Conference Session

Focus on IE Course Design and Assessment

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Judith Norback, Georgia Institute of Technology; Paul Griffin, Georgia Tech; Garlie Forehand, Georgia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

froma new cohort which expands results previously reported are now available. Included in theinstruction are 1) a tutorial, 2) a number of sessions for practice and feedback on the workforcepresentation skills in a Workforce Communication Lab, and 3) a senior executive paneldiscussion on communication skills needed to move up the career ladder. The evaluation criteriainclude student-perceived confidence and competence. Also described are data on student needsreported at the beginning of the course and student benefits reported at the end of the course.The results provide substantial evidence that the instruction in workforce presentation skills iseffective in the eyes of studentsIntroductionOver the past decade, multiple studies have indicated

Conference Session

Focus on Emerging Topics Around the World

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Summers, University of Dayton

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

cases, examples, and problems - Follow-up on their suggestionsThe assistance of practicing professionals provides interesting information that can beused to help interest students in industrial engineering tools and techniques. They are thebest source of information to help attract more IEs and IETs to the field.Students and faculty have raised concerns about increasing awareness in service industryfirms about how IE/IETs can help improve productivity, quality, costs, and safety. Inmany cases it is up to the individual seeking a job to point out the correlation between theindustry needs and their skills. Perhaps this is why many IE/IETs switch frommanufacturing jobs to service industry jobs later in their career. After getting some

Conference Session

Focus on IE Course Design and Assessment

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Kauffmann, East Carolina University; Cathy Hall, East Carolina University; Gene Dixon, East Carolina University; John Garner, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

AC 2008-2708: PREDICTING ACADEMIC SUCCESS FOR FIRST SEMESTERENGINEERING STUDENTS USING PERSONALITY TRAIT INDICATORSPaul Kauffmann, East Carolina University Paul J. Kauffmann is Professor and Chair in the Department of Engineering at East Carolina University. His industry career included positions as Plant Manager and Engineering Director. Dr. Kauffmann received a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and MENG in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Penn State and is a registered Professional Engineer.Cathy Hall, East Carolina University Cathy W. Hall is a professor in the Department of Psychology at East Carolina University. She

Conference Session

Focus on Emerging Topics Around the World

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen Bursic, University of Pittsburgh; Kim Needy, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

requirement will notonly prepare Pitt IE graduates for a successful engineering career in a global environment, butalso help to give them a competitive advantage over other IE graduates who may not have aninternational experience. We are in the early implementation stages of this decision and suspectthat there may be some further tweaking of the requirements. We are committed to continuallyimproving our academic program and although we are confident in our decision to implement theinternational requirement, time will judge the success of this decision.AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to acknowledge and thank Ms. Nora Siewiorek, the UndergraduateAdministrator in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh for

Conference Session

Focus on IE Principles and Techniques

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sharon Johnson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Bryan Norman, University of Pittsburgh; Jean Fullerton, Elizabethtown College; Susan Pariseau, Merrimack College

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

introductory IE course. Because lean thinking plays such a centralrole in many organizations today, we believed IE students should be given a holistic view of leanprinciples early in their academic careers. Another benefit is that management majors andengineers in other disciplines, who may take only one operations-focused course, can then alsohave exposure to these ideas.When companies embrace a lean philosophy, they generally train employees in lean principlesand associated tactics, often using classroom instruction supplemented with hands-on applica-tions, plant floor exercises, and live simulations. We adopted one of these simulations at Site 1,called Time WiseTM and developed by Time Wise Management Systems for use in corporatetraining (http

Conference Session

Focus on IE Principles and Techniques

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ricki Ingalls, Oklahoma State University; mario cornejo, Oklahoma State University; Chinnatat Methapatara, Oklahoma State University; Peerapol Sittivijan, Oklahoma State University; Kim Needy, University of Pittsburgh; Bryan Norman, University of Pittsburgh; Braden Hunsaker, University of Pittsburgh; Erin Claypool, University of Pittsburgh; Nuri Gokhan, University of Pittsburgh; Scott Mason, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

. The class also forces the students to work as a team on something that they could nothave possibly done alone at this stage in their career with the timeframe provided. The studentsare not only forced to propose complex modeling solutions to difficult supply chain problems;they are responsible for implementing the solutions that they propose. Throughout the semester,there is extensive interaction about the pros and cons of proposed solutions, whether or not thosesolutions will be efficient, and whether or not those solutions will be meaningful to a potentialuser of the system. Because these are the types of decisions that the students will be making intheir future work, the class prepares students to address those issues