<p>I am a high school senior looking to major in computer engineering at a university. My future goals are to eventually become a systems engineer/project manager for a large tech company. IMO I think getting an industrial engineering degree would be really boring to me, as I’m the kind of person who would rather make something tangible than be in a managerial position, but as far as I know, an industrial engineering degree is the easiest way to become a systems engineer. My question is, is it possible to become a systems engineer without a degree in systems/industrial engineering?</p>
<p>You’ll probably have to play some catch up on certain aspects of the task, but I don’t think it’s too much trouble to get there. No major is perfect for a specific job, and a somewhat close one is good enough to tell you what you know and don’t know about doing the job.</p>
<p>Systems engineering is a prior experience-dependent position, so your undergraduate major does not have to be in IE/SysE.</p>
<p>I agree with GLOBALTRAVELLER. You don’t need a degree in IE/SysE to play the role you envision. The role of systems engineer depends on the company and the type of product. You’ll get to play that role if you make an effort to acquire the domain knowledge and proactively show interest and get involved in all aspects of product development. I get to play that role and I am loving it.</p>
<p>Just another backer of Global here - systems engineering is basically a set of techniques and principles that can be applied to any engineering discipline. The usual route for system engineering is to pick a different major for undergrad and then pursue systems engineering through work experience or with a masters degree.</p>
<p>And getting INTO systems engineering is generally pretty easy - more and more in the US, component-level design and manufacturing is being sent overseas, so systems engineering is taking up a progressively larger proportion of engineering graduates. Unless you graduate with a specific focus and interest that is in demand, it is likely you will be pushed towards systems engineering as a default.</p>