Engineering Systems Division

Planes near the runway at Gardermoen airport near Oslo, Norway

Some ESD research in critical infrastructures focuses on the development of mechanisms to allocate airport and airspace resources. (Image courtesy of sunny256 on Flickr.)


In the MIT Engineering Systems Division, students aim to solve complex sociotechnical problems by integrating approaches based on engineering, management, and social sciences—using new framing and modeling methodologies.

They learn from faculty drawn from departments throughout the School of Engineering, as well as from the MIT Sloan School of Management and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Students also participate in and benefit from the innovative academic and research partnerships ESD forges with industry and government.

Designing systems requires not only technological and analytical skills, but also knowledge of public policy issues and awareness of societal needs, tastes, and preferences. Because of the aggressive rate of change and the challenge of scaling systems in size, scope, and complexity, ESD promotes the development of new approaches, frameworks, and theories to analyze and design these systems.

ESD faculty and students work on issues of national and international importance through a range of relationships forged with industry, government and academia.


Engineering Systems Division Courses

Course # Course Title Level
ESD.00 Introduction to Engineering Systems Undergraduate
ESD.01J Frameworks and Models in Engineering Systems / Engineering System Design (Spring 2007) Undergraduate
ESD.013J Electromagnetics and Applications Undergraduate
ESD.03J System Safety (Fall 2012) Undergraduate
ESD.04J Frameworks and Models in Engineering Systems / Engineering System Design (Spring 2007) Undergraduate
ESD.051J Engineering Innovation and Design Undergraduate
ESD.053J Chemicals in the Environment: Toxicology and Public Health (BE.104J) Undergraduate
ESD.07J Statistical Thinking and Data Analysis Undergraduate
ESD.565J Integrating eSystems & Global Information Systems Undergraduate
ESD.62J Introduction to Lean Six Sigma Methods Undergraduate
ESD.018J Project Management (Spring 2009) Graduate
ESD.018J Project Management (Spring 2004) Graduate
ESD.10 Introduction to Technology and Policy Graduate
ESD.123J Systems Perspectives on Industrial Ecology Graduate
ESD.128J Global Climate Change: Economics, Science, and Policy Graduate
ESD.129 Space Policy Seminar Graduate
ESD.136J Technology, Law, and the Working Environment Graduate
ESD.141 Technology Policy Negotiations Graduate
ESD.162 Engineering, Economics and Regulation of the Electric Power Sector (Spring 2010) Graduate
ESD.163J Managing Nuclear Technology Graduate
ESD.166J Introduction to Sustainable Energy Graduate
ESD.172J X PRIZE Workshop: Grand Challenges in Energy Graduate
ESD.192J Analyzing and Accounting for Regional Economic Growth Graduate
ESD.193J Regional Socioeconomic Impact Analyses and Modeling (Fall 2008) Graduate
ESD.193J Regional Socioeconomic Impact Analyses and Modeling (Fall 2007) Graduate
ESD.201J Transportation Systems Graduate
ESD.203J Transportation Policy, Strategy, and Management Graduate
ESD.204J Carrier Systems Graduate
ESD.205J Transportation Flow Systems Graduate
ESD.210J Transportation Systems Analysis: Demand and Economics Graduate
ESD.210J Introduction to Transportation Systems Graduate
ESD.215J Airline Schedule Planning Graduate
ESD.216J Logistical and Transportation Planning Methods Graduate
ESD.221J An Introduction to Intelligent Transportation Systems Graduate
ESD.222J Transportation Policy and Environmental Limits Graduate
ESD.225J Urban Transportation Planning Graduate
ESD.226J Public Transportation Systems Graduate
ESD.227J Transit Management Graduate
ESD.260J Logistics Systems Graduate
ESD.264J Database, Internet, and Systems Integration Technologies Graduate
ESD.267J Supply Chain Planning Graduate
ESD.268J Manufacturing System and Supply Chain Design Graduate
ESD.273J Logistics and Supply Chain Management Graduate
ESD.290 Special Topics in Supply Chain Management Graduate
ESD.30J Engineering Apollo: The Moon Project as a Complex System Graduate
ESD.33 Systems Engineering (Summer 2010) Graduate
ESD.33 Systems Engineering (Summer 2004) Graduate
ESD.34 System Architecture Graduate
ESD.342 Network Representations of Complex Engineering Systems Graduate
ESD.342 Advanced System Architecture Graduate
ESD.35J Aircraft Systems Engineering (Fall 2005) Graduate
ESD.35J Aircraft Systems Engineering (Fall 2004) Graduate
ESD.352J Space Systems Engineering Graduate
ESD.353J Space System Architecture and Design Graduate
ESD.355J Software Engineering Concepts Graduate
ESD.36 System Project Management Graduate
ESD.52J Introduction to the History of Technology Graduate
ESD.53J The Impact of Globalization on the Built Environment Graduate
ESD.57 Technology-based Business Transformation Graduate
ESD.60 Lean/Six Sigma Processes Graduate
ESD.61J Integrating the Lean Enterprise Graduate
ESD.63J Control of Manufacturing Processes (SMA 6303) Graduate
ESD.65J Aerospace Biomedical and Life Support Engineering Graduate
ESD.68J Communications and Information Policy Graduate
ESD.69 Seminar on Health Care Systems Innovation Graduate
ESD.691J Principles and Practice of Drug Development Graduate
ESD.70J Engineering Economy Module Graduate
ESD.71 Engineering Systems Analysis for Design Graduate
ESD.712 Tools for Analysis: Design for Real Estate and Infrastructure Development Graduate
ESD.72 Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis Graduate
ESD.77 Multidisciplinary System Design Optimization Graduate
ESD.78J Network Optimization Graduate
ESD.79J Quantum Computation Graduate
ESD.801 Leadership Development (Fall 2014) Graduate
ESD.801 Leadership Development (Fall 2002) Graduate
ESD.83 Doctoral Seminar in Engineering Systems Graduate
ESD.85J Integrating Doctoral Seminar on Emerging Technologies Graduate
ESD.86 Models, Data and Inference for Socio-Technical Systems Graduate
ESD.863J System Safety (Spring 2011) Graduate
ESD.864 Modeling and Assessment for Policy Graduate
ESD.932 Engineering Ethics Graduate
ESD.932 Technology Policy Organizations Graduate
ESD.933J Organizing for Innovative Product Development Graduate
ESD.933 Technology Policy Negotiations and Dispute Resolution Graduate
ESD.934 Engineering, Economics and Regulation of the Electric Power Sector (Spring 2010) Graduate
ESD.935 Urban Transportation, Land Use, and the Environment Graduate
ESD.S43 Green Supply Chain Management Graduate
ESD.S51 Systems Leadership and Management Praxis Graduate

Archived Engineering Systems Division Courses

Some prior versions of courses listed above have been archived in OCW's DSpace@MIT repository for long-term access and preservation. Links to archived prior versions of a course may be found on that course's "Other Versions" tab.

Additionally, the Archived Engineering Systems Division Courses page has links to every archived course from this department.