Industrial Engineering (I E)

(Administered by the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering)

Patrick Patterson, Interim Chair of Department
Professors: Barta, Berger, Heising, Morris, Vardeman  
Professors (Collaborators): Egbelu  
Distinguished Professors (Emeritus): Cowles  
University Professors (Emeritus): David  
Professors (Emeritus): Even, Griffen, Hempstead, Kleinschmidt, McRoberts, Mohr, Montag, Moore, C. Smith, G. Smith, Squires, Tamashunas, Vaughn, Walkup  
Associate Professors: Adams, Gemmill, Jackman, Meeks, Min, Patterson, Ryan
Associate Professors (Emeritus): Love  
Assistant Professors: Chen, Narayanaswami, Olafsson, Peters, Van Voorhis

Undergraduate Study

For the undergraduate curriculum in industrial engineering leading to the degree bachelor of science, see College of Engineering, Curricula. This curriculum is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.

Industrial engineers are employed to design, analyze, and improve systems and processes found in manufacturing, consulting, and service industries. Professional responsibilities are typically in design, management, analysis, optimization, and modeling of industrial systems. An industrial engineer is focused on human factors, operations research, enterprise computing, engineering management, manufacturing engineering, and quality. Industrial engineers are typically found in organizations responsible for operations management, process engineering, automation, logistics, supply chain management, scheduling, plant engineering, quality control, and technical sales.

The goal of the industrial engineering undergraduate curriculum is to produce technically qualified industrial engineers who are capable of successful professional practice in the field. Graduates of the program will be able to work effectively with other members of the work force to accomplish engineering advances in their assigned areas. The program also provides graduates with the necessary educational foundation to pursue advanced studies in industrial engineering or related fields.

Graduates of the program must demonstrate the ability to design, develop, implement and improve systems that include people, materials, information, equipment and energy. The program includes in-depth instruction to accomplish the integration of systems using appropriate analytical, computational and engineering practices.

In addition to the College of Engineering goals, the industrial engineering curriculum has the following goals for each student.

1. Students should be able to design, analyze, and manage effective production, distribution, and service systems.

2. Students should be able to bridge the engineering and business functions of an organization.

3. Students should be able to integrate functions involving people, material, equipment, information, and control.

4. Students should have a global perspective of enterprise.

5. Students should be able to provide leadership in multi-functional teams.

The industrial engineering undergraduate curriculum provides students with fundamental knowledge in mathematics and science, engineering science, social science and humanities as well as professional industrial engineering course work. Management electives provide students with an opportunity to become familiar with modern business practices that they will encounter in their career. A senior capstone design course provides students with an opportunity to solve open-ended industrial problems with an industrial partner. The cooperative education program provides students with real world experience in the profession and a good perspective on career choices. Students are encouraged to participate in international experiences through exchange programs and industrial internships.

Graduate Study

The department offers work leading to the degrees of master of science, and doctor of philosophy with a major in industrial engineering. A formal minor is available to doctor of philosophy students having a major in another department. Graduate study is designed to improve the student’s capability in the professional practice of industrial engineering and to develop research ability.

The prerequisite to major graduate work is the completion of a curriculum substantially equivalent to that required of undergraduate students in engineering at this institution.

With the help of a program of study committee, a graduate student develops an educational program in areas within industrial engineering. Typical areas of concentration include engineering economy; human factors, systems analysis and control, manufacturing systems analysis, manufacturing processes, production systems analysis and design, life cycle analysis and depreciation, operations research and optimization, enterprise modeling and integration, information management, and the human machine interface. A major in operations research leading to a master of science degree is co-offered with the Department of Statistics.

Courses open for nonmajor graduate credit: 305, 312, 313, 341, 348, 361, 375, 408, 409, 419, 436, 439, 441, 448, 465, 471.

Courses Primarily for Undergraduate Students

I E 101. Orientation
(1-0) Cr. R. S. Introduce students to the industrial engineering profession, its scope, industrial engineering tools, and future trends.

I E 248. Introduction to Manufacturing Processes and Specifications
(2-2) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: Credit or enrollment in Mat E 271. Theory, applications, and quality issues related to machining and other nontraditional material removal processes. Introduction to metrology, engineering drawings and specifications.

I E 271. Applied Ergonomics and Work Design
(4-0) Cr. 4. S. Prereq: Phys 221. Basic concepts of ergonomics and work design. Their impact on worker and work place productivity and cost. In-depth investigations of work physiology, biomechanics, anthropometry, work methods, and their measurement as they relate to person-machine systems.

I E 298. Cooperative Education
Cr. R. F.S.SS. Prereq: Permission of department. First professional work period in the cooperative education program. Students must register for this course before commencing work.

I E 305. Engineering Economic Analysis
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.S. Prereq: Math 166. Analysis of economic decisions related to planning, developing, and managing engineering projects. Time value of money; evaluating alternative projects; decisions involving capital expenditures in private and public sectors. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 312. Optimization
(3-0) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: Math 266. Concepts, optimization and analysis techniques, and applications of operations research. Formulation of mathematical models for systems, concepts, and methods of improving search, linear programming and sensitivity analysis, network models and integer programming. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 313. Stochastic Analysis
(3-0) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: Math 266, Stat 231. Development of basic queuing models and related applications. Use of simulation for some applications. Project involving data collection analysis of a queuing system is required. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 341. Production Systems
(3-0) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: Stat 231. Introduction of key concepts in the design and analysis of production systems. Topics include inventory control, forecasting, material requirement planning, project planning and scheduling, operations scheduling, and other production systems such as Just-In-Time (JIT) and warehousing. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 348. Solidification Processes
(2-2) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: I E 248. Theory, applications, and quality issues related to metal casting, welding, polymer processing, and other solidification processes. Use of CAD and process modeling software. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 361. Quality Control (Same as Stat 361.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.S. Prereq: Stat 231 or 401. Techniques for controlling the quality of products and services. Techniques for improving quality through process control. Project involving design of quality system. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 375. Introductory Production Systems
(3-0) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: Junior classification, Math 160 or 166. Principles and concepts in the design and control of production systems, including demand forecasting, fixed and variable capacity planning, master production scheduling, inventory control, types of production and work flow systems, quality control, and project management. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 396. Summer Internship
Cr. R. SS. Prereq: Permission of department. Summer professional work period.

I E 397. Engineering Internship
Cr. R. F.S. Prereq: Permission of department chair. One semester maximum per academic year professional work period.

I E 398. Cooperative Education
Cr. R. F.S.SS. Prereq: 298, permission of department. Second professional work period in the cooperative education program. Students must register for this course before commencing work.

I E 408. Interdisciplinary Problem Solving (Same as E E 408, I Tec 408.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.S. Prereq: Junior or senior standing. Use the Theory of Constraints as a way of approaching problem solving, win-win negotiation, project planning and effective delegation in the context of engineering/business systems. Team projects are aimed at improving design outcomes. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 409. Interdisciplinary Systems Effectiveness (Same as E E 409, I Tec 409.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.S. Prereq: Junior or senior standing. Focus on functions that determine the effectiveness of an entire organization. Generic Theory of Constraints solutions to production, distribution, project management are compared to traditional solutions. Strategy for improvements discovered using simulations and group projects. Nonmajor graduate credit

I E 419. Manufacturing Systems Modeling
(3-0) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: Stat 231. Modeling material handling systems, inventory systems, and production systems for performance analysis. Introduction to analysis, simulation, and physical models of manufacturing systems. Simulation languages such as ARENA, AweSim, and ProModel. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 436. Introduction to Reliability Engineering
(3-0) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: Senior classification, Stat 231 or 401. Mathematical basics for dealing with reliability data, theory and analysis of load and strength, and systems reliability prediction methods to assure reliably designed systems. Reliability demonstrations and reliability growth monitoring. Fault tree and event tree analysis. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 439. Industrial Automation
(2-3) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: E E 441. Principles and practices of automating production and distribution systems. Sensors, actuators, controllers, and control algorithms. Computer control and interfaces. Integration of automated systems with enterprise wide computing systems, networks, and communication between devices. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 441. Industrial Engineering Design
(1-6) Cr. 3. F.S. Prereq: 271, 305, 312, 313, 348. A large, open-ended design project related to industrial systems. Application of engineering design principles including problem definition, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 448. Manufacturing Systems Engineering
(3-0) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: 248. Control of manufacturing processes, process planning, geometric tolerancing, tooling requirements, make versus buy decisions, cellular and flexible manufacturing, facility layout, computer aided inspection, and usage of CAD/CAM and robotics. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 449. Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing
(2-2) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: 348. Representation and interpretation of curves, surfaces and solids. Parametric curves and surfaces and solid modeling. Introduction to CAD software and graphics programming. Application of computer technologies in planning and controlling manufacturing processes.

I E 465. Knowledge Engineering
(2-3) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: Stat 231. Introduction to knowledge-based systems. The production system model, rules and expert system architecture. Use of a symbolic programming language. Emphasis on artificial intelligence applications in industrial and manufacturing planning and scheduling. Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 466. Multidisciplinary Engineering Design (Same as Cpr E 466, E E 466, E Sci 466, M E 466, Mat E 466.)
(1-4) Cr. 3. F.S. Prereq: Student must be within two semesters of graduation and receive permission of the instructor. Application of team design concepts to projects of a multi-disciplinary nature. Concurrent treatment of design, manufacturing and life cycle considerations. Application of design tools such as CAD, CAM. and FEM. Design methodologies, and project scheduling, cost estimating, quality control, manufacturing process. Development of a prototype and appropriate documentation in the form of written reports, oral presentations and computer models and engineering drawings.

I E 471. Safety and Reliability in the Design of Work Systems
(3-3) Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered 2002. Prereq: 271. The quantitative study of work systems through the methods of engineering analysis and design, human reliability analysis, and the use of simulation to predict, model, and reduce or eliminate workplace hazards.Nonmajor graduate credit.

I E 481. e-Commerce Systems Engineering (Dual-listed with 581.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. F., offered 2001. Design, analysis, and implementation of e-commerce systems. Information infrastructure, enterprise models, enterprise processes, enterprise views. Data structures and algorithms used in e-commerce systems, SQL, exchange protocols, client/server model, web-based views.

I E 490. Independent Study
Cr. 1 to 5 each time elected. Prereq: Senior classification, permission of instructor. Independent study and work in the areas of industrial engineering design, practice, or research.

                A. Manufacturing

                B. Human Factors

                C. Operations Research

                D. Enterprise Computing and Information Management

                E. Engineering Management

                H. Honors

I E 498. Cooperative Education
Cr. R. F.S.SS. Prereq: 298, permission of department. Third and subsequent professional work periods in the cooperative education program. Students must register for this course before commencing work.

Courses Primarily for Graduate Students, Open to Qualified Undergraduate Students

(An undergraduate student must have an academic standing in the upper one-half of his/her class to enroll in any 500-level industrial engineering course.)

I E 508. Design and Analysis of Allocation Mechanisms
(3-0) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: 312 or Math 307. Market-based allocation mechanisms from quantitative economic systems perspective. Pricing and costing models designed and analyzed with respect to decentralized decision processes, information requirements, and coordination. Case studies and examples from industries such as regulated utilities and semiconductor manufacturers.

I E 510. Network Analysis
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. F., offered 2002. Prereq: 312, 313. Deterministic network flows, generalized analysis of capacitated deterministic networks, stochastic networks, and network optimization. Methods and applications of network analysis to various engineering and optimization problems.

I E 512. Introduction to Stochastic Production Systems
(3-0) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: 313. Modeling techniques to evaluate performance and address issues in design, control and operation of systems; Markov models of single-stage made-to-order and made-to-stock systems, approximations for non-Markovian systems, impact of variability on flow lines, open and closed queuing networks.

I E 514. Production Scheduling (Same as Stat 514.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: 312, 341. Introduction to the theory of machine shop systems. Complexity results for various systems such as job, flow and open shops. Applications of linear programming, integer programming, network analysis. Enumerative methods for machine sequencing. Introduction to stochastic scheduling.

I E 519. Simulation Modeling and Analysis
(3-0) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: Com S 311, Stat 401. Event scheduling, process interaction, and continuous modeling techniques. Probability and statistics related to simulation parameters including run length, inference, design of experiments, variance reduction, and stopping rules. Aspects of simulation languages.

I E 520. Knowledge Based Manufacturing Systems
(2-3) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: 419 or 465 or Com S 472. Knowledge-based systems as applied to automated manufacturing, production planning and scheduling, group technology, robotics, facilities design, and process control. Knowledge representation, search, and predicate calculus.

I E 521. Biomechanics. (Same as BME 521, E M 521.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. F., offered 2001. Prereq: Phys 111 or 221, Math 265. For students with interests in the life sciences, ergonomics, or rehabilitation engineering. Topics include equilibrium, motion, energy, stress and deformation, material properties, flow of fluids, dimensional analysis and modeling of biological systems. Illustrative examples taken from biology and medicine.

I E 531. Statistics for Quality and Productivity (Same as Stat 531.)
See Statistics.

I E 533. Reliability (Same as Stat 533.)
See Statistics.

I E 534. Linear Programming
(3-0) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: 312. Develop linear models. Theory and computational aspects of the simplex method. Duality theory and sensitivity analysis. Introduction to interior point methods and column generation. Multiobjective linear programs.

I E 539. Game Theory (Same as Stat 539.)
See Statistics.

I E 541. Inventory Control and Production Planning
(3-0) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: 341. Economic Order Quantity, dynamic lot sizing, newsboy, base stock, and (Q,r) models. Material Requirements Planning, JIT, variability in production systems, push and pull production systems, aggregate and workforce planning, and capacity management.

I E 542. Computer-Aided Manufacturing I
(3-0) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: 348. Applications of computer technologies in planning and controlling manufacturing processes. Computer numerical controls, CNC programming languages, flexible automation, communication protocols, process planning. CAD/CAM integration and software aspects of computer-integrated manufacturing.

I E 544. Geometric Modeling in CAD/CAM
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. S. offered 2002. Prereq: Math 267, knowledge of C language. Representation and manipulation of curves, surfaces, and solids. Non uniform B-splines, parametric and tricubic solids, and constructive solid geometry. Geometric algorithms in the context of computer aided design, computer aided manufacturing and computer aided inspection. Topology of curves and surfaces for design verification and process planning.

I E 561. Continuous Quality Improvement of Process
(3-0) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: 361. Methods for continuous quality improvement in process analysis. The systems analysis for process improvement model based on W. Edwards Deming. Quality function deployment methods. Case studies of applications to manufacturing and other heavy industries. Use of process analysis computerized programs and tools for design analysis.

I E 565. Systems Engineering and Analysis (Same as Aer E 565, E E 565.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. F. Prereq: Graduate classification in engineering. Introduction to organized multidisciplinary approach to designing and developing systems. Concepts, principles, and practice of systems engineering as applied to large integrated systems. Life-cycle costing, scheduling, risk management, functional analysis, conceptual and detail design, test and evaluation, and systems engineering planning and organization. Not available for degrees in industrial engineering.

I E 566. Applied Systems Engineering
(3-0) Cr. 3. S. Prereq: E E/Aer E/I E 565. Design for reliability, maintainability, usability, supportability, producibility, disposability, and life cycle costs in the context of the systems engineering process. Students will be required to apply the principles of systems engineering to a project including proposal, program plan, systems engineering management plan, and test and evaluation plan. Not available for degrees in industrial engineering.

I E 575. Advanced Ergonomic Analysis
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered 2003. Prereq: Phys 221, Stat 231. Ergonomic data analysis using statistical, graphical, and computational intelligence methods for problem diagnosis and process/product design. Illustrations drawn from work design, rehabilitation, and human-computer interaction.

I E 577. Human Factors
(2-2) Cr. 3. Alt. F., offered 2001. Prereq: 271, Stat 231 or 401. Physical and psychological factors affecting human performance in systems. Signal detection theory, human reliability modeling, information theory, and performance shaping applied to safety, reliability, productivity, stress reduction, training, and human/equipment interface design. Laboratory assignments related to system design and operation.

I E 581. e-Commerce Systems Engineering (Dual-listed with 481.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. F., offered 2001. Design, analysis, and implementation of e-commerce systems. Information infrastructure, enterprise models, enterprise processes, enterprise views. Data structures and algorithms used in e-commerce systems. SQL, exchange protocols, client/server model, web-based views.

I E 590. Special Topics
Cr. 1 to 5 each time elected. Independent study and work to explore recent advances and innovative approaches to industrial engineering design, practice, and research.

                A. Manufacturing

                B. Human Factors

                C. Operations Research

                D. Enterprise Computing and Information Management

                E. Engineering Management

I E 599. Creative Component
Cr. var.

                A. Major in Industrial Engineering

                C. Major in Operations Research

Courses for Graduate Students

I E 631. Nonlinear Programming
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered 2002. Prereq: 534. Develop nonlinear models, convex sets and functions, optimality conditions, Lagrangian duality, unconstrained minimization techniques. Constrained minimization techniques covering penalty and barrier functions, sequential quadratic programming, the reduced gradient method.

I E 632. Integer Programming
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered 2003. Prereq: 534. Integer programming including cutting planes, branch and bound, and search enumeration. Goal programming and specialized algorithms.

I E 642. Simultaneous Engineering in Manufacturing Systems
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. F., offered 2002. Prereq: 441 or M E 415. Current engineering methods for the product life cycle process. Feature-based design, computer-aided process planning, and data-driven product engineering.

I E 690. Advanced Topics
Cr. var.