory areas: linear algebra, calculus-based statistics, engineering economy and computer programming. Courses for the minor in may be taken on 100 percent on campus or a combination of on campus and online.