Operations Research and Information Engineering M.Eng. (Ithaca) at Cornell University

As a two- or three-semester professional degree program, the ORIE M.Eng. has become highly valued in the marketplace and continues to be an attractive option for well-prepared undergraduates in Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Mathematics, Finance, and many other quantitative disciplines.

The main objectives of every MEng program at Cornell are to advance the breadth and depth of our students’ technical knowledge and to provide students with opportunities to synthesize and apply this knowledge in a real-world environment.  In ORIE, the technical tools of primary importance are mathematical modeling and the application of quantitative techniques instilled within the fields of optimization, probability, stochastic processes, statistics, and simulation.  The areas of application for these tools are virtually limitless, but ORIE students generally apply their knowledge to the design, operation, and improvement of business systems.

The capstone component of the ORIE M.Eng. program is the team-based engineering design project, which all students complete with the guidance of a Cornell faculty advisor.  The MEng project is fundamentally and purposefully different from traditional coursework and the process of completing an individual Masters’ thesis.  It is intended to prepare students for the professional arena by engaging them in client-sponsored project work with real data, deadlines, and deliverables.  Regardless of their respective concentrations, students are expected to play major roles in all aspects of their projects, including formulating and analyzing the problem, managing the client relationship, monitoring the project timeline and milestones, and delivering the final results. 

Six concentrations and one minor are currently associated with the MEng degree program in ORIE.  Each is designed to meet certain educational objectives:

• Applied Operations Research Concentration (AOR)
• Data Analytics Concentration (DA)
• Financial Engineering Concentration (FE)
• Information Technology Concentration (IT)
• Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering Concentration (MIE)
• Strategic Operations Concentration (SO)
• Systems Engineering Minor

All of these concentrations and minors share a common set of base requirements, including a minimum number of course credit hours, core and elective courses, and participation in an approved engineering design project.  The specific courses that are required in order for a student to complete a particular concentration or minor may vary depending on his or her background. 

Regardless of concentration, the ORIE M.Eng. program is designed to begin in the fall semester.  For a variety of reasons, including the sequencing of offered courses and the timeline for project activities, completing the ORIE M.Eng. program in the traditional fall-spring or fall-spring-fall semester sequence is strongly encouraged.  Although students are occasionally admitted to the ORIE M.Eng. program in the spring semester, spring admission is typically limited to applicants who are already at Cornell and have been able to participate in project start-up activities that take place during the fall semester.