Improving human decision-making in complex domains

Graduate Programs Undergraduate Program

Celebrating 50 Years of Systems and Information Engineering

Join us as we celebrate 50 years of excellence, innovation, and impact in the Department of Systems and Information Engineering at UVA Engineering. This milestone anniversary weekend will bring together alumni, current students, faculty, staff, and friends of the department for a meaningful celebration of our past, present, and future. Throughout the weekend, attendees will have numerous opportunities to reconnect with classmates, engage with faculty and students, explore the department's latest initiatives, and reflect on the lasting impact of a Systems and Information Engineering education.

As Systems Engineers

Systems Engineering at UVA combines systems thinking — a holistic focus on how interconnected parts influence each other — with a rigorous foundation in probability and statistics. We train students to identify, scope, and frame the right problem, not just solve predefined ones, a skill increasingly vital in an age of generative AI. Faculty bring real-world challenges into the classroom through year-long capstone experiences with industry and government clients, fostering a tight-knit community with flexible coursework spanning the humanities, other engineering fields, and study abroad. The program seeks to develop leaders prepared to shape the future.

Our discipline is deeply technical and built upon four interconnected areas: Human Technology Interaction, Operations Research & Analytics, Information & Intelligent Automation, and Systems Methodology. Students develop fluency in methods ranging from optimization and stochastic processes to machine learning, data engineering, and cognitive modeling — building the quantitative depth needed to tackle problems that no single engineering discipline can solve alone.

Spotlight on Systems and Information Engineering Faculty

Greg Gerling in his lab — Greg Gerling, professor of systems and information engineering and interim department chair, discusses his haptics research.

Julianne Quinn in a meeting room — Julianne Quinn, associate professor of systems engineering, discusses her research on the design and management of water resources systems.

Daniel Otero-Leon in a meeting room — Daniel Otero-León, assistant professor of systems and information engineering, discusses how his research uses systems engineering, operations research, and machine learning to improve decision-making in healthcare.

Matthew Bolton seated in a classroom — Matthew Bolton, associate professor of systems and information engineering, discusses his research into why engineered systems fail, and how to prevent failures through human-centered systems engineering.

Garrick Louis in a meeting room — Garrick Louis, professor of engineering and society and systems and information engineering, talks about his research into infrastructure access in communities across the U.S. and around the world.

Matthew Burkett in his office — Matthew Burkett, assistant professor and director of the Accelerated Master's Program in Systems Engineering, discusses the opportunities for global experiences at UVA Engineering and the benefits of the AMP.

Explore Our Research

Operations Research and Analytics

Focused on the development and application of analytical methods to improve decision-making by employing techniques such as modeling, statistics, and optimization to arrive at optimal or near-optimal solutions to decision-making problems.

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Information and Intelligent Automation

Exploring smart, intelligent, and automated technology and method development and innovative ways these intelligent systems can improve society.

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Human Technology Interaction

Involves the application of scientiﬁc principles, methods, and data drawn from a variety of disciplines to the design and development of engineering systems to facilitate the interaction between humans (the users) and technology.

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Greg Gerling and a graduate student in the lab

Our Research Labs & Groups

Our Systems labs span risk analysis, collaborative robotics, human-AI interaction, haptics, and health technology — applying rigorous methods to improve safety, resilience, and human well-being.

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