2013–2014 UNIVERSITY CATALOG - Florida Institute of Technology

The program is ideally suited to applicants with a master’s degree in
systems engineering and admissions preference will be given to these
applicants. If an applicant does not have a master’s degree in systems
engineering, five master’s-level core courses (or equivalents as determined
by the department) are required to be successfully completed
before beginning doctoral-level coursework, as follows:
Core Courses
SYS 5310 Systems Engineering Principles
SYS 5350 Systems Modeling and Analysis
SYS 5365 Decisions and Risk Analysis
SYS 5370 Research Methods in Systems Engineering
SYS 5460 Systems Requirements Analysis
Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. in systems engineering requires a minimum of 48 semester
credit hours beyond the master’s degree including 24 semester
credit hours of doctoral-level coursework and 24 semester credit
hours of dissertation research. In addition to the 24 semester credit
hours of coursework, the student’s major advisor may require additional
courses to better prepare the student for conducting research
in the selected topic.
Following successful completion of all necessary coursework, students
must pass a comprehensive examination and then prepare a written
dissertation proposal and have their dissertation topic approved by a
committee formed according to graduate policy. Students who successfully
pass the comprehensive examination and have their dissertation
topic approved are then admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree.
Students admitted to candidacy must then conduct the necessary
research to prepare a written dissertation satisfying the elements agreed
to by the student’s doctoral committee and successfully defend the
dissertation research and the written dissertation for the committee.
A candidate should have at least one technical paper in review for a
refereed journal before the dissertation defense and have completed one
conference paper and presented that paper at a recognized conference.
General degree requirements are presented in the Academic Overview
section.
Curriculum
The coursework consists of a set of required courses and a set of
elective courses as outlined below. Students who are newly admitted
must submit a program plan of study and have that program plan
approved by their designated major advisor and department head
before registering for any course to be applied toward graduation
requirements. Students must not register for any course not on their
approved program plan without the approval of their major advisor
and department head.
There are four required courses that all students must take as listed
below. In addition, students must take at least four elective courses,
subject to the restrictions shown below.
Required Courses
SYS 6010 Advanced Topics in Decision and Risk Analysis
SYS 6020 Advanced Topics in Systems Modeling and Analysis
SYS 6030 Advanced Topics in Process Engineering
SYS 6040 Seminar in Systems Engineering
Electives
In consultation with the major adviser, the student selects four courses
applicable to the program and the student’s intended research focus.
Latitude is permitted with the consent of the major advisor. The
advisor may require the student to take additional courses (beyond
the minimum total of eight) if it is felt these courses are needed for
research preparation.
RESEARCh
Research topics in systems engineering are interdisciplinary in nature.
The student may select a topic from his/her engineering field, or a
topic that spans several fields with the approval of the student’s major
advisor and committee. Potential topics include, but are not limited
to, system design and modeling, the systems engineering life cycle,
simulation and analytical modeling, analysis of alternatives and risk
assessment, design of experiments and system requirements development
and management.
In conducting the dissertation research and completing the written
dissertation, the student must demonstrate originality and a significant,
unique and meaningful contribution to the field of systems
engineering. The research must be accurately and completely documented,
fully explained and thoroughly supported in the dissertation,
and must be defended successfully to the committee as part of the
degree requirement.
DEPARTMENT OF MARiNE AND ENviRONMENTAL
SySTEMS
George A. Maul, Ph.D., Head
Associate Head
John G. Windsor Jr., Ph.D.
Degree Programs
Earth Remote Sensing, M.S.
Environmental Resource Management, M.S.
Environmental Science, B.S., M.S., Ph.D.
Meteorology, B.S., M.S.
Ocean Engineering, B.S.
Ocean Engineering, M.S.
Areas of Specialization:
Aquaculture Engineering
Coastal Engineering and Processes
Hydrographic Engineering
Materials and Structures
Naval Architecture
Ocean Energy
Ocean Instrumentation
Ocean Systems/Underwater Technology
Ocean Engineering, Ph.D.
Oceanography, B.S.
Oceanography
Biological Oceanography, M.S.
Chemical Oceanography, M.S.
Coastal Zone Management, M.S.
Geological Oceanography, M.S.
Physical Oceanography, M.S.
Oceanography, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Minor Programs
Environmental Science
Meteorology
Oceanography
Professors
Thomas V. Belanger, Ph.D., environmental planning, freshwater ecology,
chemistry and biology of natural waters, wastewater treatment, water
resources.
George A. Maul, Ph.D., Atlantic tsunami mitigation, marine meteorology,
climate and sea level change, maritime natural hazards, physical
oceanography, remote sensing.
2013–2014 Degree Programs—College of Engineering 125