Industrial + Mechanical Engineering

On July 1, 2009 the departments of Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering and Mechanical Engineering officially became one. A lot of moving and gnashing of teeth was the first order of business but as faculty settle into their new environment, the real work will begin. While most faculty will continue with the research direction they have established for themselves, the academic arena can only benefit from the new synergy of talent. We will be looking at enhancing the following areas:

• Graduate studies in industrial engineering. There may now be opportunities to expand the focus areas of the industrial engineering graduate program in engineering management and quality engineering.
• Undergraduate mechanical engineering. There may now be opportunities to provide a manufacturing track within the M.E. curriculum. While many manufacturing jobs have left America, engineers still need to know the basics of how things are made so they can create efficient designs.
• Interdiscplinary research. With the system design expertise of the M.E. faculty and the implementation expertise of the I.E. faculty, there may now be better opportunities for interdisciplinary research. Industrial problems may especially lend themselves to this combination of analysis and implementation in our highly competitive economy.