Industrial Engineering at Iowa State University

The strong engineering background provided by Iowa State’s Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering (IMSE) provides an excellent foundation for successful careers. Technology leaders such as Intel, Procter & Gamble, Texas Instruments, General Electric, International Paper, HON Industries, Sprint, Rockwell Collins, Tellabs, ALCOA, Microsoft, and General Motors seek out our graduates. Each year nearly 50 men and women complete an industrial engineering degree.

Following are the five major areas of emphasis in IMSE at Iowa State

• engineering management—concerned with the
  strategies necessary for solving internal and external
  problems of a company
• manufacturing—concerned with design, analysis,
  operation, and control of manufacturing processes
  and systems
• human factors—concerned with the relationship
  between people, machines, and their work
• operations research—concerned with applications of
  mathematical and computer models to solve engineering and business problems
• enterprise computing—concerned with integration of information within the functional units of an enterprise as well as between multiple enterprises

During the first two years of study, you will acquire a basic understanding science and engineering fundamentals. You will take classes specific to industrial engineering during your sophomore, junior, and senior years. During the senior year, you will also take elective classes that will allow you to strengthen your knowledge in a specialized area. Seniors apply the knowledge that they have learned to real-world industrial problems in the senior industrial design class.

A majority of students elect to participate in the cooperative education program. The students complete the same requirements for the bachelor’s degree as other students, but also gain 12 to 16 months of work experience. Not only does the work experience afford students a better understanding of concepts learned in class, but it is also valuable when looking for post-graduation employment.


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Top-Notch Faculty
The faculty of the Department of Industrial Manufacturing and Systems Engineering work closely with students in small classes, laboratories, and special activities. The class size in the department ranges from 8 to 40 students, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 16:1. The faculty are award-winning teachers and advisors, and they stay current in their fields through research projects sponsored by companies such as Rockwell Collins, John Deere, Midwest Power, Sauer-Sundstrand, Square D, and the Big 12 Conference and government agencies like the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and Woodward State Hospital. Joint faculty appointments within the statistics and biomedical engineering disciplines broaden the expertise of the department.


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World-Class Facilities
The Henry M. Black Engineering Building, in use since 1985, provides an excellent home for the department. IMSE faculty have worked to develop and upgrade the following laboratories in that building to enable students to gain hands-on experience and applications of the concepts learned in the classroom:

• ergonomics and work analysis
• machining
• welding and metal casting
• computer-aided design and manufacturing
• materials handling
• manufacturing systems
• precision metrology and quality
• industrial design
• product realization
• operations research
• enterprise computing and information engineering

Computer facilities include networked mainframes, engineering workstations, and many personal computers.


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Endless Opportunities
Today, engineering education is comprised of more than just the traditional classroom and laboratory experiences—extracurricular activities also play an important role. IMSE students are active in a number of engineering professional and honor societies. They also participate in many of the more than 550 campus organizations open to all university students.

The IMSE department also offers

• foreign study programs in Norway, Mexico, and other countries, giving students an edge in today’s global markets

• internships and co-op programs that provide industry
experience and give students a chance to earn money
for college and living expenses; monthly salaries for
industrial engineering interns and co-op students range
from $1,950 to $2,253*

• opportunities for hands-on, real-world experiences


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Scholarships
The support of over 200 individuals and corporations maintains an engineering scholarship endowment of nearly $9 million. From these and other funds the college awards more than 900 scholarships totaling more than $1.3 million each year. The Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering awards more than $25,000 in financial aid annually. In addition, engineering students compete well for scholarships available to all Iowa State students.


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Employment Outlook
Engineering is a career path that works! More than 3 million engineers work in the U.S. today, making engineering the nation’s second-largest profession. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the job market is predicted to remain strong well into the millennium. The average starting salary for an industrial engineering graduate is just over $45,000. Additionally, starting salaries are expected to increase about six percent a year.

Iowa State engineering graduates are in great demand. Nearly all students with engineering related work experience have jobs by graduation. For example:

• 95% of co-op students are placed by graduation
• 85% of interns are placed by graduation
• 79% of graduates with summer work experience are placed by graduation

Our 5,000 alumni include the current vice president of Lennox Industries, Texas; the vice president of facilities for Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; president of Alliant Industries, Cedar Rapids; a Wall Street lawyer; and an obstetrician/gynecologist in Illinois!

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To learn more about opportunities in industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, contact:

Department of Industrial and Manufacturing
Systems Engineering
2019 Black Engineering Building
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2161
(515) 294-1682
www.imse.iastate.edu


* All statistics are based on surveys conducted in spring 1999.

Go to Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering web

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