The MS in Product Development Engineering is an interdisciplinary degree program jointly offered by the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and the Daniel J. Epstein Industrial and Systems Engineering Departments. The Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department will manage this joint degree program.

Developing new products is the essence of human intelligence in general, and engineering professions in particular. The growth of our economy has been largely determined by the engineer’s performance and effectiveness in new product developments. The ever-increasing demands for product functions, coupled with low cost, high quality, and short lead-time requirements have made product development a very complex and inter-disciplinary activity. The recent high-tech revolutions and stringent environmental concerns have further contributed to the complexity of modern product development. There exists a great human resource need in the areas of new product developments.

There are three interrelated disciplines in product development: art, management, and engineering. The MS in Product Development Engineering program focuses on the engineering discipline, ranging from technology to systems. From the engineering viewpoint, product development can be seen as a process from invention, design, planning, production, to service phases. Three types of knowledge are needed for an engineer to go through these phases:

• knowledge to generate new product ideas
• knowledge to evaluate these ideas
• knowledge to structure and manage the development process

This innovative degree program provides students with an integrated education experience, including modern theories and practical experiences, to acquire this knowledge systematically so that they can accomplish these phases efficiently.
The MS in Product Development Engineering program is mainly a coursework-based program; students can choose to complete the program with or without a thesis requirement. This program has two areas of specialization (AOS):

• Product Development Systems (PDS): prepares the student to become a product development manager
• Product Development Technology (PDT): prepares the student for a professional career as a new product development engineer

Students entering this program must declare their choice of an AOS at admission, and follow the requirements of each AOS to graduate.

International Students: This program is eligible for the OPT STEM extension.

• The MS in Product Development Engineering program requires a minimum of 27 units to complete
• Although it is mainly a course work-based program, students can choose to complete the program with or without a thesis requirement
• For the thesis option, 4 of the 27 units are to be thesis
• At least 16 units, not including thesis, must be at the 500 level or higher, and at least 18 units must be from the AME and ISE departments
• For the non-thesis option, 18 of the 27 units must be at the 500 level or higher from the AME and ISE departments, and/or closely related departments
• As well, students can choose to take up to 6 units of directed research (e.g., AME 590 or ISE 590)
• Students must maintain a minimal cumulative GPA of 3.0 in USC course work to graduate