To bring the mission statement into fruition and satisfy constituent needs, the SIE department faculty, in conjunction with alumni, current student, and industry input, has developed the following five goals for students (Goals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5). In the spirit of the engineering design process, our approach is to first develop the systems requirements for completion of the mission, and then consider the design of a system to meet the requirements. Therefore, we have divided this general mission statement into the following operational goals and abilities that our students should have upon graduation. We also include metrics for measurement of the educational outcomes. To pinpoint where to evaluate student success with the educational goals, we mapped our program requirements (courses) into the set of goals in Table 2.3.

1. Students should have the ability to model and solve problems using the techniques of mathematics, physics, engineering science, operations research, applied probability and statistics, and computer simulation
.

SIE graduates will have the ability to:

• read and interpret problems,
• determine the critical issues that must be included in models,
• determine and learn the appropriate tools for solution,
• implement the tool to arrive at a solution,
• understand the impact of stochastic behavior and variance,
• perform sensitivity analysis

As demonstrated by:

• scores on final exams in courses that contain significant modeling experiences in both the deterministic and stochastic areas,
• scores on prerequisite assignments and exams in advanced courses,
• scores on a senior exit exam covering the selection of model approaches for short word problems,
• student self assessment of abilities,
• reports for case studies that make use of modeling techniques and solution interpretation,
• reports from the capstone design experience for projects that have a mathematical modeling component,
• undergraduate research experiences that include developing and solving models, and interpreting model output
2. Students should know and should have the ability to consider the entire system as a whole when solving problems, and not simply look at components and sub-systems individually.

SIE graduates will have the ability to:

• learn and understand the system requirements,
• understand and implement all steps in the engineering design process,
• formally document the design process,
• deal with systems having multiple conflicting criteria from a variety of stakeholders,
• understand the role and critical nature that human behavior plays in system design,
• understand the impact of the solution on society and the environment

As demonstrated by:

• scores on a senior exit exam covering the design process applied to small word problems,
• student self assessment of abilities,
• project reports from courses with design content,
• project reports from the capstone design experience,
• reports from undergraduate research experiences that include the use of the design process
3. Students should have the ability to be a contributing member of multi-disciplinary teams.

SIE graduates will have the ability to:

• have valuable technical expertise that can be used by the team,
• have excellent communication skills,
• know what is needed to successfully complete the task,
• be able to take on different roles within the team structure as necessary,
• appreciate the strengths and benefits of having diverse team members

As demonstrated by:

• successfully completing the capstone design experience and completing the team log,
• successfully completing Engineering 102 and using the team evaluation methods,
• reports from the capstone design experience,
• oral presentations in the capstone design course,
• successful completion of the U of A technical writing course,
• use of professional communication tools,
• student self assessment of abilities in teamwork and communication
4. Students should have the ability to use modern computer analysis tools as an aid to solving problems.

SIE graduates will have the ability to:

• design and build new tools or use existing tools,
• understand the mechanism for obtaining precise data for the tools

As demonstrated by:

• successful completion of computing requirements in the programs,
• use of computer communication tools such as word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, and equation processing software,
• project reports where the computer was one of the key solution tools,
• knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the world wide web,
• knowledge of software for modeling and simulation,
• student self assessment of abilities in software
5. Students should understand and appreciate professional behavior in engineering. This includes ethics, professional standards of practice, and the role of professional organizations as a forum for contemporary issues in the field and additional education opportunities.

SIE graduates will have the ability to:

• understand and make ethical decisions,
• understand professional standards of practice,
• work hard enough to maximize the probability of successful project completion,
• understand the role of professional societies as a forum for contemporary issues in the field,
• understand the need for and importance of additional educational opportunities

As demonstrated by:

• successful completion of ethics exercises in Engineering 102, senior seminar SIE 495s, and the capstone experience SIE 442,
• successful completion of SIE 495s,
• successfully dealing with an external client in the capstone experience,
• number of students that join engineering professional and engineering honor societies,
• number of students that serve as officers in campus clubs,
• number of students that take the FE exam and/or join the Order of the Engineer,
• number of students that go on for advanced degrees within 10 years of their undergraduate degree