Masters in System Engineering & Jobs

Masters in System Engineering Jobs

In a lot of industries, systems engineers put pieces together. They are responsible for making discrete components of a production system, an industrial system, a manufacturing system, or a data system fit together and functions as a unit. This role requires a couple of skills. The skill that will come up in the classroom during a master's in system engineering program is the perspective that this engineering role requires. It's the long view; the understanding that making the pieces of a system conform may not always be the way to make them work together most effectively. Sometimes the most important skill of a systems manager is the creativity required to make disparate pieces fit together and work, like a clever mechanic can put a General Motors transmission in a Volvo and somehow make it both fit and function.

The other important skill for a systems manager has to do with personnel. Senior systems managers often find themselves taking an oversight role with many other engineers who are working on various components of the system that is being engineered-or re-engineered. People skills are important when a technician is relying on the skills of others, and communication skills are imperative when details are what make a successful effort. Software in particular is not a particularly forgiving raw material. You can't bend it like aluminum or mold it like plastic or jam it like wood. Small errors can lead to major malfunctions. So the best systems engineers, and the best jobs in the field, require a large managerial scope and good team leadership ability.

1. Product Architecture: This role is for a senior member of a systems engineering team who can take charge of managing both the hardware and software development for a complex product or component of a product. Aviation is an excellent example of a product architecture environment, where a systems engineer might be responsible for developing new navigation technology or an engine with increased fuel efficiency. The requirements for the job would include knowledge of the product environment, of civilian and military needs, and of the technology currently in place. This job contemplates creating a new system that provides added functionality rather than redesigning an established product.

2. Hardware Systems Engineering: Some would class this role as that of a computer engineer, but there is a difference between developing new computer hardware and a communications system that is computer driven. Part of the systems engineer's role in this environment is developing an acceptable test protocol so that new components of a system meet standards on the bench prior to becoming part of a new router or server or system of linkage for a database model.

3. Information Assurance Engineer: We have learned from the thieves in this world just how vulnerable digital information and data storage and transmission devices can be. The highly publicized theft of information for credit card numbers and bank accounts is only the tip of the iceberg. Now many companies that are faced with merging data systems or scaling an existing system up for global rather than domestic use employ a systems engineer to build in the protection for the raw data that is important proprietary material. In many cases this means merging a UNIX driven system with a Microsoft database or scaling a system so that it can operate securely on multiple continents in multiple software languages.

4. Healthcare Systems Engineer: At least one school, Georgia Tech, has a degree offered by the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department that specializes in healthcare systems alone. Much of this job is going to be data management, but the challenges include information assurance as required by HIPAA patient privacy requirements, devising a system of data flow for multiple medical tests and exams and procedures that utilize digital information for medical communication, and developing the software that will handle movement of various types of visual, audio and print-based data on a common server.

5. Network Administration & Management: A systems engineer in an IT environment may take responsibility for multiple functions, working principally as an engineer in order to work around problems that arise. This role might include exchange administration, backup & recovery, network security, user support, and network monitoring & maintenance. It could require identifying trouble spots in server function or interconnection and devising corrective measures. Some system engineers thrive in a position of system management because data systems are never static for long; they are always growing or going through an upgrade of some sort.