The USC Master of Science 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 M.S. 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,
- and 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 USC M.S. 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.
Printable Program Details
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In order to assure an admission decision for a specific semester, the application and all supplemental materials must be submitted by the appropriate application deadline. Applications received after the deadline may or may not be evaluated for the requested admission semester at departmental discretion. Applications are reviewed as received and early application is strongly recommended.
Fall Admission (Domestic) - April 30th
Fall Admission (International) - March 15th
Spring Admission - September 1st
Summer Admission - January 15th
Online Graduate Application |
