Why Systems?

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WHAT IS SYSTEMS ENGINEERING ────

Systems engineering is designed for students interested in bringing people and technologies together to improve the productivity and effectiveness of organizations and address complex, multidimensional problems in science and industry. (UVA Department of Systems & Information Engineering) 

Systems engineers solve problems by re-working systems.

Often described as one of the most "people-oriented" forms of engineering, systems engineers work to uncover the root causes of problems, understand their impact on people, then apply a strong STEM background — particularly in data science, applied computer science, and mathematics — to find optimal solutions.

EXAMPLE COURSES ────

From the UVA Systems Engineering Curriculum

• Stochastic Decision Models

• Human-Machine Interface

• Discrete Event Simulation

• System Evaluation

• Deterministic Decision Models 

SYSTEMS THINKING ────

The world is made of interacting systems, and most people only see the surface symptoms of those systems. 

Systems thinkers try to uncover hidden structures, connect data to decisions, identify root causes, and test assumptions in order to understand and improve the systems that are all around us

The following ideas offer a peak into the framework of thinking that Systems Engineers gain during their time at UVA:

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