Industrial engineering is a diverse discipline with many areas of specialization. In this brochure, you will find brief descriptions of the areas of ergonomics, manufacturing, production control, simulation analysis and optimization and economic analysis, along with examples of the types of jobs and careers that our students have pursued in each area. The descriptions detail how certain areas are interrelated within the discipline. We also provide some information on courses in each area and conceptual images and photos of workplaces to give you a better sense of the work-a-day world of an industrial engineer.

In general, industrial engineering is concerned with the design of production and service systems. The Industrial Engineer analyzes and specifies integrated components of people, machines, and facilities to create efficient and effective systems that produce goods and services beneficial to mankind. Industrial Engineers are the bridge between management goals and operational performance. Industrial Engineers are expected to exert leadership in workplace education as well as analysis, design and implementation of systems and plans for operating those systems that bring value to the organization. IE's identify opportunities for improvement with equipment, materials, methods, layouts, and develop plans. Below are examples of fields or careers in Industrial Engineering.

Industrial engineers design of complex work systems and tasks by considering the capabilities and limitations of human operators. They seek to optimize work performance, safety and comfort by "fitting" the task, machine and environment to the human. There are two general divisions of ergonomics, including industrial (or occupational) ergonomics and cognitive ergonomics. The former area focuses on the dimensions and strength capabilities of human body in relation to performance of manual work tasks, such as material handling. This subdivision also concentrates on potential affects of the work environment on the human, including thermal conditions, vibration, etc. Work in this area is aimed at reducing occupational injuries and promoting work environment safety. In the area of cognitive ergonomics, engineers attempt to quantify human behavior in interacting with complex systems as a basis for designing display Interfaces and controls to support decision making. Task analysis is a primary tool used to ensure systems are developed to support operator goals, limit workload and promote situation awareness.

Some example careers in this area include working as a plant ergonomist in implementing interventions such as standardized work practices, redesigning manual work (lifting and upper-extremity tasks) and applying personal protective equipment (PPE). Other jobs include working as an ergonomics consultant to educate companies on workplace safety in order to ensure conformance of work systems designs with Federal regulations. Careers in cognitive ergnomics are primarily research- oriented and include working as a systems design engineer for aviation equipment manufacturers developing aircraft cockpit displays and controls, or working for the Federal Aviation Administration to design a new air traffic control workstation. Careers in human factors consulting are also available for cognitive ergonomists, including supporting the government in new military systems designs, etc.

The ergonomics area is closely related with the manufacturing area in terms of educating students on the need for workplace safety and how to design safe production systems.

Courses in the ergonomics area include work measurement (IE 352), ergonomics (IE 452), occupational safety (IE 541), human factors (IE 540) and several others.

The premiere technical society in the ergonomics area is the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society. They host annual meetings on a yearly basis for engineers and psychologists, as well as persons from other disciplines, to network and share information on recent research in human-machine system design. Other technical organizations are listed in the sidebar.

Manufacturing, Automation & Quality Control

Simulation Analysis & Optimization

Systems Analysis and Optimization involves the formulation, analysis, and optimization of mathematical models of complex organizations involving flows and interactions of financial and physical resources, information, and people.  The objective is to understand the operation of such an organization and ultimately to improve that operation with respect to its effectiveness, efficiency, or profitability.  This area is closely allied to the fields of operations research and the management sciences.  The methodological tools of this area include: (i) mathematical programming, (ii) probabilistic modeling, (iii) simulation modeling, and (iv) decision analysis.  Applications of mathematical programming involve linear, nonlinear, integer, and network-flow models of such diverse problems as airline crew scheduling, design and operation of large-scale logistics networks, and planning the overseas deployment of military units.  Applications of probabilistic and simulation models typically involve modeling and analysis of complex queueing (traffic-flow) phenomena that arise in the design and staffing of call centers, manufacturing cells, hospitals, etc.  Other applications of simulation and decision analysis include financial engineering (that is, the design and evaluation of financial instruments such as derivatives) and medical decision making (for example, improved protocols for organ transplantation or screening for certain types of cancer).

Students majoring in Systems Analysis and Optimization find equally great demand for their skills in the governmental, industrial, and the military sectors.  As suggested by the application areas mentioned above, many students work as corporate-level consultants in logistics and supply-chain engineering.  Recently increasing numbers of students have taken jobs in the fields of telecommunications, health systems engineering, and financial risk analysis.  Others work in areas related to national security, including cryptography.

The methods and problems of this area are closely related to those of the production area, and students with interests in Systems Analysis and Optimization typically take much of their allied coursework in the production area. 

Popular courses taught in the area of Systems Analysis and Optimization include linear and dynamic programming (IE 361); stochastic models in industrial engineering (IE 401); and system simulation (IE 441).

The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is the premier technical society in this area. INFORMS hosts annual meetings twice a year, with special student-oriented programs for undergraduates and graduate students who are seeking careers in the area.  The IIE (Institute of Industrial Engineers) also has a special interest group devoted to this area.

 

Which career is for you?

A career in industrial and systems engineering (ISE) is all about variety. While most other engineering disciplines apply skills to very specific areas, a career in ISE gives you the flexibility and opportunity to work in a wide array of businesses and organizations. Since the focus of ISE graduates is to design processes and systems that improve quality and productivity, they work to eliminate, or significantly reduce, the waste of time, money, materials, energy, and other commodities. Most often, ISE graduates solve problems.

As companies and organizations embrace management philosophies of continuous productivity and quality improvement to survive in the increasingly competitive world market, the need for industrial and systems engineers is growing. This is because ISE graduates are the only engineering professionals trained as productivity and quality improvement specialists.

Of the many careers available to ISE graduates, which one is for you? As with most decisions in life, the options are many. Here are some additional examples based on the above ISE area overviews:

As a customer service engineer for a local telephone company, you may develop a supplier quality program. You may also work to improve customer satisfaction by designing a process to schedule service calls more effectively and in a more customer-friendly way.

As a management systems engineer in a hospital, you may design admissions procedures to ensure efficient patient admission or design procedures for optimum use of medical facilities to help bring the cost of healthcare down.

As an ergonomist in an automobile manufacturing plant, you may change the tools workers use to assemble steering mechanisms to reduce the risk of repetitive stress injuries.

As an operations engineer for a parcel service, you may design a conceptual layout of a service and maintenance facility for aircraft or improve operations to reduce the time and improve the accuracy in transporting items for shipment from the terminal to the aircraft .

While manufacturing firms and service industries still lead the way in hiring significant numbers of industrial and systems engineers, more and more businesses hire in areas like sales and marketing, finance, logistics, information systems, and human resources.

Does it sound like ISE graduates can work for most any type organization and do just about anything? We think so.

Areas of industrial engineering interconnect to optimize human-machine systems design and performance.

The new logo for the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at NC State University.

Ergonomists evaluate workplace lifting injuries.

Industrial manfacturers hire ergonomists for work standardization, ergonomic and safety interventions, and applying PPE.

Industrial engineers design and model production systems for manufacturing companies.

Production and control engineers implement their design in actual manufacturing facilities.

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)

Industrial engineers develop simulation models of complex systems to predict how they will perform in actual operations.

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