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Ph.D. Degree Program

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Industrial Engineering ? Program Requirements

Students are required to take 84 semester hours of approved graduate courses beyond the Bachelor?s
Degree; this includes 54 semester hours of approved graduate courses plus 12 hours of doctoral
research and 18 hours of dissertation.
Students who earned both their BSIE and MSIE degrees from an accredited university must take
minimum 24 semester hours of approved graduate courses, and 12 hours of doctoral research and 18
hours of dissertation.
Candidates with MS degrees in other disciplines are required to take 54 semester hours of approved
graduate courses. Students with Masters in Science and Engineering disciplines may receive a
maximum credit of 18 hours of course work, which will result in their taking minimum 36 semester hours
of approved graduate courses, and 12 hours of doctoral research and 18 hours of dissertation.
Students transferring from other institutions may petition up to 6 semester hours with a minimum grade
of "B" to be transferred upon approval of the IE Chair and the Associate Dean of the Cullen College of
Engineering.
The course selection must be approved by the student?s dissertation advisor.
Students whose primary language is not English may be required to complete an engineering
communications course (INDE 6359). The engineering communications course is not required for the
international students who score 33 percentile or higher for the verbal section of the GRE exam.
Students are required to complete one year residency with full time enrollment.
Satisfactory performance on the Ph.D. screening examination and oral defense of proposal is required
prior to final defense of the Ph.D. dissertation.
The Ph.D. degree will be confirmed upon the successful defense of the dissertation followed by
submission of the approved copy of the dissertation to the UH Graduate School.

Screening Exam

The following rules apply to any graduate students who wish to pursue the Ph.D. degree in Industrial
Engineering.

This is a general exam that consists of the student?s research concentration (In-depth exam) and the
student?s choice of three of the following general areas in Industrial Engineering: Probability and
Statistics (INDE 6333), Operations Research (INDE 6372), Engineering Design and Prototyping (INDE
6383), and Human Factors (INDE 6337), Digital Simulation (INDE 6370), and Engineering Economics
(INDE 6365).
 Students must take and receive a grade of "Pass" in each subject before he/she can be formally
accepted into the Ph.D. program.
The exam must be taken no later than the first semester upon completion of 18 graduate semester hours
after entering the Ph.D. program. However, this exam must be completed within two years after the initial
admission to the Ph.D. program.
This exam is administered by the department twice annually: first Friday in January and August.
Students must register for the test no later than two weeks prior to the exam.
The registration form can be obtained from the department or download now.
The results of the exam will be notified to the student approximately two weeks after the completion of
the exam. Copies of the results will be also sent to the Graduate Program Director and the IE
Department Chair.
Students shall not be given more than two opportunities to take the exam. For the second trial, students
may take only the subject areas they failed in the first trial.

Dissertation Advisory Committee

The candidate must select a dissertation advisory committee, whose composition is subject to the approval of
the IE Graduate Program Director and the IE Department Chair.

The advisory committee must be composed of at least five faculty members, including at least three
members from the IE department and two faculty members outside the department.
The IE Graduate Program Director and the IE Department Chair must approve any subsequent changes
to the composition of this committee.
Students are not allowed to change committee members without the permission of the Ph.D. Program
Director and the department chair. A formal petition must be submitted to the department for changing
Ph.D. committee members.

Formal Dissertation Proposal

A formal written dissertation proposal must be submitted to the dissertation advisory committee in a timely
manner after completing the Ph.D. screening examination. The student should provide committee members with
a copy of the proposal approximately two weeks before the scheduled presentation.

List of the IE Graduate Courses and Research Areas

RESEARCH AREAS COURSES OFFERED

Operations Research INDE 6333 - Probability and Statistics for Engineers
INDE 6364 - Advanced Engineering Statistics
INDE 6370 - Digital Simulation
INDE 6372 - Advanced Linear Optimization
INDE 7340 - Integer Programming
INDE 7342 - Nonlinear Optimization
INDE 7344 - Network Optimization
INDE 7352 - Stochastic Dynamic Programming
INDE 7372 - Tools and Methods for Optimization
INDE 7397 - Stochastic Processes

Manufacturing and INDE 6333 - Probability and Statistics for Engineers

Production Systems INDE 6336 - Reliability Engineering
INDE 6339 - Materials Handling
INDE 6361 - Production Planning and Control
INDE 6363 - Statistical Process Control
INDE 6364 - Advanced Engineering Statistics
INDE 6370 - Digital Simulation
INDE 6372 - Advanced Linear Optimization
INDE 6383 - Engineering Design and Prototyping
INDE 6390 - Systems Engineering
INDE 7397 - Manufacturing Systems

Engineering Management INDE 6323 - Economics of Disasters

INDE 6332 - Engineering Project Management
INDE 6333 - Probability and Statistics for Engineers
INDE 6335 - Engineering Administration
INDE 6361 - Production Planning and Control
INDE 6365 - Engineering Economics II
INDE 6372 - Advanced Linear Optimization
INDE 6386 - Engineering Leadership and Entrepreneurship for
Engineers
INDE 7352 - Stochastic Dynamic Programming
INDE 7397 - Stochastic Processes
INDE 7383 - Systems Engineering and Modeling
INDE 7397 - Decision Making in Public Safety Management
Distribution & Logistics INDE 6333 - Probability and Statistics for Engineers
INDE 6336 - Reliability Engineering
INDE 6339 - Materials Handling
INDE 6361 - Production Planning and Control
INDE 6363 - Statistical Process Control
INDE 6365 - Engineering Economics II
INDE 6372 - Advanced Linear Optimization
INDE 7340 - Integer Programming
INDE 7344 - Network Optimization
INDE 6386 - Engineering Leadership and Entrepreneurship for
Engineers
INDE 7397 - Operations Management & Supply Chain
INDE 7397 - Stochastic Processes
INDE 7390 - Supply Chain Management

Ergonomics/Occupational INDE 6321 - System Safety Engineering

Safety/Human Factors INDE 6322 - Occupational Safety Engineering
Engineering INDE 6333 - Probability and Statistics for Engineers
INDE 6336 - Reliability Engineering
INDE 6337 - Human Factors Engineering
INDE 6365 - Engineering Economics II
INDE 6372 - Advanced Linear Optimization
INDE 6397 - Environmental Health and Safety

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