Master of Engineering in Smart Manufacturing and Systems

Students will complete the program in four to five semesters (16 or 20 months). The duration depends on whether a student takes a four or eight-month internship during their study.

The SMS program will be hosted at the SFU Surrey campus. Its close proximity to Surrey City Hall and the developing Industry 4.0 industry clusters within the South Fraser region will allow for enhanced collaboration in building a sector-specific graduate engineering program that leads the change in manufacturing and operations in British Columbia.

A professional graduate degree provides advanced training that prepares students for industry employment immediately after graduation. The industry internships in this program will provide our students with real world experience that will position them as an ideal candidate for top employers.

The SMS program will support the high-demand occupations in the technology sector. There is a growing demand for advanced manufacturing professionals in Canada and around the world. This leading-edge professional graduate degree program will help address the critical skill gaps and labour shortages that Canada is facing in the manufacturing sector. Graduates from the SMS program will be predestined to become leaders (engineering managers and entrepreneurs) in technology innovation shaping our future.

This is a course-based program, that includes hands-on industry internships. Students will complete at least 30 units of graduate work divided into four sections:

• 12 units of specialized hands-on lab courses (Smart Factory I and II)
• 12 units of required core courses (Industry 4.0, Industrial Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics, 3D Manufacturing, etc.)
• 3 units of electives (Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, etc.)
• 3 or 6 units for internship, typically working for at least four months with an industry partner in the advanced manufacturing sector anywhere in Canada

Supervision is not required for the SMS program. This means students will not be working with a supervisor.

SMS will be uniquely positioned as the only master’s level professional degree program for training in Industry 4.0 in Western Canada. In B.C., there are no MEng degrees offered in this area but several course-based MEng programs in other areas of specialization. While other advanced manufacturing and digital manufacturing programs are available in a few other Canadian universities, SMS is the first in Canada to focus specifically on Industry 4.0 topics such as smart factories, big data analytics, industrial IoT and digital twin technology as a complete package. The lab experiences in the SMS program are also unique and will provide hands-on experiences that qualify students to work in industry immediately after graduation. Likewise, SMS involves compulsory industry internships, which are valuable experiences that further prepare our students for their professional career after graduation.

Graduates from the SMS program will be prepared for careers in areas related to Industry 4.0 such as digital manufacturing, IoT, robotics and automation, cyber-physical systems, predictive maintenance and big data analytics. Graduates can also pursue further studies (e.g., PhD, MBA) across a wide variety of interest areas including mechatronics, information technology, data science, manufacturing, and business administration and management.

Please see the Careers section above.

This program mandates students to complete three or six units of internship or co-op (MSE 795) typically spanning a minimum of four months, during the Fall (graduating) semester, with potential extension into the subsequent Spring semester.  These internships are conducted in collaboration with industry partners within the technology or manufacturing sector across Canada, aiming to provide students with invaluable practical experience in the Canadian work environment.

As with any university internship or co-op programs in North America, our program cannot guarantee you an internship job placement. However, we are confident that your commitment, combined with our innovative curriculum and the support of the SFU co-op team, will lead to a successful internship job placement in the industry. We provide professional skills training that prepares you for success in your job search as well as the SFU co-op job posting portal.. This training includes lectures on Engineering Practice in Canada, résumé and cover letter review, one-on-one interview practice, LinkedIn coaching, networking support, and more. We also connect you with industry professionals and hiring managers in the field through our networks. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to start an active job search early on with the support we are providing and diligently prepare for and participate in job interviews. In rare cases when the student cannot find an internship job by the beginning of the Fall semester, he or she may opt to taking one or more regular course while continuing search for a job during the Fall semester. Note that this option will result in delay in degree completion and additional tuition expenses and cannot be extended beyond one semester. The student in this situation needs to take everything into consideration and make a decision voluntarily.

Once you start your internship, you are expected to exhibit good work ethics, professionalism, and job skills. Your internship supervisor will provide an assessment on your job performance at the end of your internship, based on which we will assign you a grade (Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory) to your Internship Course MSE795. You must receive a Satisfactory grade to fulfill the degree requirement. An Unsatisfactory grade in MSE795 will result in your exit from the program without a degree.   

For students who have already gained relevant Canadian experience before the scheduled internship semester,  an appeal process is available by submitting this form along with a resume showcasing Canadian engineering practice experience, and at least two professional references. Instead of the internship course, MSE 795, applicants must commit to substituting the internship with an additional graduate level course pre-approved by MSE during the graduating (fourth) semester.