The Institute

Keeping pace with IIE in the January 2016 issue of Industrial Engineer

VOLUNTEER SNAPSHOT: Welcome to Miami

Emily Forcke boosts IIE, Young Professionals and gets a new job opportunity in the process
Volunteering for IIE helped Emily Forcke earn a new job and a circle of friends wherever she sets foot.  

A few years ago, Forcke, now a project manager in the project management office at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, was a new graduate who had just moved 1,000 miles away from home. She had been an IIE member since her junior year in college, but a colleague nominated her for a position with the YPs. The desire to know more about her profession and industry led her to accept.

"But what really kept me involved was really some of the people that we worked with and the way that we were able to impact the lives of other people," Forcke said. "That's one of the biggest drivers as to why I continue to volunteer even now."

The IIE Annual Conference and Expo, this year scheduled for May 21-24 at Disneyland Resort Hotel in Anaheim, California, is a great example. The gathering gives Young Professionals the chance to reach out to students, provide tools and make sure they're ready to enter the professional world. Young Professionals can teach students how to meet people in new places and tackle particular projects.

"It gives us a great opportunity to have a direct impact on the folks that we work with – and even those that we normally wouldn't work with."

Forcke, like many upon entering the workforce, wasn't convinced as to how important networking is. But IIE directly led to her gig at Mount Sinai, as a member recognized her skills through her volunteer work and thought her performance would fit well with what the organization needed.

"So now I live in Miami!"

Forcke said Young Professionals has grown a lot in the past few years. Last year's Annual Conference included an interactive section to help the board learn what resources the membership base needed, and YP officials have been focusing on pinpointing the needs and developing programs for the different groups of people they serve.

And volunteering simply is a great way to meet people and grow a circle of friends, she said. If she takes a new job and moves to a new place (like, say, Miami), Forcke has a readymade group of people to call on.

"I immediately have a group of folks that I can associate with," Forcke said. "I immediately have the ability to say, 'OK, we have something in common. Let's go talk.' And it doesn't necessarily have to mean talking about work or talking about IIE stuff. But it does give you a starting place with a new group of people almost anywhere you go because we [industrial engineers] are everywhere."

CHAPTER CHECK-IN: Suds flow in brewery tour

Bay Area/Silicon Valley visits Gordon Biersch 

The Gordon Biersch brewery in San Jose, California, proved to be one of the most popular tours ever held by the IIE Bay Area/Silicon Valley Senior Chapter.

The Oct. 21 tour started in the control room with the brewmaster opening a bottle of beer for each attendee. The brewery formerly operated in conjunction with Gordon Biersch restaurants, but Gordon Biersch's products proved popular, and the brewery grew too large to supply a brew pub, according to regulations. So the brewery has operated independently for more than a decade.

On the shop floor, the brewmaster showed the attendees how the brewery is able to run the whole operation with only two employees per shift. And as they walked by the holding tanks, the brewmaster poured each participant another beer directly from the holding tanks.

And, of course, the informative tour ended with a six pack of beer for every attendee.

Discounts galore for Annual Conference

Offerings include flights, rental cars and early registration
Attendees can save up to $170 via early-bird registration for the 2016 IIE Annual Conference and Expo.

Early-bird registration to the world's premier gathering of industrial and systems engineers ends April 8. IIE also offers airline and rental car discounts through Delta and Hertz. To get instructions for securing your discounts, click on the Hotel/ Travel tab at www.iienet.org/annual.

The conference is scheduled from May 21-24 at the Disneyland Resort Hotel in Anaheim, California. Two airports serve the Anaheim region. One is the venerable Los Angeles International Airport, which is about an hour's drive from Anaheim. About a half-hour closer, and perhaps more appealing to fans of American Western movies, is John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California.

The conference committee has been working hard on improvements. Some of the ones planned for this year include better search functionality in the conference app to help you find topics and sessions that apply to your work. In addition, program timing will be standardized and shortened to keep the sessions engaging and dynamic.

Get fully loaded before you start

AEC 2016 offers full lineup of pre-conference workshops
This year's Applied Ergonomics Conference offers a plethora of opportunities for attendees to get in-depth training from experienced practitioners even before the bell rings to start the gathering.  

The conference, scheduled for March 21-24 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida, has a lineup of nine pre-conference workshops – four in the morning, four in the afternoon and one lasting all day on March 21. They are open to all registered conference attendees and require a separate fee.

The full-day workshop, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., will be conducted by Sheree Gibson of Ergonomics Applications. Ergonomics Certification Review: Determining What You Do and Do Not Know will teach participants the difference between certification and a certificate, the BCPE (Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics) certification process and the core competencies on which the exam is based.

The morning sessions, scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon, are:

• "Ergonomic Principles and Trends for the Office Environment" presented by Teresa Bellingar, Haworth, and Sheryl Ulin, University of Michigan
• "How Do I Choose the Correct Ergo Assessment Tool(s)?" presented by Jim Potvin, McMaster University
• "Applied Anthropometry for Practitioners" presented by Thomas Albin, High Plains Engineering Services LLC
• "Ergonomics Programs: Strive for the Possible, Implement the Practical, Continuously Improve" presented by Nancy Larson, Nancy LJ Larson Consulting LLC, and Peter Budnick, Ergoweb Inc.

The afternoon sessions, scheduled from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., are:

• "Cost Justification for Ergonomics" presented by Ben Zavitz, Bath Iron Works/General Dynamics
• "The Bad Ergonomics of Order Fulfillment in Distribution Centers" presented by Jim Galante, Southworth Products Corp.
• "May the FORCE Be with You: Improving Your Methods to Quantifying Forces in the Workplace" presented by Joel Cort, University of Windsor
• "Leadership in Ergonomics: Overcoming the Hurdles of an Ergonomics Program" presented by Davana Pilczuk, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.

For more information and to register, visit www.appliedergoconference.org.

Potential partners

Peter Kuhlang (center), head of the German MTM Institute and Academy, visited IIE headquarters in November to explore opportunities for cooperation between IIE and his organization. Pictured with Kuhlang is Larry Aft (left), IIE's director of continuing education and corporate training, and IIE CEO Don Greene.

Delivering medical improvements

Healthcare conference speaker, pre-conference workshops cover hot topics
The future design of healthcare delivery systems will take center stage at the Healthcare Systems Process Improvement Conference 2016.  

Dr. Denis A. Cortese, a professor and director of Arizona State University's Health Care Delivery and Policy Program, will make that future the focus of his presentation at the conference, scheduled for Feb. 17-19 at the Hilton Americas-Houston in Houston. In addition, a number of pre-conference workshops give participants a chance to learn about identifying waste in healthcare, becoming an effective change leader, using lean huddle boards and adding creativity to their leadership style.

Cortese, also president of the nonprofit Healthcare Transformation Institute and emeritus president and CEO of Mayo Clinic, will speak from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Feb. 18.

Cortese said he thinks the most pervasive issue in health systems management is the lack of a high value learning system for healthcare delivery. His keynote presentation will focus on what the future of healthcare delivery in the United States can look like.

Hopefully, Cortese said, attendees will take away ideas for the role they can play in a delivery system that relentlessly focuses on better patient outcomes and services, safer care and lower costs.

The pre-conference workshops will be held Feb. 17. The workshops scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon are:

• "Activity Doesn't Mean Achievement - Identifying Waste in Healthcare" presented by Todd Sperl of Lean Fox Solutions
• "Be a More Effective Change Leader! Mastering Your EQ while Improving Your Ability to Manage Workplace Stress" presented by Jean Ann Larson of Jean Ann Larson & Associates

The workshops scheduled from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. are:

• "Intensive Lean Huddle Board Workshop: Developing Local A3 Thinking Teams to Set Yourselves up for Success" presented by Brock Husby of KBPI and the University of Michigan; and Jerry Berlanga of KBPI
• "Creativity-Based Leadership in Healthcare" presented by Min Basadur of Basadur Applied Creativity

Read more about what Cortese plans to share in his presentation at www. shsconference.org/Cortese. For more information about the conference, visit www. shsconference.org. To learn more about the pre-conference workshops, click on the "Program" tab on the conference website and scroll down to "Pre-Conference Workshops."

University regional conferences on tap

Students can network, compete and earn chance to present at Disneyland
The 2016 university regional conferences that begin this month in Canada give industrial engineering students a chance to kick-start their careers.

The conferences offer students worldwide the opportunity to absorb IE research and presentations. They can start building a network of future IE colleagues while still in school, learn leadership, and help strengthen ties between universities, regions and IIE. Speakers from various industries and facility tours can spark ideas for future projects and employment.

Students can demonstrate their research ability in a technical paper competition driven by undergraduate and industry-based projects. Regional competition winners can advance to present papers at the IIE Annual Conference and Expo, scheduled for May 21-24 in Anaheim, California.

The following list includes the dates, locations and contacts for each of the currently scheduled university conferences.

Canada – Jan. 21-24

University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
CONTACTS: Diana Dickson, diana@waterlooiie2016.ca; and Fatih Erenay, ferenay@uwaterloo.ca 

Southeast – Feb. 11-14

University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
CONTACTS: Jessica Johnson, jjohnson5@mail.usf.edu; and Manuel Gomez, magomez@mail.usf.edu; Alex Savachkin, savachkin@gmail.com 

Great Lakes – Feb. 19-21

Wayne State University, Detroit
CONTACTS: Joe Isho, joseph.isho@wayne.edu; and Gail Evans, gevans@eng.wayne.edu 

North Central – Feb. 25-27

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
CONTACTS: Nachiketa (Nachi) Pai, nachpai@gmail.com; and Doug King, dmking@illinois.edu 

South Central – Feb. 25-27

Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
CONTACTS: Drew Ewing, drewing@ksu.edu; Hannah Frith, hlfrith@ksu.edu; and Margaret Rys, malrys@ksu.edu 

Mid-Atlantic – Feb. 26-28

North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina
CONTACTS: Brooke Brown Lewis, Babrownl@aggies.ncat.edu; Andrea Ibeanusi, aibeanus@aggies.ncat.edu; and Paul Stanfield, stanfiel@ncat.edu 

Western – March 3-5

Colorado State University, Pueblo, Colorado
CONTACTS: Mariana Hosomi, mm.hosomi@colostate-pueblo.edu; Amber Torrez, ar.torrez@colostate-pueblo.edu; and Leonardo Bedoya-Valencia, l.bedoyavalencia@csupueblo.edu 

Central & South America – March 17-19

Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Guayaquil, Ecuador
CONTACTS: Daniela Pincay Villamar, iie@espol.edu.ec or danielapincay@hotmail.es; and Andres Abad, agabad@espol.edu.ec 

Northeast – March 18-20

Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey
CONTACTS: Natalia Soler, natalia.soler13@gmail.com; and Jim Luxhoj, jluxhoj@rci.rutgers.edu 

Mexico – March 18-23

Instituto Politécnico Nacional (UPIICSA), Mexico City
CONTACTS: Omar Sosa Gomaz, omar_josue39@hotmail.com; Miguel Castillo Vargas, macv.1423@gmail.com; and Juan Hurtado Moreno, hurtadoupiicsa@yahoo.com 

Exploring Europe

IIE and AIM sign memorandum, look for ways to collaborate
IIE has continued its advance into the international arena with a memorandum of cooperation with AIM, the European Academy for Industrial Management.

Signed in November, the agreement calls for the organizations to form a joint steering committee to coordinate planning and execution of future collaborations; explore organizing a joint industrial engineering/industrial management conference in Europe; and consider forming a global organization for industrial engineering and industrial management societies.

The agreement between the two professional associations also calls for them to examine how IIE can share its training materials with AIM in Europe; jointly support ESTIEM, the European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management; explore publications (including book projects); and promote international research and practice.

A new organization

IIE joins federation of engineering educators
IIE is now a member of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES), which works to establish effective engineering education processes of high quality around the world to assure a global supply of well-prepared engineering graduates.

This new organization membership allows IIE to further its mission, which is to provide knowledge, training, networking opportunities and recognition to enhance the skills and effectiveness of the industrial and systems engineering profession and people involved with improving quality and productivity, and vision, which is to be the premier organization that advances, promotes and unites the industrial and systems engineering profession worldwide.

You can learn more about IFEES at its website, www.ifees.net.

KUDOS

Celebrating member achievements 

	Kevin Taaffe has received the Harriet and Jerry Dempsey Clemson University/Greenville Health System Industrial Engineering Professorship Award. Taaffe is an associate professor in Clemson's Department of Industrial Engineering.
	Emily Forcke is now a project manager in the project management office at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. The president of IIE's Young Professionals group formerly was a senior management engineer for Universal Health Services Inc.
	Lt. Col. Geert Letens is now president at the American Society for Engineering Management. Letens, a former president of IIE's Society for Engineering and Management Systems, also is a military materials engineer in the Royal Military Academy, Belgium, and a research fellow at Vlerick Business School.
	University of Southern California industrial engineering professor Behrokh Khoshnevis has been inducted into the EU Academy of Sciences. Khoshnevis is also a fellow of IIE, the National Academy of Inventors and the Society for Computer Simulation.

SHARE YOUR ACHIEVEMENT
Let your peers know about hirings, promotions, awards, appointments and other notable accomplishments. Send Kudos items to Michael Hughes at mhughes@iienet.org.