What it’s about:
Industrial engineering is the most “people-oriented” of the engineering fields. As a major, you learn to plan, design, and implement complex systems for industry that take into account the needs and capability of individuals and groups, as well as the availability of information, equipment, and materials. Industrial engineers (IEs) find ways to increase both productivity and customer satisfaction in all kinds of organization, from hospitals to steel foundries, and they are the only engineers educated as quality and productivity improvement professionals.
What the study of this major is like:
While other engineers produce things, industrial engineers create or improve the systems and procedure used in making or doing things. The work that IEs do has been around a long time, and the profession has been around a long time, and the profession has been recognized since the 1920s. In the early 1900s, two of industrial engineering’s founders, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, helped determine the “one best way” for hospitals to perform surgery and train doctors, nurses, and technicians. As s result, operating time dropped drastically and survival rates increased. Today, IEs serve as integration engineers, focusing on the way the numerous components of industrial or service systems work as a unit. In figuring out how to improve a procedure, IRs seek to reduce or eliminate the many areas of waste, especially of time, money, materials, and energy.
IEs concern themselves with the design of workplaces, ergonomic and safety studies, and productivity. They design factories (workstations, automated procedures, and robotics; material handling systems; and control systems) and determine the “best way” to manufacture goods. But the word “industrial” refers to more than just manufacturing; today, IEs work in (or with) providers of health care, lodging, and food service; in defense and government; and in such businesses as transportation and communications. A typical task might involve getting a package from San Francisco to Dusseldorf overnight.
Your first two years as a major are similar to those of most engineering students. You take courses in math, the physical sciences, and engineering sciences such as statics, thermodynamics, and electrical circuits. These two years can be intellectually challenging, and you may wonder whether you’ll ever get to year chosen field of study, industrial engineering; perseverance and patience will pay off. In your third and fourth years, you explore topical areas of the major and take supporting math and statistics courses. Here, most students begin to identify their fields of interest.
You can expect to receive a diverse education in computer systems, design, and management, as well as in the physical and social sciences, including economics. Because IEs focus on organizations and the people in them, you will need to take arts and humanities courses. Your schedule will be full, with little room for electives.
Among different industrial engineering programs, requirements are similar and philosophies are fundamentally the same. Most programs stress manufacturing, operations research (applying mathematical modeling and analysis to problems), or “general” industrial engineering, which covers all or most topical areas. A few undergraduate programs have an in-depth focus on safety management, logistics, quality control, or human factors.
Career options and trends:
Consulting industrial engineer*; manufacturing/production supervisor*; plant manager or chief operating officer; quality engineer; safety engineer, systems engineer, materials manger, operations analyst*; process engineer.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects strong job growth through 2018, as firms look for new ways to reduce costs and raise productivity, and to make their operations more “green.” Demand for IEs is increasing in service industries, such as banking and insurance; health care; transportation and distribution; environmental protection; and information processing.
Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors
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