Master of Science in Systems Engineering /
Master of Science in Engineering Systems (312 Curriculum)

Unrestricted Line and Aviation Engineering Duty Officers entering into the 312 curriculum must be graduates of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School curriculum. At the graduate level, the officer will acquire the competence to effectively contribute as a systems engineer to naval systems research, design, development, maintenance and acquisition. The officer will gain the ability to effectively integrate future technological, engineering, and acquisition approaches with existing practice through a combination of core systems engineering courses, specialization studies, and project/thesis research.

Upon successful completion of all required coursework, students earn a Master of Science in Systems Engineering (MSSE) degree accredited by the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC). Depending on a Bachelor’s Level degree, some students may not qualify for an ABET EAC accredited MSSE degree. In this case, while taking the same classes, these students will earn a non-ABET accredited Master of Science in Engineering Systems (MSES) degree.

Admission Requirements

Entry Dates: October and March
Length of Study: Eight quarters
Program Officer: CDR Michael Moran
Academic Associate: CAPT Katy Giles

MSSE/MSES Degree Requirements

• Completion of an approved curriculum that includes:
  • A minimum of 36 quarter hours of 3000 and 4000 level courses, 16 of which must be at the 4000 level.
  • Completion of Core Systems Engineering and Advanced Systems Engineering course sequences
• Completion of a 12-quarter credit hour capstone project course sequence and capstone project report requirement is through the U.S. NTSP final test project and report (DT-II).

Educational Skill and P-code Requirements

Students sponsored by the Naval Air Systems Command must also meet additional Educational Skill Requirements (ESRs) essential for primary duties to be awarded of an approved Aviation SE subspecialty code 5804P. These requirements are met through the completion of a program of study and final test project and report (DT-II).
The specific ESRs are:

1. Capability Engineering.
2. System Architecting.
3. System Design.
4. Engineering Design Analysis.
5. System Integration and Development.
6. System Verification and Validation.
7. Human Systems Integration.
8. Project Management.
9. Aviation Systems Specialization.
10. Thesis.

Student Outcomes

In order to achieve the program educational objectives, graduates must complete at least one year of study, or at least 45 quarter credit hours, beyond a baccalaureate level program, achieve a mastery of systems engineering, and complete a capstone project report or a thesis, where each student attains outcomes demonstrating competency in:

1. Advanced mathematics, including probability and statistics, and computing fundamentals, with practical applications thereof.
2. Engineering topics necessary to define, synthesize, analyze, design, and evaluate complex systems containing hardware and software, and human elements (where appropriate), in a holistic manner across the lifecycle.
3. Systems design and analysis topics, such as decision analysis, risk analysis (cost, schedule and performance), trade-off analysis, optimization, modeling-based engineering, simulation, sensitivity analysis techniques, or requirements engineering.
4. Communication: Communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

In addition to attaining these student outcomes, students qualified for MSSE degree will have had post-secondary educational and/or professional experiences that supports that attainment of student outcomes as defined in the ABET EAC general criteria for baccalaureate programs, Criterion 3; and includes at least one year of math and basic science, at least one-and-a-half years of engineering topics, and a major design experience that meets the requirements in the general criteria for baccalaureate programs, Criterion 5. Students that have attained an ABET EAC accredited undergraduate degree meet these post-secondary requirements.

Curriculum Sponsors

Director, Strategic Systems Programs, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)

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