Introduction to Engineering Systems
Course facts
- Payment: Free, no certificate
- Credits: Non Credit
- Learning style: Self-paced, start anytime
- Resources: Lecture Notes; Problem Set Solutions; Problem Sets; Projects with Examples
MIT OpenCourseWare details
- As taught in: Spring 2011
- Department: Engineering Systems Division
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Engineering systems: system dynamics, simulation, uncertainty, networks and stakeholder decisions, applied to rail, health care and internet projects.
Energy supply, health care delivery, the environment and infrastructure such as telecommunications, water and transportation are large, messy problems that no single discipline can solve. This introduction to engineering systems brings approaches from engineering, management and the social sciences to such issues, with lecture notes and problem sets on system dynamics and simulation, uncertainty, networks, and decision making with stakeholders who hold different values, applied in team projects on real problems.
What You Will Achieve
- Build system dynamics models and simulate how a complex system behaves over time
- Represent uncertainty with random variables and apply it to engineering decisions
- Analyze the structure and behavior of networks in infrastructure systems
- Weigh stakeholders with different values when making decisions about complex systems
Program Overview
Complex Systems and System Dynamics
Thinking about large problems as systems.
- Critical contemporary issues and complex systems
- System structure and behavior
- Simulation with Vensim
Uncertainty and Networks
Two more lenses for analyzing engineering systems.
- Uncertainty and random variables
- Applications of uncertainty
- Network structure, behavior and applications
Stakeholders and Projects
Decisions with people involved, worked through in team projects.
- Considering stakeholders with different values
- High-speed rail and aviation in the Northeast Corridor
- The stroke care chain
- Internet governance and the digital divide
Course Completion
Job Outlook
Engineering systems thinking is used in infrastructure and transportation planning, energy and environmental policy, health care operations, consulting and technology policy.
Good for: Learners who want tools for thinking about large, interconnected problems that cross engineering, management and policy.
Keep in mind: Full project materials are published only for the high-speed rail project, one assignment was removed for copyright reasons, and the team projects and field trip were in person.
Bottom line: A broad first look at engineering systems that pairs modeling tools with real problems in transportation, health care and the internet.
Frequently Asked Questions
What were the team projects about?
An environmental analysis of high-speed rail and aviation in the Northeast Corridor, the stroke care chain, and internet governance and the digital divide; the rail project has its full calendar, readings and recitations.
Which software does the system dynamics part use?
A full-class recitation gives a tutorial on Vensim, which the course uses for building and simulating system dynamics models.
Do the problem sets have solutions?
Yes. Solutions are published for the problem sets, the short assignments that run alongside the semester-long team project.
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