Dr. Wilbur L. Meier, Jr.

Professor

Education
University of Texas: B.S., 1962; M.S., 1964; Ph.D., 1967
Texas: P.E.

Areas of Interest
Lean manufacturing and production, manufacturing strategy, manufacturing systems, planning, and systems engineering.

Wilbur L. Meier, Jr. has been a professor at North Carolina State University since 1991; he was previously a professor at Texas A&M University, chairman of the IE department at Iowa State, head of the School of IE at Purdue, dean of engineering at Penn State, chancellor of the University of Houston System, director of the Division of Engineering Infrastructure Development at the National Science Foundation, dean of engineering at NCSU (1991-1993), Past President, Life Member and Fellow of IIE, Fellow of ASEE, Fellow of AAAS Fellow of SME, and Fellow of the World Academy of Productivity Sciences. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the College of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, and has received the Bliss Medal from the Society of American Military Engineers and the 2000 International Education Award from SME. He has also served as a member of the Engineering Accreditation Commission. He is an active and contributing member of IIE and SME.

Active in professional practice and investigations, Professor Meier most recently served as a program manager for ABB, Inc., for almost three years while on leave from NC State. He has led lean manufacturing training and applications in ABB and other companies for more than seven years. At ABB and in other companies such as Black & Decker, Nokia, Eaton, Square D and Data General, he has had the opportunity to lead and participate in making improvements in production systems in a variety of industrial settings.

Representative Publications

1. Meier, Wilbur L., and Arbelaez, Adrian, “Process for Kaizen Intervention: Success Factors and Lessons Learned,” Proceedings of the IIE Lean Management Solutions Conference, St. Louis, September 10-11, 2001, pp. 81-93.
2. Meier, Wilbur L., “Using Process Simulations to Motivate Associates in Lean Activities,” Proceedings of the IIE Lean Management Solutions Conference, Seattle, September 23-24, 2002, on Compact Disk.