Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering
The BS in Industrial Engineering Program at LSU is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org. This page overviews the program's curriculum and requirements, as well as issues that may be relevant to students seeking admission to the program. Please be aware that the LSU General Catalog for the year you enter college is your ultimate rule book for the curricular requirements to earn your degree, and that the information presented here is intended only to summarize and supplement that document for the current catalog year.
- Degree Requirements
- Minors
- Course Substitutions
- Taking Courses at Other Schools
- Exchange Programs
- Transfer Students
- Forms
Degree Requirements
General education courses provide students with a broader understanding of the world around them, ensuring that they can relate to the diversity of cultures, attitudes, and backgrounds that they will encounter in their careers. They are the means by which students learn to think, describe, interpret, and analyze the world. Their primary aim is to educate, rather than train, and to instill a desire for life-long learning.
To fulfill the BSIE general education requirements, students must complete 39 hours of course work in six major areas:
| General Education Area | Course Required |
|---|---|
| English composition (6 hrs) | ENGL 1001, ENGL 2000 |
| Analytical reasoning (6 hrs) | MATH 1550, MATH 1552 |
| Arts (3 hrs) | Choose 1 from the Gen. Ed. list |
| Humanities (9 hrs) | CMST 1061 or 2060, plus choose 2 from the Gen. Ed. list |
| Natural sciences (9 hrs) | CHEM 1201, BIOL 1001 or 1201 |
| Social sciences (6 hrs) | ECON 2030 plus 1 from the Gen. Ed. list |
Students may alternatively take the Honors college equivalent of these courses.
The General Education list may be found in the LSU General Catalog for your catalog year. It is critical that you only choose General Education courses listed for your specific catalog year.
Today’s engineers work on global projects in culturally diverse environments. To help prepare for this environment, students in industrial engineering must meet a global knowledge requirement. This can be accomplished in one of two ways:
- Through participation in a study abroad program of six or more weeks in length, during which course credit is earned.
- By taking a general education course that meets the global knowledge requirement (the course also counts towards the general education requirement). Currently approved courses are kept on a list available in the College of Engineering office. For a course to be included on this list, it must include instruction and guidance on at least two of the following:
- Systematically compare the ideas, values, images, cultural artifacts, economic structures, technological developments, or attitudes of people from different modern societies.
- Identify the historical context of ideas and cultural practices of global cultures and their dynamic relations to current societal contexts.
- Explain how a culture changes in response to internal and external pressures.
In the BSIE Curriculum, you will see 9 credit hours (3 courses) of "Industrial Engineering Technical Electives" listed in the Senior year. The electives allow a student to begin specializing into a particular area of Industrial Engineering matching their career objectives. At least one course must come from the Tech A electives, with the remainder from either Tech A or B electives.
Minors
Minors of Interest to Industrial Engineers
To graduate with a minor in analytics, students must complete 18 hours consisting of the following courses: ISDS 2000, ISDS 2001, ISDS 3110 or ISDS 3003 or ISDS 3009, and 9 hours of departmentally approved Analytics electives. Students must have a 2.0 GPA in the courses used to satisfy the minor. At least nine semester hours must be taken on this campus and, of the nine hours, at least three must be at the 3000 or 4000 level.
Any student not majoring in biological engineering may obtain a minor in biological engineering by completing each of these courses with a grade of “C” or better: BIOL 1201, BIOL 1208, BIOL 1202, BIOL 1209, BIOL 2051, BE 3340, BE 4303, and two courses chosen from a list of approved Design Electives available in the Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering’s main office.
To graduate with a minor in business administration, students must complete 18 hours consisting of the following courses: ACCT 2000 or ACCT 2001; ECON 2030; FIN 3715; ISDS 1100; MGT 3200; MKT 3401. Students must have a 2.0 GPA in the courses used to satisfy the minor. At least nine semester hours must be taken on this campus and, of the nine hours, three must be at the 3000 or 4000 level. This minor is NOT available to students in the E. J. Ourso College of Business.
Any student not majoring in computer engineering may obtain a minor in computer engineering by completing 20 credit hours of coursework with a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the minor field and a grade of “C” or better in each course. The coursework must include EE 2120, EE 2230, EE 2741, EE 2742, EE 3755 and six additional hours from the following list: EE 3710, EE 3752, EE 47xx.
To graduate with a minor in construction management, non-majors must complete CM 1112, CM 2113, CM 2116, CM 3111, CM 4101 and CM 4221. Registration in any CM course above CM 2112 is restricted to students admitted to a senior college with a declared CM major or minor. A grade of “C” or better is required in each course.
Core Courses - 12 Hours
- GEOG 2200 Hazards, Disasters and the Environment (3)
- GEOG 2210 Fundamentals of Emergency Management (3)
- GEOG 4200 Hazard Risk Reduction (3)
Students will select one of the following 3 Geospatial Techniques classes:
- GEOG 4044 Computer Cartography (3)
- GEOG 4045 Environmental Remote Sensing (3)
- GEOG 4047 Geographic Information Systems (3)
Electives - 6 hours
- GEOG 3001 Geography of Louisiana (3)
- GEOG 3013 Meteorology (3)
- GEOG 4014 Climatology (3)
- GEOG 4015 Physical Climatology (3)
- GEOG 4018 Geographical Hydrology (3)
- GEOG 4022 Geomorphology (3)
- GEOG 4029 Coastal Resources and Management (3)
- GEOG 4078 Environment and Development (3)
- GEOG 4221 The Tropical Atmosphere (3)
- GEOG 4997 Special Topics in Geography (3)†
- GEOG 4995 Internship (1-3)
- ANTH 4909 Undergraduate Seminar in Anthropology (3)†
- ANTH 4090 Ethnographic Methodology (3)
- ANTH 4997 Special Topics in Anthropology (3)†
† Special Topics courses are eligible for the DSM minor ONLY when the content is relevant to DSM studies and with permission of the instructor and the Department of Geography and Anthropology.
To earn an E-commerce Engineering minor, a student must complete 18 credit hours of coursework. These must include IE 2060 or CSC 1253 or CSC 1350 or ISDS 3107; IE 4425 or CSC 4402 or ISDS 3110; IE 4427; and three courses from an elective list maintained by the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department. A grade of “C” or better in each course is required. Tech elective list.
Any student not majoring in electrical engineering may obtain a minor in electrical engineering by completing 21 credit hours of coursework with a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the minor field and a grade of “C” or better in each course. The coursework must include EE 2120, EE 2130, EE 2230, EE 2741, EE 3610, and six additional hours from the following list: EE 3160, EE 3220, EE 3232, EE 3320, EE 3410, EE 3530.
To graduate with a minor in entrepreneurship, students must complete 15 hours consisting of the following courses: ENTR 2000; ENTR 3012; ENTR 3111; and six additional hours to be chosen from departmentally approved electives. Students must have a 2.0 GPA in the courses used to satisfy the minor. At least nine semester hours must be taken on this campus and, of the nine hours, at least three must be at the 3000 or 4000 level. The entrepreneurship minor is NOT available to students majoring in Entrepreneurship.
LSU is a worldwide leader in the field of internal audit. An internal audit minor includes courses in accounting and information systems & decision sciences. The minor is open to all LSU students.
To graduate with a minor in internal auditing, students must complete 15 hours consisting of the following courses: ACCT 3233, ACCT 4233, ACCT 4234; and six hours chosen from: ACCT 3122, ACCT 3222, ACCT 4235, ACCT 4237, ACCT 4244, ACCT 4333, ISDS 3100, ISDS 3110, ISDS 4113, ISDS 4141, ISDS 4244, or a faculty advisor approved elective. Students must have a 2.0 GPA in the courses used to satisfy the minor. At least nine semester hours must be taken on this campus.
An undergraduate minor in physics is available. Required courses are: PHYS 1201, PHYS 1202, PHYS 1208, PHYS 1209 (or PHYS 2110, PHYS 2112, PHYS 2113, PHYS 2108, PHYS 2109), and PHYS 2221, plus three additional courses, for a total of 22-23 hours. The three additional courses, at least one of which must be at the 4000 level, must be chosen from the following: PHYS 2203, PHYS 2231, PHYS 2411, PHYS 3098, or any three credit hour PHYS or ASTR course numbered from 4100 to 4299.
To earn a minor in structural engineering, a student must complete CE 3415, CE 4400, CE 4410, CE 4430 or CE 4460, CE 4435, and two additional courses chosen from an approved list (CE 4420, CE 4440, CE 4450, and no more than one of CE 4300/CE 4310/CE 4660.) The additional technical/design/analysis electives are available in the dean’s office. A grade of “C” or better in each course is required.
To earn a minor in sugar engineering, students in the College of Engineering must complete BE 4342 or BE 3340, BE 4989*, BIOL 2083 or CHE 4260, EE 3950, ME 4433, and an approved design project. A grade of “C” or better in each course is required.
*BE 4989 can only be taken when the topic is related to Sugar Engineering.
To earn a minor in surveying, a student must complete CE 3500, CE 4500, CE 4520, CE 4530, and CE 4550. The State of Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:693.B(3b) and (4f) specify the educational requirements necessary for licensing as a Professional Land Surveyor. Additional courses will be required by the board for the land surveyor license. A list of required and elective courses may be obtained from the Louisiana Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors registration board (LAPELS).
Students in the College of Engineering wishing to earn a minor in technical sales must complete ACCT 2000, BLAW 3201 or CM 4211, ECON 2030, IE 3201 or FIN 3715 or PETE 3025, MGT 3200, MKT 3401, PHYS 1202, PHYS 2112 or PHYS 2113 or PHYS 2002, and CMST 1061, CMST 2010, CMST 2060 or CMST 2061.
Students in other colleges must have approval from the College of Engineering dean’s office to declare this minor.
Students who return to campus after having completed their undergraduate degrees and who complete the surveying or technical sales minors will be issued a certificate by the college.
Course Substitutions
Occasionally it is impossible for a student to take all required courses (for example, a course on an older catalog may no longer be taught). In such cases it is possible to substitute an equivalent course. Such substitution requires the approval of the IE Undergraduate Program Director. The substitution will appear on your degree audit and transcript once approved.
Taking Courses at Other Schools
You may decide to take a course at another university or another campus in the LSU system, perhaps during the summer. If you plan to use these credits toward degree requirements, you must be in good academic standing at LSU and you must obtain prior approval in writing for each course. Approval forms are available in the College of Engineering office. Approval for engineering courses must be obtained from the IE Undergraduate Coordinator and possibly the coordinators of other engineering programs (if taking non-IE engineering courses). The approval form also establishes what the equivalent course at LSU is. To see course equivalencies for Louisiana and other state colleges and universities, see the LSU Tiger Transfer Tables website.
Be aware that other universities may have different credit hour and semester systems. For instance, a 4-credit hour course at a University with a trimester system (8-10 week semester) may only transfer as 2.5 credit hours to LSU. You should make sure that courses taken at other schools will transfer with sufficient credit to replace the equivalent course at LSU.
LSU has a special relationship with Southern University and Baton Rouge Community College which allows cross-registration in courses considered equivalent to LSU courses (students can take courses at Southern and BRCC at the same time taking courses at LSU). For courses taken during the normal academic year semesters, students are limited to at most 1 math, 1 science, and 1 engineering course. This limit does not apply to courses taken during the summer terms. See the College of Engineering counselors for approval and instructions for cross-registering.
Note that there is a minimum residency requirement for College of Engineering. Students must take AT LEAST 30 credit hours of coursework within the College of Engineering at LSU. This limits the number of engineering courses that can be taken at other universities.
Required courses failed at LSU cannot be retaken at other universities. They must be retaken at LSU.
Exchange Programs
LSU has been actively promoting having students study abroad for one or more semesters. Exchange programs broaden students exposure to and understanding of other cultures, which is critical in our increasingly global economy. Please see http://ocs-web2.ocs.lsu.edu/apa/ for more details on these opportunities and how to arrange them.
Transfer Students
To be considered for admission to the College of Engineering, transfer students must have earned a 2.5 GPA for all college-level course work attempted as well as all other college admission requirements. The calculation is made using LSU's system of counting all attempts at all courses, even if your former institution used another system, such as replacing grades in repeated courses. The catalog allows the College of Engineering Office of Student Services to grant admission in exceptional cases if the GPA is below a 2.5, but above a 2.0. Upon written request, the Office of Student Services will evaluate an applicant's entire academic record and may grant admission to the College.
The transfer process is a multi-step process:
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First apply and have your transcripts sent to LSU.
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Attend a Transfer Student Orientation (You will be assigned an orientation date once you are accepted to LSU).
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Once you arrive at LSU, LSU Admissions will evaluate your coursework taken at other institutions to determine if they can be accepted at LSU. This process does not evaluate whether courses are equivalent to existing courses at LSU (exception: other higher education institutions in Louisiana have established equivalency relations with LSU for many courses).
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Transferred courses are then evaluated by specific programs (Physics transfer courses would be evaluated by Physics for example) and by the IE Undergraduate Coordinator to determine equivalence to existing LSU courses required by the IE program. Substitutions are then made for courses deemed equivalent.
Students contemplating transferring often would like an idea of what might transfer before applying to or arriving at LSU. While an official evaluation cannot be made until you are accepted and arrive at LSU, it is recommended that you contact the IE Undergraduate Coordinator (see "Contact Us" link for contact information) to get an idea of which courses will likely transfer and apply to the IE program. To see course equivalencies for Louisiana and other state colleges and universities, see the LSU Tiger Transfer Tables website.
Meeting Graduation Requirements
In addition to advising, the College of Engineering has a procedure called "Senior Check-Out" which is designed to assure you meet graduation requirements. The check-out procedure occurs early in the semester prior to the semester in which you anticipate graduation. You will be contacted by the College of Engineering to initiate the check-out process. See the IE Undergraduate Coordinator for this procedure and NOT your assigned IE faculty advisor. Get to know your classmates and the IE students a year or more ahead of you. They know the ropes and can help answer your questions. Join the student organization, IIE. It will help you get to know fellow students, department alumni, and your profession.