Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs, 2022 – 2023

Lead Society: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “aerospace,” “aeronautical,” “astronautical,” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
Aeronautical engineering or similarly named engineering programs must include the following curricular topics in sufficient depth for engineering practice: aerodynamics, aerospace materials, structures, propulsion, flight mechanics, and stability and control.

Astronautical engineering or similarly named engineering programs must include the following curricular topics in sufficient depth for engineering practice: orbital mechanics, space environment, attitude determination and control, telecommunications, space structures, and rocket propulsion.

Aerospace engineering programs or similarly named engineering programs, which combine aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering topics, must include all curricular topics in sufficient depth for engineering practice in one of the areas—aeronautical engineering or astronautical engineering as described above—and, in addition, similar depth in at least two topics from the other area.

The major design experience must include topics appropriate to the program name.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members teaching upper-division courses have an understanding of current professional practice in the aerospace industry.

Lead Society: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “agricultural,” “forest,” “agroindustrial” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must include mathematics through differential equations, biological and engineering sciences consistent with the program educational objectives and applications in agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, human, or natural resources.

2. Faculty
The program shall demonstrate that those faculty members teaching courses that are primarily design in content are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of education and experience or professional licensure.

Lead Society: American Society of Civil Engineers Cooperating Society: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “architectural” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The program must demonstrate that graduates can apply mathematics through differential equations, calculus-based physics, and chemistry. The four basic architectural engineering curriculum areas are building structures, building mechanical systems, building electrical systems, and construction/construction management. Graduates are expected to reach the synthesis (design) level in one of these areas, the application level in a second area, and the comprehension level in the remaining two areas. The engineering topics required by the general criteria shall support the engineering fundamentals of each of these four areas at the specified level. Graduates are expected to discuss the basic concepts of architecture in a context of architectural design and history.

The design level must be in a context that:

(a) Considers the systems or processes from other architectural engineering curricular areas,
(b) Works within the overall architectural design,
(c) Includes communication and collaboration with other design or construction team members,
(d) Includes computer-based technology and considers applicable codes and standards, and
(e) Considers fundamental attributes of building performance and sustainability.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty teaching courses that are primarily engineering design in content are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of professional licensure, or by education and design experience. It must also demonstrate that the majority of the faculty members teaching architectural design courses are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of professional licensure, or by education and design experience.

Lead Society: Biomedical Engineering Society

Cooperating Societies: American Ceramic Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “bioengineering,” “biomedical,” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The structure of the curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering and science topics consistent with the program educational objectives and student outcomes.

The curriculum must include experience in:

(a) Applying principles of engineering, biology, human physiology, chemistry, calculus-based physics, mathematics (through differential equations) and statistics;
(b) Solving bio/biomedical engineering problems, including those associated with the interaction between living and non-living systems;
(c) Analyzing, modeling, designing, and realizing bio/biomedical engineering devices, systems, components, or processes; and
(d) Making measurements on and interpreting data from living systems.

Lead Society: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

Cooperating Societies: American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists, American Ceramic Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Biomedical Engineering Society, CSAB, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, and Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “biological,” “biological systems,” “food,” or similar modifiers in their titles with the exception of bioengineering and biomedical engineering programs.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must include mathematics through differential equations, college-level chemistry and biology, advanced biological sciences, and applications of engineering to biological systems.

2. Faculty
The program shall demonstrate that those faculty members teaching courses that are primarily design in content are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of education and experience or professional licensure.

Lead Society: American Institute of Chemical Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “chemical,” “biochemical,” “biomolecular,” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must include:

a) Applications of mathematics, including differential equations and statistics to engineering problems.
b) College-level chemistry and physics courses, with some at an advanced level, as appropriate to the objectives of the program.
c) Engineering application of these sciences to the design, analysis, and control of processes, including the hazards associated with these processes.

Programs with biochemical, biomolecular, or similar modifiers in their titles must also include biologically-based engineering applications in their curriculum as appropriate to the program’s name and educational objectives.

Lead Society: American Society of Civil Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “civil” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must prepare graduates to apply knowledge of mathematics through differential equations, calculus-based physics, chemistry, and at least one additional area of basic science; apply probability and statistics to address uncertainty; analyze and solve problems in at least four technical areas appropriate to civil engineering; conduct experiments in at least two technical areas of civil engineering and analyze and interpret the resulting data; design a system, component, or process in at least two civil engineering contexts; include principles of sustainability in design; explain basic concepts in project management, business, public policy, and leadership; analyze issues in professional ethics; and explain the importance of professional licensure.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty teaching courses that are primarily design in content are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of professional licensure, or by education and design experience. The program must demonstrate that it is not critically dependent on one individual.

Lead Society: American Society of Civil Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “construction” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The program must prepare graduates to apply knowledge of mathematics through differential and integral calculus, probability and statistics, general chemistry, and calculus-based physics; to analyze and design construction processes and systems in a construction engineering specialty field, applying knowledge of methods, materials, equipment, planning, scheduling, safety, and cost analysis; to explain basic legal and ethical concepts and the importance of professional engineering licensure in the construction industry; to explain basic concepts of management topics such as economics, business, accounting, communications, leadership, decision and optimization methods, engineering economics, engineering management, and cost control.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that the majority of faculty teaching courses that are primarily design in content are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of professional licensure, or by education and design experience. The faculty must include at least one member who has had full-time experience and decision-making responsibilities in the construction industry.

Co-Lead Societies: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, CSAB, International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE)

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “cybersecurity”, “computer security”, “cyber operations”, “information assurance”, “information security”, or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The structure of the curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering topics implied by the title of the program.
The curriculum must include:

• Probability, statistics, and cryptographic topics including applications appropriate to the program.
• Discrete mathematics and specialized mathematics appropriate to the program, such as, abstract algebra, information theory, number theory, complexity theory and finite fields.
• Engineering topics necessary to determine cybersecurity requirements and to analyze, design, test and protect complex devices and systems that incorporate hardware, software, and human components.
• Application of protective technologies and forensic techniques
• Analysis and evaluation of components and systems with respect to security and to maintaining operations in the presence of risks and threats
• Consideration of legal, regulatory, privacy, ethics, and human behavior topics as appropriate to the program.

The curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering and computing topics necessary for the application of computer security principles and practices to the design, implementation and operation of the physical, software, and human components of a system, as appropriate to the program.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members teaching core engineering topics understand methods of engineering design, engineering problem solving, and engineering practice with specific relevance to security.

Lead Society: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Cooperating Society for Computer Engineering Programs: CSAB

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “electrical,” “electronic(s),” “computer,” “communication(s),” telecommunication(s), or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The structure of the curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering topics implied by the title of the program.

The curriculum must include probability and statistics, including applications appropriate to the program name; mathematics through differential and integral calculus; sciences (defined as biological, chemical, or physical science); and engineering topics (including computing science) necessary to analyze and design complex electrical and electronic devices, software, and systems containing hardware and software components.

The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “electrical,” “electronic(s),” “communication(s),” or “telecommunication(s)” in the title must include advanced mathematics, such as differential equations, linear algebra, complex variables, and discrete mathematics.

The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “computer” in the title must include discrete mathematics.

The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “communication(s)” or “telecommunication(s)” in the title must include topics in communication theory and systems.

The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “telecommunication(s)” must include design and operation of telecommunication networks for services such as voice, data, image, and video transport.

Lead Society: American Society for Engineering Education

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “engineering (without modifiers),” “general engineering,” “engineering physics,” or “engineering science(s),” in their titles.

There are no program-specific criteria beyond the General Criteria.

Lead Society: Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers

Cooperating Societies: American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and Society of Petroleum Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “management” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must include:

• the engineering relationships between the management tasks of planning, organization, leadership, control, and the human element in production, research, and service organizations;
• the stochastic nature of management systems; and
• integrating management systems into a series of different technological environments.

2. Faculty
The major professional competence of the faculty must be in engineering, and the faculty should be experienced in the management of engineering and/or technical activities.

Lead Society: American Society of Mechanical Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “mechanics” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must include mathematical and computational topics necessary to analyze, model, and design physical systems consisting of solid and fluid components under steady state and transient conditions.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members responsible for upper-level professional courses maintain currency in their specialty area(s).

Lead Society: American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists

Cooperating Societies: American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, SAE International, and Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “environmental,” “sanitary,” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must include:

a) Mathematics through differential equations, probability and statistics, calculus-based physics, chemistry (including stoichiometry, equilibrium, and kinetics), earth science, biological science, and fluid mechanics.
b) Material and energy balances, fate and transport of substances in and between air, water, and soil phases; and advanced principles and practices relevant to the program objectives.
c) Hands-on laboratory experiments, and analysis and interpretation of the resulting data in more than one major environmental engineering focus area, e.g., air, water, land, environmental health.
d) Design of environmental engineering systems that includes considerations of risk, uncertainty, sustainability, life-cycle principles, and environmental impacts.
e) Concepts of professional practice and project management, and the roles and responsibilities of public institutions and private organizations pertaining to environmental policy and regulations.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that a majority of those faculty members teaching courses that are primarily design in content are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of professional licensure, board certification in environmental engineering, or by education and equivalent design experience.

Lead Society: Society for Fire Protection Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “fire protection” or similar modifiers in their title.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must include topics in the application of science and engineering to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public from the impacts of fire, including the principles of: 1) fire science; 2) human behavior and evacuation; 3) fire protection systems; and 4) fire protection analysis.

Curriculum topics must also include the integration of the above four principles to solve field problems using computational, experimental and performance-based design methods.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members maintain currency in fire protection engineering practice.

Lead Society: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “geological” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum

The curriculum must include:

a) mathematics including differential equations, calculus-based physics, and chemistry, with application to geological engineering problems;

b) geological science topics that emphasize geologic processes and the identification of minerals and rocks;

c) visualization of and solutions to geological problems in three and four dimensions;

d) engineering sciences including statics, properties/strength of materials, and geomechanics;

e) principles of geology, elements of geophysics, geological and engineering field methods; and

f) geological engineering design problems, which must include one or more of the following considerations:

i. the distribution of physical and chemical properties of earth materials, including surface water, ground water (hydrogeology), and fluid hydrocarbons;

ii. the effects of surface and near-surface natural processes;

iii. the impacts of construction projects;

iv. the impacts of exploration, development, and extraction of natural resources, and consequent remediation; disposal of wastes; and other activities of society on these materials and processes, as appropriate to the program objectives.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members teaching courses that are primarily design in content are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of professional licensure, or by education and design experience.

Lead Society: Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “industrial” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum

The curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering science, computer science, and engineering design topics implied by the title and objectives of the program.

The curriculum must include design, analysis, operation and improvement of integrated systems that produce or supply products or services in an effective, efficient, sustainable and socially responsible manner.

The curriculum must utilize real-world experiences and business perspectives.

The curriculum must include the topical areas of productivity analysis, operations research, probability, statistics, engineering economy, and human factors.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members who teach core industrial engineering courses have an understanding of professional practice and maintain currency in their respective professional areas.

Lead Society: Society of Manufacturing Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “manufacturing” and similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The program must include curricular content in the following areas:

(a) materials and manufacturing processes: design of manufacturing processes that result in products that meet specific material and other requirements;
(b) process, assembly and product engineering: equipment, tooling, and environment necessary for their manufacture;
(c) manufacturing competitiveness: creation of competitive advantage through manufacturing planning, strategy, quality, and control;
(d) manufacturing systems design: analyze, synthesize, and control manufacturing operations using statistical methods; and
(e) manufacturing laboratory or facility experience: measurement of manufacturing process variables and development of technical inferences about the process.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members maintain currency in
manufacturing engineering practice.

(1,2) Lead Society for Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Programs: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (3) Lead Society for Ceramics Engineering Programs: American Ceramic Society (1) Cooperating Societies for Materials Engineering Programs: American Ceramic Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2) Cooperating Society for Metallurgical Engineering Programs: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (3) Cooperating Society for Ceramics Engineering Programs: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

These program criteria apply to engineering programs including “materials”, “metallurgical (except extractive metallurgical)”, “ceramics”, “glass”, “polymer”, “biomaterials”, and similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must include topics that:

a) underlie the four major elements of the field: (i.e., structure, properties, processing, and performance) related to material systems, as appropriate to the program title;
b) employ selection and design of materials, processes, or a combination of materials and processes; and
c) apply experimental, statistical, and computational methods to materials problems.

2. Faculty
Program faculty expertise must encompass the four major elements of the field.

Lead Society: American Society of Mechanical Engineers

These program criteria will apply to all engineering programs that include “mechanical” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum

In preparation for professional practice, the curriculum must include:

1. principles of engineering, basic science, and mathematics (including multivariate calculus and differential equations);
2. applications of these topics to modeling, analysis, design, and realization of physical systems, components or processes;
3. coverage of both thermal and mechanical systems; and
4. in-depth coverage of either thermal or mechanical systems.

2. Faculty

The program must demonstrate that faculty members responsible for the upper-level professional courses maintain currency in their specialty area(s).

Lead Society: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration

Cooperation Society for Extractive Metallurgical Engineering Programs: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “mineral processing,” “extractive metallurgical,” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum

The curriculum must include:

1. 1. mathematics through differential equations, calculus-based physics, general chemistry, and probability and statistics with engineering applications appropriate to the program name;
   2. geological sciences, including general geology and mineralogy;
   3. engineering topics:
      1. 1. statics and fluid mechanics;
         2. fundamental processing topics, including mass and heat balances, materials characterization and analysis, chemical or metallurgical thermodynamics, energy and mass transfer, and kinetic reactions;
         3. process engineering topics, including flowsheet design, instrumentation and control, comminution, solid/liquid separation, and physical separations including flotation; and
         4. other engineering topics, including materials handling and engineering economics.

       

   4. Mineral processing laboratory experiences including laboratory methods, design of experiments, and applications of computer software, as appropriate to the program name.

Programs containing the modifier “extractive metallurgical” or similar terminology in the title must include hydrometallurgy, electrometallurgy, and pyrometallurgy, with appropriate associated laboratory experiences.

Lead Society: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “mining” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum

The curriculum must include:

1. mathematics through differential equations, calculus-based physics, general chemistry, and probability and statistics with application to mining engineering problems;
2. geological science topics including characterization of mineral deposits, physical geology, structural or engineering geology, and mineral and rock identification and properties; and,
3. engineering topics including:
   1. statics, dynamics, strength of materials, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and electrical circuits;
   2. complex engineering problems and engineering design tasks related to both surface and underground mining, including: mining methods, planning and design, ground control and rock mechanics, health and safety, environmental issues, materials handling, and mine ventilation;
   3. additional engineering topics incorporating complex engineering problems and engineering design tasks into topics such as rock fragmentation, mineral or coal processing, mine surveying, mine valuation, resource/reserve estimation, mine sustainability, and mine automation as appropriate to the program’s educational objectives.
   4. laboratory experience in geologic concepts, rock mechanics, mine ventilation, and other topics appropriate to the program’s objectives.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members teaching courses covering mine ventilation and rock mechanics, as well as those courses that are primarily design in content, are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of professional licensure, or by education and design experience.

Lead Society: Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
Cooperating Societies for Ocean Engineering: American Society of Civil Engineers and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “naval architecture”, “marine engineering”, “naval engineering”, “maritime engineering”, “ocean engineering” or similar titles.

1. Curriculum
The structure of the curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering topics implied by the title of the program.

The curriculum must include applications of probability and statistics, fluid mechanics, dynamics, and engineering design at the system level.

The curriculum for programs with titles containing “naval architecture” must also include hydrostatics, structural mechanics, materials properties, energy/propulsion systems, and instrumentation appropriate to naval architecture.

The curriculum for programs with titles containing “marine engineering”, “naval engineering”, “maritime engineering” or similar terms must also include energy/propulsion systems, materials properties, and instrumentation appropriate to marine engineering.

The curriculum for programs with titles containing “ocean engineering” or similar terms must also include solid mechanics, hydrostatics, oceanography, water waves, and underwater acoustics.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members have maintained currency in their specialty area.

Lead Society: American Nuclear Society

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “nuclear,” “radiological,” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The program must include the following curricular topics in sufficient depth for engineering practice:

(a) mathematics, to support analyses of complex nuclear or radiological problems,
(b) atomic and nuclear physics,
(c) transport and interaction of radiation with matter,
(d) nuclear or radiological systems and processes,
(e) nuclear fuel cycles,
(f) nuclear radiation detection and measurement,
(g) nuclear or radiological system design.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members primarily committed to the program have current knowledge of nuclear or radiological engineering by education or experience.

Co-Lead Societies: SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

These program criteria apply to all engineering programs that include “optical,” “photonic,” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The structure of the curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering topics implied by the title of the program.

The curriculum must include theoretical instruction and laboratory experience in geometrical optics, physical optics, optical materials, optical devices and systems, and photonic devices and systems.

The curriculum must include chemical science, calculus-based physics, multivariable calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, complex variables, probability, statistics and their application in solving engineering problems.

The curriculum must also include design experiences that incorporate the application of engineering principles to model, analyze, design and realize optical and/or photonic devices and/or systems.

2. Faculty
Faculty members who teach courses with significant design content must be qualified by virtue of design experience as well as subject matter knowledge.

Lead Society: Society of Petroleum Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “petroleum,” “natural gas,” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering topics implied by the title and objectives of the program.

The curriculum must include:

(a) mathematics through differential equations, probability and statistics, fluid mechanics, strength of materials, and thermodynamics;
(b) design and analysis of well systems and procedures for drilling and completing wells;
(c) characterization and evaluation of subsurface geological formations and their resources using geoscientific and engineering methods;
(d) design and analysis of systems for producing, injecting, and handling fluids;
(e) application of reservoir engineering principles and practices for optimizing resource development and management; and
(f) the use of project economics and resource valuation methods for design and decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty.

Lead Society: CSAB Cooperating Society: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “software” or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum
The curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering and computer science topics implied by the title and objectives of the program.
The curriculum must include computing fundamentals, software design and construction, requirements analysis, security, verification, and validation; software engineering processes and tools appropriate for the development of complex software systems; and discrete mathematics, probability, and statistics, with applications appropriate to software engineering.

2. Faculty
The program must demonstrate that faculty members teaching core software engineering topics have an understanding of professional practice in software engineering and maintain currency in their areas of professional or scholarly specialization.

Lead Society: National Society for Professional Surveyors Cooperating Society: American Society of Civil Engineers

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include surveying, geomatics, or similar modifiers in their titles.

1. Curriculum

The curriculum must include:

1. Mathematics, including statistics, to support analyses of complex surveying/geomatics problems;
2. Historical and legal elements of land ownership, particularly where surveying/geomatics are an integral part;
3. Data science and analysis for conformance of precision and accuracy;
4. Data structure, format, storage, management, publication, visualization, and the related legal responsibilities to the public;
5. Modern measurement and design technologies necessary to model, locate or construct features above, below or on the Earth’s surface;
6. Added depth in a minimum of four subject areas, consistent with the program’s educational objectives, chosen from the following:
   • boundary or land surveying,
   • engineering surveys,
   • photogrammetry and remote sensing,
   • geodesy and geodetic surveying,
   • mapping including map projections and coordinate systems,
   • geospatial data science and land information systems,
   • civil engineering topics that assist the student in meeting the requirements for licensure in the state or region.

2. Faculty

Programs must demonstrate that faculty members teaching courses that are primarily design or professional practice in content are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of professional licensure or by a combination of educational and professional experience.

Co-Lead Societies: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, CSAB, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, ISA, International Council on Systems Engineering, and SAE International

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include “systems” or “and systems” in their titles, with the exception of those that use the word “systems” with a direct modifier, such as mechanical systems, biological systems, control systems, etc.

1. Curriculum
The structure of the curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering topics implied by the title of the program.

The curriculum must include the following topics:

• Advanced mathematics, including probability and statistics, and computing fundamentals, with practical applications thereof.
• Engineering topics necessary to define, synthesize, analyze, design, and evaluate complex systems containing hardware and software, and human elements (where appropriate), in a holistic manner across the lifecycle.
• Systems design and analysis topics, such as decision analysis, risk analysis (cost, schedule and performance), trade-off analysis, optimization, modeling based engineering, simulation, sensitivity analysis techniques, or requirements engineering.

2. Faculty
The program shall demonstrate that those faculty members teaching courses that are primarily design in content are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of education and experience or professional licensure.

That the following definitions for the terms of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as adopted by the ABET Board of Directors, be incorporated in the definitions of the General Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs.

Inclusion is the intentional, proactive, and continuing efforts and practices in which all members respect, support, and value others. An inclusive environment provides equitable access to opportunities and resources, empowers everyone to participate equally, and offers respect in words and actions for all.

Diversity is the range of human differences, encompassing the characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. Diversity includes, but is not limited to, the following characteristics: race, ethnicity, culture, gender identity and expression, age, national origin, religious beliefs, work sector, physical ability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, physical appearance, and cognitive differences.

Equity is the fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people, achieved by intentional focus on their disparate needs, conditions, and abilities. Achieving equity requires understanding of historical and systemic patterns of disparity to address and eliminate barriers and remove participation gaps as part of a comprehensive strategy to achieve equitable outcomes and social justice.

Comments relative to the proposed criteria should be submitted by the link for comments available here and on the Accreditation Changes section of the ABET website.

Criterion 5. Curriculum

The curriculum requirements specify subject areas appropriate to engineering but do not prescribe specific courses. The program curriculum must provide adequate content for each area, consistent with the student outcomes and program educational objectives, to ensure that students are prepared to enter the practice of engineering. The curriculum must include:

a) a minimum or 30 semester credit hours (or equivalent) of a combination of college-level mathematics and basic sciences with experimental experience appropriate to the program.

b) a minimum of 45 semester credit hours (or equivalent) of engineering topics appropriate to the program, consisting of engineering and computer sciences and engineering design, and utilizing modern engineering tools.

c) a professional education component that is consistent with the institution’s mission and the program educational objectives and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion awareness for career success.

c) d) a broad education component that complements the technical content of the curriculum and is consistent with the program educational objectives.

d) e) a culminating major design experience that 1) incorporates appropriate engineering standards and multiple constraints, and 2) is based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier course work.

Criterion 6. Faculty

The program must demonstrate that the faculty members are of sufficient number and they have the competencies to cover all of the curricular areas of the program. There must be sufficient faculty to accommodate adequate levels of student-faculty interaction, student advising and counseling, university service activities, professional development, and interactions with industrial and professional practitioners, as well as employers of students.

The program faculty must have appropriate qualifications and must have and demonstrate sufficient authority to ensure the proper guidance of the program and to develop and implement processes for the evaluation, assessment, and continuing improvement of the program.

The program faculty must demonstrate awareness and abilities appropriate to providing an equitable and inclusive environment for its students, and knowledge of appropriate institutional policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The overall competence of the faculty may be judged by such factors as education, diversity of background, engineering experience, teaching effectiveness and experience, ability to communicate, enthusiasm for developing more effective programs, level of scholarship, participation in professional societies, and licensure as Professional Engineers.

Comments relative to the proposed criteria should be submitted by the link for comments available here and on the Accreditation Changes section of the ABET website.