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Engineering Programs

Systems Engineering
Certificate Program

Accelerate Your Career

extension.uci.edu/systemseng

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University of California, Irvine Extensions

professional certificate and specialized
studies programs help you increase or
enhance your current skills or prepare for

Improve Your
Career Options
with a Professional
Certificate

a new career. Courses are highly practical

and instructors are qualified leaders in their
field. Convenient online courses make it
easy to learn on your own time, in your own
way. A certificate bearing the UC seal
signifies a well-known, uncompromising
standard of excellence.

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Systems Engineering Certificate Program

Who Should Enroll

The job market for systems engineers is soaring. The

systems engineering profession, which originated in
the aerospace and defense, has recently grown into a
diverse and expanding set of industry sectors, including
commercial products and services, transportation,
utilities, and energy.

This program benefits program managers, project

managers, and those in technical and non-technical
disciplines, who are involved in any aspect of the development and deployment of products or services. This
includes development, design, operations, manufacturing,
testing, implementation, procurement, cost, scheduling,
and training, and support. Those who are involved with
project or program management or enterprise-level
process improvement will also benefit from this program.

The expanding complexity of providing products and

services in a worldwide market place with a global
workforce has fueled an increase in demand for Systems
Engineers. Systems Engineers utilize a combination of
product development and service delivery fundamentals
including program and project management techniques
and keen business skills. Systems Engineers plan, coordinate, and manage team efforts that translate customer
requirements and operational needs into effective solutions that meet cost, schedule, and performance goals.
This online program was developed to provide the knowledge and skills needed to excel at defining, developing,
delivering, operating, maintaining, improving and retiring
systems of people, products, materials and energy that
meet the customers needs.
Our innovative and unique program, shaped by input from
industry, government, and academic leaders, gives you
the skills to be successful in a wide range of industries
such as consumer products, defense, environment,
transportation, manufacturing, bioscience/health, natural
resources, logistics, and entertainment. The core body
of knowledge focuses on technical and human-centered
activities including process, requirements, design,
integration, verification, validation, industrial engineering,
organizational studies, and project management.
The Systems Engineering Certificate prepares you to sit
for the Associate and Certified levels of the Systems
Engineering Professional exams (ASEP & CSEP) given by
the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE).
Recognized internationally, these certifications have set
the standard for excellence in systems engineering.

Program Benefits
Gain critical skills and techniques to optimize product
development and service deployments
n Acquire useful and practical skills to improve your
organizations operational efficiency
n Reduce project and program risks while keeping on
schedule and under budget
n Analyze customer needs and develop clear requirements
that translate into optimal products and services
n Develop innovative approaches for systems design and
integration analysis
n Utilize simulation-based engineering to optimize development and deployment efforts
n Define verification and validation programs tailored to
your company and your customers risk threshold
n Identify, prioritize, and select relevant solutions to solve
complex engineering problems and processes
n Apply tools, resources, organizational systems, and
decision making processes to successfully manage the
development and delivery of products and services
n Prepare for CSEP industry certification
n

Program Fees
The total cost of the program varies depending on the
electives chosen. Actual fees may differ from the estimate
below. Fees are subject to change without prior notice.
Course Fees
$4,170
Candidacy Fee
$125
Textbooks
$400
Total Estimated Cost
$4,695

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Curriculum
Certificate and Eligibility Requirements

Required Courses

A certificate is awarded upon completion of 15 credit

units: 4 required courses (2.5 units each) and 5 units of
elective courses, with a grade point average of B or
better in each course.

Foundations of the Systems Engineering Process

To become an official candidate in the program, students

pursuing the certificate must submit a Declaration of
Candidacy. To receive the certificate after completing all
program requirements, students must submit a Request
for Certificate. All requirements must be completed within
5 years after the student enrolls in his/her first course.
Students not pursuing the certificate program are welcome to take as many individual courses as they wish.

EECS X491.81 (2.5 units)

Increase your understanding of the systems engineering

processes, standard development models, strategies,
terminology, and products produced over the systems
development lifecycle. Familiarize yourself with the concepts of systems engineering, and establish the foundation for more in-depth activities such as requirements
engineering, design, integration, verification, and validation.
Participants gain knowledge of the entire systems development lifecycle and key systems management activities
including configuration management, technical reviews,
risk management, and systems engineering planning.
Systems Requirements Engineering

Transfer Credit

EECS X491.71 (2.5 units)

UC Irvine Extension has an articulation agreement with the

Georgia Institute of Technology in which they will accept
specific coursework from this certificate program as credit
towards their Professional Master of Applied Systems
Engineering Degree (PMASE).

Corporate Training
Our Corporate Training specialists can deliver this
program or a customized one that fits your companys
specific needs. Visit extension.uci.edu/corporate or call
(949) 824-1847 for information.

For More Information:

Julie Pai
julie.pai@uci.edu
(949) 824-6333

Familiarize yourself with an effective method for defining a

set of requirements for a system. The focus is on the initial
problem space definition, defining user needs, concept of
operations, systems, segment, subsystem requirements,
and architecture. Gain an understanding of the following
five key requirements engineering activities: elicitation of
requirements, documentation and specifications, analysis
and functional decomposition, requirements management,
and verification and validation. Learn about the principles
and characteristics of organizing a well written requirements specification.
Prerequisite: EECS X491.81, Foundations of the Systems
Engineering Process.
System Design and Integration
EECS X491.94 (2.5 units)

Increase your knowledge of the system design and integration phases associated with the systems engineering
process. Learn about design decision analysis based on
requirements, interface management across in-house
disciplines, supplier and customer. An emphasis is placed
on design management and integration methods such
as risk management, Integrated Master Plan/Integrated
Master Schedule (IMP/IMS), Work Breakdown Structure,

extension.uci.edu/systemseng

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Technical Performance Measurement (TPM), and technical

reviews/audits for measuring, tracking and validating the
systems design and integration process.
Prerequisite: EECS X491.81, Foundations of the Systems
Engineering Process, and EECS X491.71, Systems
Requirements Engineering.
System Validation and Verification
EECS X491.93 (2.5 units)

Expand your knowledge of test and evaluation, analysis,

demonstration, and examination as methods of inspection
for proving design capability compliance with requirements. A focus is placed on tools and techniques utilized
to manage the complete verification process. Learn how
to structure a traceable flow of planning strings from
the requirements in specifications through verification
requirements, verification plans, procedures, and reports.
Integrated planning and reporting structures are presented,
as well as the utility of computer databases.
Prerequisite: EECS X491.81, Foundations of the Systems
Engineering Process, and EECS X491.71, Systems
Requirements Engineering.

Elective Courses (Minimum 5 units)

Simulation-Based Engineering
EECS X429.2 (2.5 units)

Gain hands-on experience and increase your understanding of the benefits of simulation-based approaches for
engineering complex systems. Learn how to model and
analyze the interactions between system components,
and system behaviors using the Operational Evaluation
Modeling for Context-Sensitive Systems (OpEMCSS)
simulation program. Systems engineers learn to model
adaptive behaviors of components within decisionoriented architectures. The modeling refers to Intelligent
Agents which learn and create rules that optimize system
performance in a real world environment.
Prerequisite: EECS X491.81, Foundations of the Systems
Engineering Process, or equivalent experience.

Systems Engineering: Tools & Methods

EECS X491.98 (2.5 units)

Increase your knowledge of key systems engineering tools

that every systems engineer must know. Learn how to
apply them correctly to avoid pitfalls and how to achieve
the best possible balanced solution in terms of performance, delivery, and cost. Gain an understanding of how
to synthesize technical management solutions based on
principles and practices including integrated product
process development, Kepner-Tregoe methodologies,
analytical hierarchy process, quality function deployment,
Taguchi methods, statistical process control, capability
maturity model lntegration, technical performance
measurement, and opportunity/risk management.
Prerequisite: EECS X491.81, Foundations of the Systems
Engineering Process, or equivalent experience.
INCOSE Systems Engineering Professional
Certification Preparation
EECS X491.96 (1.5 units)

Prepare yourself to be a Systems Engineering Professional

(SEP). This course helps prepare systems engineering
professionals for the International Council of System
Engineering (INCOSE) Certification examination. Gain
a comprehensive overview of the INCOSE certification
process including candidate guidelines for becoming certified, systems engineering related work and educational
experience requirements, and the application process.
Increase your understanding of the core knowledge that a
systems engineer needs to be skilled in: general systems
engineering knowledge, systems engineering management, requirements and architecture definition, systems
integration, verification and validation, and enterprise
process management.

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Advisory Committee
Carlee Bishop, Ph.D., Executive Director, Professional
Masters in Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of
Technology
Derek Dunn-Rankin, Ph.D., Professor and Chair,
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of
California, Irvine
Carol J. Gutierrez, MS-SysEng, MBA, INCOSE ESEP, CM
Rick Hefner, Ph.D., Program Director, California Institute
of Technology, Engineering and Applied Science
John C. Hsu, Ph.D., M.S., P.E., Technical Director of
Systems Management and Engineering Consulting
Services; Adjunct Professor of California State University
Long Beach; Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics

Thomas V. Huynh, Ph.D., Associate Professor Systems,

Engineering Naval Postgraduate School
Scott Jackson, M.S., CSET, Fellow of the International
Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE); Adjunct
Faculty in Systems Engineering and Resilience
Architecting, University of Southern California
Michael E. Krueger, President, ASE consulting, LLC;
Co-author of INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook
Ian Presland, CEng, CSEP, INCOSE UK Professional
Development Director; Systems Engineering Business
Manager, Thales Training & Consultancy
Benjamin Wu, Ph.D., PE, MBA, Managing Partner, Quality
and Productivity Advisors

Academic Management
Dave Dimas, Ph.D., Director, Engineering, Sciences, and Information Technologies

Systems Engineering
Certificate Program

Julie Pai

(949) 824-6333

julie.pai@uci.edu
04.09.15

extension.uci.edu/systemseng