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Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
UPCOMING EVENTS & DEPARTMENTAL NEWS
Presentation Days were held on Monday, April 28 and Wednesday, April 30 in the Robert G. Carson Memorial Conference Room, 401 Daniels Hall, on the NCSU campus. 1st place awards were selected in three (3) project areas out of ten (10) project teams.
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Dr. Constance Lightner, a 2000 alumna of the Operations Research Program at NC State, was recently selected to receive the prestigious UNC Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence. She was supervised by NCSU ISE professor Dr. Shu-Cherng Fang.
More about Dr. Lightner
The department congratulates Clarence Smith, who was recently appointed by Governor Easley to the NC Board of Refrigeration Examiners. For the official news release click here.
Department is recognized in ISE student Jessica Jeppsson's debut piece in the "Emerging Technologies" section of IE Magazine. Click here to view a PDF version of the article.
Alumnus Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri visits NCSU for the 2008 Emerging Issues Forum.
Pup's surgery could help humans
Professor Ola Harrysson works with the College of Veterinary Science to develop a titanium plate for "Pez" that may be a breakthrough in future surgery...for humans!
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What’s it worth to you?
According to a December 2006 study by the U.S. Department of Labor the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the average yearly earnings of industrial engineers with BSIE degrees in 2006 were $68,620. A more recent 2007 salary survey, by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, showed IE bachelor's degree candidates received starting offers averaging about $55,067 a year, while master's degree candidates averaged $64,759 a year.
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You go, girl!
If you’re a female considering a career in industrial engineering, you may be wondering how women fare in the field. Although women comprise only about 12 percent of industrial engineers, their ranks are studded with some shining stars. Like Doreen Yochum, COO of AT&T Labs. Carol A. Sanchez, winner of the National Hispanic Engineer Achievement Award for the Most Promising Engineer. Judith Liebman, Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sheri Phillips, IBM associate partner and Six Sigma Blackbelt. Will your name someday be added to the list?
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You could go anywhere
Most industrial and systems engineers work in office buildings, labs or manufacturing plants. Some spend time outdoors, studying a process or procedure, monitoring or directing operations, or solving onsite problems. Some industrial engineers rarely travel for work, except to conferences or symposia, while others travel extensively to plants or worksites. Some work for huge corporations, some for mid-size universities, some for small consulting firms. In short, there are plenty of opportunities to make an engineering career just what you want it to be.
# 37
Check your personality
Industrial engineers should be creative, inquisitive, analytical, detail oriented. They should be able to work as part of a team. They should know when to be tactful or conciliatory, and when to stand their ground and defend their ideas. And they must possess boundless tenacity and perseverance – it can be difficult to persuade management to accept new recommendations or discard approaches that once worked well. Put simply: we can teach you most of what you need to succeed as an industrial engineer. But some of it, you’re either born with or you‘re not.
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Industrial engineers who have risen to the top
Mike Duke, President and CEO of Wal-Mart. Lee Iacocca, retired CEO of Chrysler. Jim McCaslin, President and CEO of Harley-Davidson. Ed Woolard, retired CEO of DuPont. Henry Ford – the Henry Ford. Michael Eskew, CEO of UPS. Tom Landry, former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Yun Jong Yong, CEO of Samsung Electronics. Distinguished NASA engineer Homer Hickam, and astronauts Mike Massimino, Nancy Currie, and Rex Walheim. Is it a coincidence that so many people (and this is just a few) who were trained in industrial engineering are now in positions of power and prestige? We think not.
Future Students
You've come to the right place.
Whether you're looking at the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) for your undergraduate or graduate degree, you've come to the right place. One of the top 12 programs in the country, according to the annual U.S. News and World Report survey. One with a solid standing in the industrial engineering community and a stellar reputation in the academic world.
Our high ranking is the result of many factors .
- 1. Our faculty. Among them are several who are members of the Academy of Outstanding Teachers and have been recognized as Alumni Distinguished Professors, several who are recipients of national and international awards for excellence in teaching, research and public service, and one who's a member of the National Academy of Engineers. And no other ISE department in the world has more faculty members who are Fellows of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE).
- 2. Our curriculum. We cover virtually every aspect of the ISE discipline - production systems design and control, manufacturing automation and quality control, simulation analysis and optimization, work design, human factors and ergonomics, and economic analysis - and we are currently expanding into Health Systems Engineering, Logistics Systems Engineering and Bioproduction Systems Engineering.
- For you, this means that your degree thoroughly prepares you for employment as an industrial or systems engineer in traditional industries, service, consulting and/or government organizations, or for advanced study at leading graduate schools in engineering, business, management or other fields.
- 3. Our research. The NC State College of Engineering ranks sixth in the U.S. in industry-sponsored research; sponsored research funding for 2006 totaled just over $4 million, with a number of formal and informal research entities associated with the department.
- Our research workgroups and centers li the breadth of the field of industrial and systems engineering and include biomedical research, manufacturing research, ergonomics research, and operations research.
- Our research campus of the future is the Centennial Campus, and it is unlike any other campus or research park in the U.S. It's a research and advanced technology community where university, industry and government partners interact in multidisciplinary programs directed toward the solution of contemporary problems.
- 4. Our facilities. State-of-the-art computer aided design technologies for custom medical implants, prosthetic devices and medical instruments. Outstanding manufacturing and research facilities in the Furniture Manufacturing and Management Center and the Ergonomics Center of North Carolina. The country's only Electron Beam Melting machine for rapid prototyping. Need we say more?
- 5. Our students. They are, quite simply, some of the best. Nearly 100 graduate students and about 200 undergrads who are already distinguishing themselves: more than 60 percent have held co-op or internship positions with major manufacturing companies and over 25 percent of our graduates earn honors distinction.
We're proud to be able to make these claims and to offer these advantages to you and other future ISE students.