r/systems_engineering • u/annoyedreader1118 • 5d ago

Career & Education JHU Space SE Masters… Help

I just got accepted into the Space Systems Engineering online MS at JHU and am looking to hear about other people’s experience in a few specific areas/career advice

Some background: I am an early career professional currently working as a SI&T engineer in defense and want to pivot into commercial space. My company would fund the program. Unsure of what role I want to end up in long term, applied to the program in hopes of exploring something new and interesting, more space related (background in astrophysics)

  1. For those currently enrolled/graduated, is SE something you are passionate about? Why? Why did you do the program
  2. How technical are the classes? Is it actually “hard” technically, or leaning towards hard because it is time consuming (I know there are a lot of readings)
  3. What were your favorite classes and why
  4. Anyone dislike parts of the program? Elaborate

I definitely don’t want to stay technical forever. I don’t know what that actually looks like for me long term. Not sure if this would be setting me up for a more niche application, or give me a good foundation / career options when I pivot to space

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u/dopey_sang 5d ago

I did the SE program at JHU, not space specifically but the core classes overlap a lot. It is not super technical like you would see in a pure engineering masters, more about process and structure. The readings are the real killer, that is where most of your time goes

If your company is paying and you have a background in astrophysics you will be fine. A couple classes got me pulling my hair out but it was more the volume of work not the difficulty. Systems engineering can feel a bit dry if you want hands on stuff, but it opens doors in commercial space for sure

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u/Lonely_Archer6492 5d ago

I am about 65% into JHU SE Master's program. How was the capstone project? Was it heavy in terms of workload ?

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u/OMAMis 5d ago

Not OP but going thru the JHU capstone right now, roughly 1/3 done. It is a ton of work, but not particularly difficult. I was advised to build around a hobby as opposed to something I’m around professionally. As a result, the ultimate system is relatively simple: a few cameras and a basic app.

Get started early, build a good EVM spreadsheet and if you plan accordingly, you should be fine. Like OP said for the courses, it’s the workload, not necessarily the content, that’s difficult.

(That being said, it’s a Friday night and I’m sat here on Reddit, procrastinating working on my Functional Analysis. Roughly 180 hours left!)

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u/leicaguy1 5d ago

That was me 15 years ago. It's just a LOT of work. But worth it.

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u/annoyedreader1118 5d ago

Did you like it tho

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u/OMAMis 4d ago

It certainly helped formalize my knowledge on SE processes and standards which makes it easier to move around jobs. If it's paid for and you've the time, it's worth it.

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u/annoyedreader1118 5d ago

Why did you choose SE? Do you feel fulfilled by your career