Profiles of industrial and systems Engineers

Aisha Chiguichon, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

Employed in the nuclear fuel handling division of General Electric of Canada, Chiguichon works with GE employees to find waste in terms of paperwork, unnecessary keyboard keystrokes, or extra traveling time. She reviews manual processes to see if making them electronic or automated would be beneficial. She uses process mapping and future-state mapping to seek out efficiencies.

Mary Grace Crissey, Marketing Manager

Mary Grace Crissey works for a software company that sells tools for industrial engineers and operations researchers. Serving as the marketing manager allows Crissey to combine her knowledge of technical statistics, math, business, and communications. "As an IE, you're calling the show," she says. "There are so many different things you can do with your degree, you just have to be open to trying new things."

Olivier A. Girod, Managing Director, Plant Operations of the U.S. Government Printing Office

Olivier Girod oversees plant operations for the printing facility that serves the federal government with publication of materials such as the Congressional Record, bills, reports to the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. passport. Making sure deadlines are met and maintenance is fulfilled are essential aspects of his work. "It's the sheer diversity and the amount of information we handle on a daily basis that makes it so interesting," he says.

Tim McGlothlin, Ergonomics Executive

Tim McGlothlin, executive director of the Ergonomics Center of North Carolina, is responsible for promoting the organization as well as conducting ergonomics training sessions and assessments. "I sometimes tell people that I'm one of the few people that get paid to watch other people work," he says.

Shahab Saeed, Energy Executive

The vice president and chief operating officer of both Questar Energy Services and Questar InfoComm, Shahab Saeed oversees services for customers in the oil and gas sector. He describes his work as falling into five categories: providing superior customer service, offering outstanding returns to shareholders, developing employees, team building, and devising strategic plans to grow the business.

Tammy Troilo-Krings, Travel Entrepreneur

Tammy Troilo-Krings reigns over two travel businesses, including Travel Solutions, the seventh largest corporate travel management company in the United States. She started the company after seeing a need in the market: "What we found was that there weren't a lot of agencies that embraced continuous improvement -- your conventional IE way of looking at productivity, efficiency, and quality."