Feature Stories 2021: Osama Aljarrah '21: Choosing a concentration

"I enjoyed pursuing the industrial and systems engineering concentration at the College of Engineering,” says Osama Aljarrah, who recently earned his PhD in engineering and applied science with an industrial and systems engineering option. "The graduate program allowed me to engage in solving a real-world data-driven challenge provided to me directly from the industry by my advisors."

"If you want to work with a highly interdisciplinary team of academics with skills in engineering, statistics, math, computer science, and data sciences, UMass Dartmouth is the place to be," he says.

“You will have the opportunity to network with other professionals and gain experience giving presentations to academics and industry. By creating my methodology and developing my own body of teaching and research, my advisors assisted me in visualizing a similar trajectory for myself.” Osama says he also had the opportunity to attend professional conferences and write for academic journals. “Furthermore, UMass Dartmouth's teaching and research models allow you to stand out among the competition when applying to top companies."

Osama currently works at Youngstown State University's Rayen School of Engineering as an assistant professor and he is a consulting systems engineer for Caterpillar, Inc.

"The industrial and systems engineering concentration allowed me to engage in solving a real-world data-driven challenge provided to me directly from the industry by my advisors."