Posted on February 6, 2025 by Sean M. Wood
The Flexible Automation & Lean Manufacturing Lab
The Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design now offers a new engineering degree with an extremely positive job outlook and lucrative earning potential.
Starting in the Fall 2025, students can pursue a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering. The profession is expected to grow 12% over the next 10 years, and it pays a median annual salary of $100,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“This gives UTSA a competitive advantage for students who wish to attend a Carnegie R1 public institution to study industrial and systems engineering,” Zachry Mechanical Engineering Endowed Chair Ender Finol, PhD. said. He is also Chair of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Industrial Engineering (MAIE). “We already have five faculty members with PhDs in industrial and systems engineering, research labs, and the Makerspace equipped with industrial technologies. We’re ready.”
Industrial and systems engineering is a popular degree, according to MAIE Assistant Chair Hung-da Wan, PhD. “We see a demand, not just from the undergraduate students, but from high school students,” he said. “They tell us their preference is industrial engineering.”
Wan said other engineering disciplines, like mechanical, chemical, or biomedical engineering, focus on specific technologies. “Industrial engineering approaches problems from the macro level,” he said. “Industrial engineers focus on the system's efficiency and explore methods or technologies to streamline the processes. I think the buzzword is, ‘operational excellence.’”
Wan said he has colleagues who graduated from industrial engineering programs and who work in manufacturing, but some work for airlines, theme parks or insurance companies.
“Our industrial engineering students will be hired as industrial engineers, manufacturing engineers, quality engineers, operations engineers and hopefully, eventually the Chief Operating Officer of a technical company,” Wan said. “I think the career path is very attractive.”