IMSE Department Gets a Name Change

The Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering has officially changed its name to the Department of Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering. In the upcoming weeks, our website will reflect the name change.

COE Thanks Dr. Chen with Reception

The College of Engineering hosted a reception in honor of Dr. Victoria Chen to thank her for her two-year service as the Interim Chair of the IMSE Department. Dr. Chen stepped in as the Interim Chair in 2012 when Dr. Don Liles retired as the chairperson. The IMSE Department hired Dr. Paul Componation as the new Chair in July. Under Dr. Chen’s leadership, the department has grown in the number of students enrolled and in the amount of research funding received. Current and former students, along with faculty, staff, and Dr. Chen’s family attended the reception on July 18. It was held in The University Club on the the campus of The University of Texas at Arlington.

Photos of the event can be viewed on the IMSE Department’s Facebook photo album: Dr. Chen Thank You Reception.

New Chair’s Message to IMSE Family

It is an honor to serve as the next Chair of the Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering Department at UTA.  The University and Department are experiencing tremendous growth so the job is even more exciting.  This growth opens up many opportunities and challenges for us, ones that I am looking forward to meeting with you.

The academic community is experiencing significant changes.  Increased attention on costs, greater competition, and decreasing federal budgets are all putting pressure on us to rethink how we do business.  Likewise we also see new technologies, new education models, and an increased interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.  It’s critical that we prepare our faculty, staff and students for the changing educational environment of the 21st century.

I would like to thank Dr. Chen and Dr. Liles for their leadership serving the department over these past years.  IMSE has made significant gains under their tenure and this has made my job that much easier!

Written by
Dr. Paul Componation, IMSE Chair

Dr. Rogers Receives IIE Fellow Award

Dr. Jamie RogersJamie Rogers, Ph.D., P.E. recently received the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) Fellow Award which was presented to her during the IIE Annual Conference & Expo 2014, held May 31 – June 3 at the Palais des Congrés de Montréal. This award recognizes outstanding leaders of the profession who have made significant, nationally recognized contributions to industrial engineering. A fellow is the highest classification of IIE membership.

Dr. Rogers is a Professor and Associate Chair for the Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Arlington. She  has won several teaching awards such as the University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teacher (2012) and the UTA Chancellor’s Council Award for Teaching Excellence (1999). In 2013, she was inducted into the University of Missouri Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Hall of Fame and was nominated for the prestigious Piper Professor. In 2011, she was inducted into the UT Arlington Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

In addition to her excellence in teaching, she  has contributed to the improvement of the IE Program in schools across the nation. She is the 2014-2015 President of ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) and has served as a volunteer for many years. She is also the Faculty Advisor for the Gold Award winning UT Arlington Student Chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. She is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education, AAUW, Tau Beta Pi, Alpha Pi Mu, Omega Rho, Omicron Delta Kappa, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, SWE, and Order of the Engineer.  Dr. Rogers was responsible for the creation of the M.S. Logistics Program at UT Arlington, an innovative joint program with the College of Business and College of Engineering, approved by the UT System Board of Regents in 1999 and she served as Graduate Advisor from 1999-2013.

Dr. Rogers received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from The University of Missouri at Columbia, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial Engineering from UT Arlington.

New IMSE Chair Announced

The Dean of the College of Engineering, Dr. Behbehani, has officially announced a new chair for the Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Department. Effective July 7, Dr. Paul Componation will join the IMSE Department as Chair, replacing Dr. Victoria Chen who has been serving as the Interim Chair for the department since September 2012. Dr. Chen will continue as a professor with the department.

Dr. Componation is currently Professor and Director of Graduate Education for Engineering Management in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems at Iowa State University. He has also worked in various roles at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, West Virginia University, the University of Central Florida, and Albright College. He also has experience working in industry for BDM Federal Sonoco Products Company and as a resident researcher in Systems Engineering at Marshall Space Flight Center and an engineering officer in the U.S. Air Force.

Dr. Componation has a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from West Virginia University. He received an M.S. Management degree from Troy State University and a B.S. Industrial Engineering degree from West Virginia University. He is the author of co-author of 78 books, journal publications, and conference proceedings and presentations. He is a Fellow of the America Society for Engineering Management, a Senior Member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering and ASEE.

His research interests include the “development and optimization of complex systems in aerospace, transportation, and energy; decision analysis in distributed engineering design teams; utilization of technical and qualitative data in parametric cost modeling for aerospace systems; adaption of value-driven design in systems engineering enterprise; and the use of lean principles as an agent for organizational transformation.”

The department is very pleased to welcome him and look forward to his leadership. Look for an official University press release coming soon.

For further details, read UTA’s official press release.

Congratulations to Spring 2014 Graduates

The College of Engineering Commencement Ceremony was held on Saturday, May 10 at College Park Center to honor the Spring 2014 graduating class. Krish Prabhu, President and Chief Technology Office of AT&T Labs, presented the commencement address.  In honor of all the Spring 2014 IE graduates, the IMSE Department would like to congratulate each one of them for a job well done. The Spring 2014 IE graduates, as published in The Shorthorn are:

Ph.D in Industrial Engineering

  • Sulaiman Hamad Al Jedaie, Dissertation Title: Inventory Pooling in Petroleum Upstream Logistics Network
  • Mohammed A. Al-Mansouri, Dissertation Title: Facility Capital Equipment and Labor Decision Support System Using a Discrete-Event Simulation and Bottleneck Detection Approach
  • Asama Kulvanitchaiyanunt, Dissertation Title: Design and Analysis of Computer Experiment-Based Approach to Approximate an Infinite Horizon Dynamic

Master of Engineering in Industrial Engineering

  • Shui Biu Ho

Master of Science in Engineering Management

  • Ravi Teja Doppalapudi
  • Surya Deep Gunnam
  • Steve V. Illyes
  • Dhaneesha Lanke
  • Praneeth Chandra Movva
  • Joseph Michael Munn
  • Esteban Pedraza
  • Hemaraj Sampath Kumar
  • Sheng Hsuan Wu

Master of Science in Industrial Engineering

  • Neim Aiderous Abubeker
  • Santosh Adivi
  • Seepong Aiumjaroen
  • Shanmukha Srinivas Badam
  • Karthika Harini Boobathy
  • Robert Wallace Combs
  • Sri Harsha Raju Datla
  • Banuchandar Esakkimuthu
  • Shalini Jagata
  • Holta Karruli
  • Mitali Prasad Khadilkar
  • Veneesha Kimmireddy
  • Jay Amit Oza
  • Srikar Krishna Rajagopal

Master of Science in Logistics

  • Mrugank Nandan Borgalkar
  • Elena Ogorodnikova

Master of Science in Systems Engineering

  • Leonard Best
  • Matthew Lee Craig
  • Jazmin Adriana Guzman
  • Ashok Sisodia

Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering

  • Rohit Prashad Acharya
  • Ahmad T. Alsmadi
  • Harrison D. Armstrong
  • Angela Colleen Bradshaw
  • Yazmin S. Chalico
  • Eryka Dira
  • Vanessa Duran
  • Mekdes A. Girmash
  • Benjamin William Howison
  • Anna T. Mai
  • Walter J. Mulflur
  • Santosh Paudel
  • Gustavo A. Robles
  • Muhammet U. Sarilar
  • Loc Vinh Truong
  • Jarrett Kale Walden
  • Mewan Wijemanne
  • Ting Xiao

Congratulations to all these graduates!

In case you missed the ceremony, you can view the video and photos of the event online.

Congratulations to Spring 2014 Graduates!

The College of Engineering Commencement Ceremony was held on Saturday, May 10 at College Park Center to honor the Spring 2014 graduating class. Krish Prabhu, President and Chief Technology Office of AT&T Labs, presented the commencement address.  In honor of all the Spring 2014 IE graduates, the IMSE Department would like to congratulate each one of them for a job well done. The Spring 2014 IE graduates, as published in The Shorthorn are:

College of Engineering Graduation

Ph.D in Industrial Engineering

  • Sulaiman Hamad Al Jedaie, Dissertation Title: Inventory Pooling in Petroleum Upstream Logistics Network
  • Mohammed A. Al-Mansouri, Dissertation Title: Facility Capital Equipment and Labor Decision Support System Using a Discrete-Event Simulation and Bottleneck Detection Approach
  • Asama Kulvanitchaiyanunt, Dissertation Title: Design and Analysis of Computer Experiment-Based Approach to Approximate an Infinite Horizon Dynamic

Master of Engineering in Industrial Engineering

  • Shui Biu Ho

Master of Science in Engineering Management

  • Ravi Teja Doppalapudi
  • Surya Deep Gunnam
  • Steve V. Illyes
  • Dhaneesha Lanke
  • Praneeth Chandra Movva
  • Joseph Michael Munn
  • Esteban Pedraza
  • Hemaraj Sampath Kumar
  • Sheng Hsuan Wu

Master of Science in Industrial Engineering

  • Neim Aiderous Abubeker
  • Santosh Adivi
  • Seepong Aiumjaroen
  • Shanmukha Srinivas Badam
  • Karthika Harini Boobathy
  • Robert Wallace Combs
  • Sri Harsha Raju Datla
  • Banuchandar Esakkimuthu
  • Shalini Jagata
  • Holta Karruli
  • Mitali Prasad Khadilkar
  • Veneesha Kimmireddy
  • Jay Amit Oza
  • Srikar Krishna Rajagopal

Master of Science in Logistics

  • Mrugank Nandan Borgalkar
  • Elena Ogorodnikova

Master of Science in Systems Engineering

  • Leonard Best
  • Matthew Lee Craig
  • Jazmin Adriana Guzman
  • Ashok Sisodia

Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering

  • Rohit Prashad Acharya
  • Ahmad T. Alsmadi
  • Harrison D. Armstrong
  • Angela Colleen Bradshaw
  • Yazmin S. Chalico
  • Eryka Dira
  • Vanessa Duran
  • Mekdes A. Girmash
  • Benjamin William Howison
  • Anna T. Mai
  • Walter J. Mulflur
  • Santosh Paudel
  • Gustavo A. Robles
  • Muhammet U. Sarilar
  • Loc Vinh Truong
  • Jarrett Kale Walden
  • Mewan Wijemanne
  • Ting Xiao

Congratulations to all these graduates!

In case you missed the ceremony, you can view the video and photos of the event online.

IMSE Celebrates Graduates and Award Winners

The IMSE Department celebrated graduates from the Summer, Fall, and Spring semesters as well as award winners with a banquet Thursday evening. The event began with a reception as Advisory Board members, faculty, staff, and honorees and their friends arrived at the banquet inside the Hospitality Suite at UT Arlington’s College Park Center. A catered meal was served after the reception as guests took their seats for dinner.

After the meal, Dr. Chen introduced IMSE alumna and co-founder of TransSolutions, LLC Gloria Bender, as the keynote speaker. She spoke about the importance of getting your degree and giving back to the community and how IEs could use their degrees to serve.

After the keynote address, Dr. Brian Huff recognized the members of the Alpha Pi Mu Industrial Engineering Honor Society. The attendees gave the members in attendance a round of applause.
The first award given in the evening was the G. T. Stevens, Jr. Endowed Alumni Scholarship which was established in 1998 to honor the IMSE Department’s former Chair. This year’s recipients were April Shortt (Junior), Ting Xiao (Senior), and Ezeh Perpetua Ebere (Graduate).

Next, Dr. Bill Corley presented the Elinor Pape Endowed Scholarship Award, which was established in 2006 to honor the Professor Emeritus’s service and dedication at UT Arlington. The award winners were Cynthia Rodriguez (Junior), Gustavo Robles (Senior), and Vikas Hinge (Graduate).

The next two scholarships were established by IMSE alumnus Keith Weiss. Keith and Carolyn Weiss were on hand to award Dylan Slick with the Keith and Carolyn Weiss Industrial Engineering Scholarship, which is given to deserving Industrial Engineering undergraduate students who are working to support their education. Slick works as a Resident Assistant at UT Arlington Apartment and Residence Life. The Weiss Family Endowed Scholarship is an award distributed by the UT Arlington Alumni Association to award a junior or senior undergraduate who have been working to support their education. This year’s recipient was Greta Leza who works at Airbus Helicopters, Inc. (formerly known as American Eurocopter).

The next award given, the John and Pat Priest Family Endowed Scholarship, is the IMSE Department’s newest endowed scholarship. It was established by current IMSE professor John Priest and his wife in 2013. This year’s winner was Colin Brisco.

The next two scholarships were awarded by the RFID and Auto ID (RAID) Labs. Dr. Erick Jones presented the awards to the winners. This year’s recipient of the RFID and Auto ID Labs Research Excellence Scholarship, which recognizes students for his/her excellence in RAID research and published work, was Harrison Armstrong. His research paper, “A Framework for Detecting Hazardous Events Occurring in Transit with AutoID Technologies” was accepted by IIE Sensors in March 2014. The RFID and Auto ID Labs Outstanding Research Scholarship recognize students conducting outstanding research in RAID Labs. This year’s recipients were Mewan Wijemanne (Undergraduate) and Ryan Dietrich (Graduate).

The Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) Outstanding Student awards recognizes outstanding scholarship, leadership, and service to the IE profession. This year’s recipients were Cynthia Rodriguez (Junior) and Rachel Machbitz (Senior). After receiving their award, they were joined by previous Outstanding IIE Award winners.

The final award presented in the evening was the Texas Industrial Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award, which was created in an alliance between the Industrial Engineering departments at Texas public universities including UT El Paso, Texas A&M, Texas Tech University, the University of Houston, and Lamar University. Awardees are alumni selected by these universities based on the impact of their career on society. Gloria Bender presented the honor to this year’s awardee, Gloria Maceiko. Maceiko founded DirectNu Energy in 2009 with a vision to develop Energy Independence for commercial entities, nationally and globally, by focusing on solar and wind project development. She serves as its CEO and manages multimillion dollar projects from concept to contracts and worked over 25 years with high tech companies in Silicon Valley. She was also at the forefront of trend setting startups.

The wonderful evening concluded with a few brief comments from our graduating seniors and a final congratulation to award winners and graduates of the past year.
Pictures of the event will be posted on our Facebook page soon!

IMSE Seeking Applications for Graduate Assistance for Areas of National Need (GAANN) Fellowships

The Department of Industrial, Manufacturing, & Systems Engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington seeks applications for Graduate Assistance for Areas of National Need (GAANN) Fellowships. The Department GAANN Fellowship Program is funded by the United States Department of Education (P200A130164). The GAANN Fellows are selected based on multiple criteria including qualification, merit, applicant’s financial need, and availability of funds. Only doctoral students who are U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents are eligible for this fellowship. New Ph.D. applicants must be unconditionally admitted to the Industrial Engineering Ph.D. Program. If selected, GAANN Fellows must participate in specific training for teaching and for professional development (e.g., scientific presentation skills development, paper writing classes, teaching workshops/courses, etc.).  These activities may occur outside the regular long semesters.

The University of Texas at Arlington is a doctoral, research-extensive university and part of the University of Texas System with approximately 34,500 students. The Department consists of a collegial faculty of 13 members and over 400 students including about 50 doctoral students (https://www.uta.edu/ie/). Current faculty research involves manufacturing, operations research, systems engineering, human factors, and numerous application areas. The Department houses the Center on Stochastic Modeling, Optimization, & Statistics (https://www.uta.edu/cosmos/), the Systems Engineering Research Center (https://www.uta.edu/engineering/serc/), the RFID and Auto Identification Lab (https://www.uta.edu/rfid/), and the Micro Fabrication Lab (https://www.uta.edu/ie/research-centers-labs.php).

The University is located in the center of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metroplex, a major industrial center with opportunity for interaction in the aerospace, manufacturing, telecommunications, electronics, logistics, transportation, energy, and health care industries, plus numerous other areas. Arlington is a thriving community with convenient access to the entertainment, recreational, and cultural activities offered by a major metropolitan area.

Application materials are available at https://www.uta.edu/ie/gaann.php. Review of applications for Fall 2014 will begin April 15 and will continue until the fellowships have been granted.

A criminal background check will be conducted on finalists.

The use of tobacco products is prohibited on UT Arlington properties.

UT Arlington is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.  Women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Comprehensive Exam for Graduating MS and PhD Students

Students in the MS or PhD program who applied to graduate for the Spring 2014 must take a Comprehensive Exam as part of their degree requirements.

The exam location will be in Woolf Hall 404 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. An Exit Interview Questionnaire will be from 4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. PhD students must consult with their dissertation supervisor for Part 2 of the PhD Exam.