The operations research and engineering (ORE) undergraduate degree program encompasses the data-driven decision-making tools and techniques that power the technology-driven economy. You will develop skills in data science, optimization, machine learning and mathematical modeling. ORE majors learn how those skills are used in the sharing economy, in online market design, in transportation applications in companies like CitiBike and Uber, in e-Logistics in companies like Wayfair and Amazon, in healthcare and in a host of other settings. Such systems are complex: people, equipment, information, materials, and methods are brought together to achieve financial, schedule, and quality goals. There are numerous tradeoffs to be investigated and uncertainties to be resolved. As an operations analyst, you will be studying such systems, analyzing why they behave the way they do, and making recommendations for system improvementsa better way to organize the flow of work, a better way to forecast the results, a better way to make decisions and allocate scarce resourcesto name a few. Your tools will be the tools of operations research (optimization, probability, statistics, simulation, and stochastic processes) and other disciplines such as engineering economics and behavioral science. You will work with people at all levels of an organization, from the shop floor to the corporate boardroom, and you will use advanced software packages to conduct your analysis. In some cases, you will develop new approaches as well as new software to support their implementation.
