Dr. Jaime Cantu is joining the IMSE team

We’re very excited to announce that Dr. Jaime Cantu will be joining us this fall semester. Dr. Cantu earned his doctorate and Master of Systems Engineering from Texas Tech University. His research focuses on comprehensive systems modeling which he applies to cotton futures, the cyclicality of cotton pricing, and most recently to healthcare organizations. He is completing a postdoctoral research project with B&W Pantex and Texas Tech University as a result of a Department of Energy grant.

Dr.Jaime

Summer Quality Improvement and Patient Care Boot Camp

This summer the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) partnered with the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center to offer a summer Quality Improvement and Patient Care Boot Camp. In included 55 UTA engineering and nursing students along with UTSW medical students. The course was a 40-hour intensive training session on Quality Improvement tools followed by e-week live projects at UTSW Medical Center and Parkland Hospital. The projects were lead by the medical faculty and researchers from multiple departments and are part of a long term effort to improve the cost-effectiveness of medical services in the DFW area.

 

UTsouthwestern

 

Father’s Day Tribute to Ph.D. Student

In honor of Father’s Day, our department would like to honor Sam Okate, who is a father pursuing his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at UT Arlington.

Sam Okate with son
Sam Okate with son //Photo Provided

“I have lived in Arlington my whole life, so my choice for graduate school was not hard.  When I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, I knew I wanted to pursue a Master’s degree in Engineering at University of Texas at Arlington.

At this same time of starting my Master’s degree, my son was born into the world.  Once I completed my Master’s degree, I was apprehensive to move forward with the doctoral degree for the sake of spending time with my new bundle of joy because I knew the responsibility of juggling work, school, and my son would be great.

After consulting with the UTA IMSE faculty, they made me feel really comfortable and gave me priceless advice that enabled me to make the decision to continue on with my educational pursuits.

Sam Okate with son championship
Sam Okate with son // Photo provided

I am very thankful that I am able to follow my goals and dreams, and that UTA gave me the avenue to do so.”

–Written by Sam Okate, Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering Candidate

New Ph.D Graduate Will Return Home and Find Solutions

A few years ago, Na Wang found problems in her career as a mechanical engineer in China. Now, Dr. Na Wang finds solutions through Industrial Engineering.

Na Wang earned her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the IMSE Department in the Spring 2015.
Na Wang earned her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the IMSE Department in the Spring 2015. //Photo provided

I am from the middle part of China. I received my Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power. I received my Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Science and Technology in Beijing. After graduation, I worked as a mechanical design engineer and was responsible for designing various types of equipment for a cold rolling production line.

Gradually, I felt there were some inefficiencies in the production line. However, I didn’t realize the root cause behind the inefficient phenomena at that time.

With my preliminary research, I found that studying Industrial Engineering would improve the inefficiencies.

Thus, I started my Ph.D study at UT Arlington’s IMSE department. After over four years of studying optimization under the supervision of Dr. Jay Rosenberger, I have learned the knowledge to make improvements in different applications. I have applied the knowledge in air traffic flow and pain management problems.

I will definitely miss the lovely environment in the IMSE department, and I will keep these precious memories forever.

My research interest is in statistical analysis, building prediction models, and optimization of MILP and MINLP models. I really enjoyed studying in the COSMOS Lab in the Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Department. My advisor, Dr. Jay Rosenberger, taught me so much. He is so knowledgeable and creative. In the past four years, his outstanding guidance made me feel that I was on a pleasant journey. I also learned a lot from Dr. Chen, Dr. Zeng, Dr. Corley, and Dr. Wang.

Other staff members in the IMSE department, like Julie, Kim and Richard always offered their help when I needed it. After finishing my Ph.D degree, I am planning to move back to China to be with my family.

Written by Na Wang

Na Wang graduated from the Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Arlington in May 2015 with a Ph.D in Industrial Engineering.

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

Featured Alumni: Piyush Kumar, Ph.D.

I came to UT Arlington to pursue my master’s in August 2007 in Industrial Engineering. I was a life-long student having never worked in the industry, so it was not a very big jump to go from B.Tech to a master’s and then on to a Ph.D. which I completed in December 2013. The operations research courses attracted me the most in my master’s, especially the ones taught by Dr. Corley, Dr. Rosenberger, and Dr. Chen. Even though I made some B’s, I had a lot of fun learning some amazing mathematics and statistics.

As a part of my master’s, I undertook research projects under Dr. Jay Rosenberger which gave me my first exposure to Ph.D. level research. The projects were done by previous students in the Center On Stochastic Modeling, Optimization, & Statistics (COSMOS) . My first impression of joining the COSMOS lab was when I peeked through the door and found that Spock from Star Trek was looking straight at me, disapprovingly. I started smiling when I realized it was only a life-sized replica. I was relieved to see that even though I was jumping into some serious research, there was still an element of humor to lighten the somber mood of the lab. Even though, quite frustratingly, when my own lack of knowledge and ignorance was brought into sharp focus, I looked at those times as a great learning opportunity. I worked on a nurse optimization project which was entering the testing stage at HEB hospital. After my master’s, I joined the Ph.D. program as a natural extension to my research work. Around that time, Dr. Anjomani came to Dr. Rosenberger for optimization of urban planning. The problem was to choose which would be the best land use to assign any given land piece. Each land piece would be given a certain rating regarding various land uses, e.g., high residential, low industrial, open areas, etc. It was a simple assignment optimization problem. We tried to use the methodology that was used for nurse optimization for urban planning optimization, but we hit a block which did not allow us to make any progress due to symmetry issues.

Given that we recognized we would not be able to make progress in the research in the direction we were headed, we decided to switch directions. I extended the simple land use optimization problems with more constraints by taking into account urban sprawl. After literature review, I recognized that urban sprawl had a lot of research towards solving it but there were not many comprehensive optimization models. So, the next step was to construct a mathematical model which would address all the various factors contributing towards urban sprawl. After the model was constructed, it was so large that CPLEX, an optimization software, would not even accept the model. It allowed us to experiment with Benders Decomposition method to reduce the model size and allow us to solve the model.

I also worked as a teaching assistant for the IMSE Department when I joined the master’s program. I sincerely enjoyed my time at UT Arlington since it gave me an opportunity to try a variety of things, e.g., salsa, yoga, aikido, etc.

I am currently working as a software engineer for E2open as their optimization specialist.

Written by Piyush Kumar, Ph.D. Industrial Engineering
IMSE Alumni 2013

Featured Student: Misagh Faezipour, PhD Student

I am a Ph.D. candidate with a focus on Systems Engineering. I had always wanted to continue my education in the United States like my parents. The intellectually stimulating environment at UTA inspired me to think about continuing my studies in the field of Industrial Engineering, after gaining an undergraduate degree in Software Engineering. I received my M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from UTA and then decided to pursue a Ph.D. in the same field.

I have worked as a graduate research assistant on multiple projects at the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC). I am currently a graduate teaching assistant in the IMSE department. As a result, I have had the valuable opportunity to work with professors and aid students with their basic course work.

My dissertation research is related to addressing water sustainability in hospitals. Water is a valuable and limited resource and access to clean water is stated as one of the grand challenges in engineering according to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Hospitals are a major consumer of water. According to the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA), health care institutions are consistently within the top 10 water users in their communities. Therefore, considering water sustainability in hospitals is important. Hospitals are large complex systems that consist of various elements and relationships between these elements. Systems engineering guides the engineering of complex systems and can be used to help address the multi-faceted and complex sustainability challenges. An objective of my research is to help hospitals better comprehend the effects and relationships between various factors related to water sustainability in hospitals. The research includes development of a system dynamics based simulator that will help individuals assess the key water sustainability factors and their relationships in hospitals.

I have truly enjoyed my experience here as a Ph.D. student and am honored and proud to be part of an outstanding program at UTA. I am planning to defend my dissertation this year.

Written by Misagh Faezipour, PhD Student with a Focus on Systems Engineering
Email: misagh.faezipour@mavs.uta.edu
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/misafaezipour/57/a88/881

Dr. Rogers Seeking Input for NSF Workshop

Hi everyone,

I am writing to share good news and request input for my upcoming NSF Workshop 3/16-3/21/2014.

Background:

The Directorate for Education and Human Resources has implemented a new program for “Improving Undergraduate STEM Education” (IUSE) through its Division of Undergraduate Education (EHR/DUE). An “Ideas Lab” is a new merit review strategy being used at the National Science Foundation to address grand challenges in STEM research and education. The Ideas Lab process is modeled on the “IDEAS Factory” program [2] http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/routes/network/ideas/Pages/experience.aspx developed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the United Kingdom.  The Ideas Lab process starts with submission of a brief application to participate in the Ideas Lab, indicating a Principal Investigator’s interest in and preliminary ideas regarding the specific Ideas Lab topic.  A diverse sub-set of participants from a range of disciplines and backgrounds will be selected from the submitted applications by NSF and will be brought together in an intensive, interactive and free-thinking environment, where participants immerse themselves in a collaborative dialog in order to construct bold and innovative approaches.

I have been selected to participate in the workshop below and would like your input. Please provide your answer to 1) Why did you choose engineering? 2) How can we get more folks (as described below) to choose engineering? What new strategies could be used????

Engineering

Social inequality in engineering education and practice is a durable problem, one that has resisted perennial efforts to “broaden participation,” “increase diversity,” or “improve recruitment and retention of women, minorities, and people with disabilities.” While a great deal of previous and ongoing work has focused on fostering the ability of individuals to access and persist in the engineering education system, this Ideas Lab will focus on changing the system itself.

Ending inequality in engineering is crucial because it represents a direct and effective way to meet workforce needs; because members of marginalized groups should not be on the sidelines in shaping our infrastructure and technological future; because workforce diversity strengthens work product; and because increased participation in high paying, prestigious workforce sectors like engineering is itself a strategy for achieving greater equity.

Many prior efforts for inclusion have been hampered by a presumption that certain parameters can’t be changed (for example, eligibility criteria, narrow definitions of what counts in or as engineering, limited roles for 2-year institutions, or a four year degree model). This ends in disappointment and frustration when change is not achieved. A radical rethinking is needed to move forward.

In the Engineering Phase I Ideas Lab, engineers and social scientists will face head on the systems and structures that reproduce social inequality in engineering education and in the engineering workforce. A complete and direct discussion is not afraid to examine manifestations of racism, sexism, and ableism in engineering, and to also consider classism, heteronormativity, ageism, and obstacles faced by Veterans and other non-traditional groups. The Engineering Phase I Ideas Lab will generate new framings and new strategies to move the nation toward greater inclusion of marginalized groups in engineering.

Thanks everyone!

Go Mavs!!!

Written by
Dr. Jamie Rogers, IMSE Faculty

Featured Alumni: Dr. Kaushik Gorahava

Some of you may remember Kaushik Gorahava from his time at UT Arlington as a student and a teaching assistant. Below is his reflection on his research and experience at UT Arlington:

I completed my Ph.D. from the Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering department at The University of Texas at Arlington in summer 2013. After having worked as an Industrial Engineer in India’s manufacturing industry for more than three years, I came to the USA in August 2007 to pursue further studies. I completed my M.S. in Industrial Engineering degree in 2009 and took many advanced Statistics, Optimization, and Mathematical Modeling courses in the Industrial Engineering and Mathematics department, respectively.

As a project in the Stochastic Processes course, I reviewed and analyzed a Stochastic Model for using Ring Vaccination for smallpox control. The project was well received in the class and motivated me to pursue further research at the interface of Systems Science and Epidemiology. Under the guidance of my mentors, I developed my broad research area, optimization in neglected public health issues, for my Ph.D. dissertation. In fall 2009, I started my Ph.D. in the Center On Stochastic, Modeling, Optimization, and Statistics (COSMOS) laboratory, under the guidance of Dr. Jay Rosenberger, an expert in Optimization. I was also mentored by my dissertation co-adviser, Dr. Anuj Mubayi, an applied mathematical scientist working at the intersection of epidemiology and social networks.

Being from India, a developing country, I had observed first-hand the suffering caused by disease and poverty. I noticed an urgent need for improvement in public health policies, especially the basic ones. I chose to work on improving one of the basic control measures for a neglected infectious disease, Leishmaniasis, which mostly affects poverty stricken communities and is the second deadliest vector-borne disease in the world. Leishmaniasis spreads to humans by the bite of an infected sandfly. Bihar’s Public Health Department has limited financial resources and can spray insecticide at a limited number of sites. My research aimed to address questions on optimal insecticide allocation for conducting a spray campaign. My dissertation research involved building and analyzing optimization models. The mathematical models were built by considering factors affecting disease transmission and metrics to help the Public Health Department make better decisions. The results of my dissertation study recommended an improved and long-lasting insecticide spray campaign policy for Bihar’s Public Health Department.

I also enjoyed training and teaching individuals, a set of skills which I acquired through my experience as a Teaching Assistant at the Industrial Engineering department during my doctoral studies. During my graduate studies, I mentored some undergraduate and master’s students. I am an independent researcher now and aim to work at the interface of System Dynamics Engineering and Medical Sciences.

Written by Dr. Kaushik Gorahava
IMSE Alumni


Dr. Gorahava graduated in 2013 with a  PhD in Industrial Engineering and currently works as a Systems Analyst for Horizon Technologies Inc.

Get Involved in 2014

Another year and another semester are upon us.  I made a New Year’s Resolution to drink more water.  In order to drink more water I need to drink less Diet Coke.  It’s day 9 of no Diet Coke and I haven’t died of dehydration, so I think that means I’m doing pretty well so far.   I’d like to challenge all of our UTA Industrial Engineering undergraduate students to make a New Semester’s Resolution.  Let’s call it “Get Involved in 2014!”

There are so many great opportunities for students to get involved in the department, at UTA, in the community and as industrial engineers.  Our student chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers is very active.  They have monthly meetings, plant tours, social outings, a student lounge in Woolf Hall, intermural teams, a newsletter, and a Facebook page just off the top of my head.  If you haven’t been active with IIE in the past, that’s an easy, fun, rewarding way to “Get Involved in 2014”.

If you want to challenge yourself even more think about taking advantage of one of the many extra opportunities that are available to IE undergraduate students.  One example is the Values and Ventures competition being sponsored by TCU and open to undergraduate student teams from UTA.  The competition involves building a business plan for “for-profit enterprises that impact society in meaningful ways.”  I know a lot of you are interested in entrepreneurship and this would be a great way to gain some experience in that arena.  You can find more information about the competition at the following website:

http://www.neeley.tcu.edu/Centers/Neeley_Entrepreneurship_Center/Values_and_Ventures/Participant_Guide.aspx

Texas A&M University is accepting applications for its 2014 Summer Undergraduate Research Program.  As part of the program, undergraduate students work closely with faculty members on current or individual research projects, attend development and GRE workshops, make a formal poster presentation of their research experience, and submit a final written report describing the results of their research.   A $5,000 scholarship, tuition and fees, housing and travel expenses are provided.  This is opportunity would be especially valuable for any student considering graduate school.  You can find eligibility requirements and details can be found here:  http://easa.tamu.edu/usrg.

There are also several opportunities to get involved with service learning in the IMSE department this coming semester.  I have an immediate opportunity to work with Mission Arlington on improving operations in their healthcare clinic.  I also have a very exciting upcoming project involving developing a healthcare app for older adults.  These opportunities would allow you to put your IE skills to use in some service environments as well as allow you to serve your community.

These are just a few opportunities. There are many, many more announced every week.  These types of activities allow you to improve your resume, network with professionals from around the world, gain valuable experience, and give back to the community.  All while improving your IE skills.  If you have any questions about any of the specific activities I’ve mentioned or want to learn how to make yourself aware of other opportunities feel free to contact me.  UTA IE undergrads, I challenge you to “Get Involved in 2014.”  If I can give up Diet Coke you can do anything!

Written by
Dr. Bonnie Boardman
IMSE Faculty