Systems Engineering and Design
If you are interested in multiple engineering disciplines, Systems Engineering and Design (SED) may be the right major for you. Systems Engineering and Design is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program emphasizing interactions between engineering, and management, subsystems. It brings together basic sciences, engineering analysis, and engineering design. System engineers must be able to lead others and make decisions. The ability to take risks and deal with the business landscape is also essential. Your curriculum will integrate principles of business, new technology, and entrepreneurship. Systems engineers understand how to coordinate interacting parts of a whole and analyze engineering designs within economic and physical constraints.
The curriculum offers flexibility through a secondary field option (both pre-approved and custom types available) while providing a broad background in engineering as a whole, and decision-making that supports overall design. Students can tailor their studies to their interests and career goals in both technical and non-technical areas.
Career options include engineering administration; automotive systems, control systems and manufacturing; business systems integration and consulting; communication and computer systems; construction; marketing and product testing; operations and quality control; and robotics.
Highlights
- Systems Engineering and Design at Illinois is a unique interdisciplinary program, with broad flexibility and student-guided focus.
- Our industrial engineering program is ranked #10 by U.S. News & World Report.
- 91% of students reported having an internship or co-op during their degree program.
- 98% of students reported securing their first choice destination upon graduation.
- The average starting salary for a systems engineering and design graduate is $80,247 with a median signing bonus of $5,000.
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What You'll Study
Systems Engineering and Design (formerly General Engineering) is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program that brings together basic sciences, engineering sciences, and engineering design. Systems Engineering and Design also combines engineering sciences, business, and communication. As a student, you will be trained in all aspects of project management, working in multiple disciplines, and getting results in a real-world team environment.
Research problems in faculty laboratories, summer internships, and the Senior Engineering Project complement the classroom curriculum with hands-on experience working for industry. Systems Engineering and Design students focus their studies through the secondary field option, integrating our multidisciplinary curriculum with a specialized activity.
Minor in Computer Science
The CS Minor is offered for students seeking significant knowledge of digital computing without the more complete treatment of a major in computer science. This minor may be taken by any student except majors in the Computer Science degree programs and in Computer Engineering.
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From building Lego sets to fixing household appliances with their father, Grant and Landon Lindsay were encouraged to be problem solvers. This foundation inspired them to apply their critical thinking skills to engineering.
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New graduates reflect on the Grainger Engineering experience
May 13, 2025
With the semester coming to a close, we reached out to seniors at The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to ask them about their next steps, advice for new students and everything in between.
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Get Ready: Engineering Open House at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
March 28, 2025
Engineering Open House (EOH) is an over-100-year-old tradition for Illinois Grainger engineers to share the groundbreaking research and innovation done on our campus. It is the world’s largest student-run STEM fair, with booths from registered student organizations (RSOs), faculty labs, and even research institutes! Scroll through our recap of some past EOH experiences and get pumped up for the 2025 fair on April 4th and 5th!
Post-Graduation Success
The systems engineering and design program prepares you to do well in all aspects of industry, including health care, communications, environmental stewardship, government, and business. Students who do not become employed upon graduation typically continue their education, though most graduates within this major pursue employment upon graduation.
Employed graduates typically pursue careers in administration, automotive, control systems, and manufacturing, business systems integration and consulting, communication and computer systems, construction, marketing and product testing, operations and quality control, robotics. The average salary for Systems Engineering and Design grads in 2022-2023 reported as $80,247 with a median signing bonus of $5,000.
98%
employed or continuing education*
$80,247
average starting annual income*
Sample employer destinations: Epic Systems, Keyence Corporation, General Mills View All
Sample grad school destinations: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Stanford University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University View All
*Post-graduate data was collected through the Illini Success initiative, which primarily relies on self-reported survey data sources. Statistics reported are from 2022-2023. Please note that total compensation may be greater than annual salary as other forms of compensation (e.g., signing bonus, commission, benefits) are not included. For more information on Illini Success data and methods, please visit the Illini Success website.
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