50 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine

Inside IISE Journals

research

Working toward affordable

cell therapy for cancer treatments

Cancers are the second leading cause of death in modern

society. Recently, CAR-T cell therapy has shown innova-

tive therapeutic effectiveness in ﬁghting cancer. One of the

ﬁrst successes of CAR-T cell therapy is Emily Whitehead,

who was suffering from leukemia in 2012. Now she is more

than eight years cancer-free. Another example is former

president Jimmy Carter, who has made a full recovery from

brain cancer, again thanks to CAR-T cell therapy.

Despite its effectiveness, CAR-T cell therapy is extreme-

ly expensive and can take up to $1 million for each pa-

tient. The reason for this is twofold. First, culturing cells

and monitoring the growth are extremely labor-intensive

and require well-trained doctors. Second, each patient has

unique genetic material, leading to different growth pat-

terns and interaction patterns when using biosensors.

In their paper, “A Calibration-Free Method for Biosens-

ing in Cell Manufacturing,” Jialei Chen from the Univer-

sity of Georgia, Zhaonan Liu, Kan Wang, Chuck Zhang

and Ben Wang from Georgia Institute of Technology and

Chen Jiang from the University of Rochester demonstrate a

calibration-free learning model that leverages impedance-

based biosensor array to effectively monitor critical qual-

ity attributes during the cell manufacturing process in cell

therapy.

The key concept is to leverage readings from multiple

biosensors to “cancel out” the patient-speciﬁc noisy effects

while amplifying the critical quality attributes of interest.

In this way, the authors of this work automate the cell man-

ufacturing process with minimal human involvement, and

therefore reduce the high labor cost in CAR-T cell produc-

tion.

CONTACT: Jialei Chen; jialei.chen@uga.edu; (706) 542-5232; Depart-

ment of Statistics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602

How fast can your brand-new

automated warehouse be?

Isn’t automation amazing? Humans have been able to teach

machines how to accomplish tasks that even they them-

selves are unable to carry out. Thanks to artiﬁcial intel-

ligence and deep learning, today we have extremely fast

computers, cameras that recognize people and, very soon,

even drones and autonomous vehicles for smart urban mo-

bility.

Automation is not limited to everyday life, but in the In-

dustry 4.0 era, its peak is found in industries where anthro-

pomorphic and/or collaborative robots, automated guided

vehicles, digital twins and automated storage and retrieval

systems are standard technologies. However, these jewels

can be very expensive. Because of this, it is very important

This month we highlight two articles in IISE Transactions. The ﬁrst article explores how to make cell therapy for cancer

treatments affordable. One recent cancer treatment is CAR-T cell therapy, which is highly effective yet extremely expensive.

The reason behind the prohibitive expense of this treatment is rooted in the labor-intensive production process for cell

culturing, growth and ﬁnal selection. The authors propose a calibration-free learning model that can contribute to the

automation of the cell manufacturing process and thus reduce the high labor cost. The second article looks into an

estimation problem before making investments to automate one’s warehouse. The question: How much can one anticipate

the increase in productivity of the automated warehouse, given a few readily available key design parameters? The authors

were able to reduce the complex analysis into one single formula. When applying their formula to some warehouses in the

steel industry, they found that the simple formula can estimate with an accuracy ranging from 95% to 98%. These articles

will appear in the January 2021 issue of IISE Transactions (Volume 54, No. 1).

Jialei Chen Chuck Zhang

December 2021 | ISE Magazine 51

to know what we will get

when we buy an automated

system and what its real ca-

pabilities are.

In their paper, “Cycle

Time Calculation of Shut-

tle-Lift-Crane Automated

Storage and Retrieval Sys-

tem,” authors Francesco

Zammori, Mattia Neroni

and Davide Mezzogori from the University of Parma, Italy,

provide a single formula that might be used to estimate,

with an accuracy ranging from 95% to 98%, the produc-

tivity of an automated warehouse widely used in the steel

sector.

The warehouse’s layout and the kinematics of the in-

stalled machines are the only inputs required to estimate

performance, a fact that makes it suitable to be used during

the proposal phase, when investments or expensive simula-

tions have not been made yet. A single formula is all that is

needed to predict with accuracy the productivity of such a

complex system.

CONTACT: Mattia Neroni; mattia.neroni@unipr.it; +390521905873;

University of Parma, Italy

Measuring the link between

fatigue and workload among

workers in complex manual assembly

Mental workload and general fatigue have been studied

extensively in safety-critical environments (e.g., avia-

tion, nuclear, petrochemical), in which human perfor-

mance degradation can lead to catastrophic outcomes. In

the manufacturing sector, however, physical task demands

have received primary attention because of the presence of

biomechanical loading and the prevalence of musculoskel-

etal disorders. Yet, in complex manual assembly, such as in

aerospace manufacturing, cognitive workload and chrono-

biological aspects can also contribute to fatigue and degrade

worker performance (e.g., decrease productivity, increase

human error and quality issues).

In their paper, “Evaluation of Fatigue and Workload

Among Workers Conducting Complex Manual Assembly

in Manufacturing,” Yaniel Torres, a Ph.D. student, togeth-

er with professors Sylvie Nadeau and Kurt Landau, all at

the École de technologie supérieure in Montreal, Canada,

sought to understand which aspects of assembly tasks may

be contributing to fatigue. To do so, the authors conducted

a study of fatigue and workload among a group of assem-

bly workers over two weeks. During this period, partici-

pants evaluated their level of fatigue and the dimensions of

workload on a daily basis. In addition, several predictors

of fatigue were investigated, including workload estimates,

sleep duration, the shift worked and production levels.

An important ﬁnding was that levels of fatigue high

enough to compromise performance were reported in one-

third of the shifts evaluated. Further, a statistical analysis

indicated that fatigue scores at the beginning of the shift,

workload estimates and

working evening shifts were

signiﬁcant predictors of

high levels of fatigue.

Also of interest was that

the mental demand was

the highest dimension of

reported workload. These

results suggest that manag-

ers and supervisors should

This month we highlight two articles in Volume

9, No. 1 of the IISE Transactions on Occupational

Ergonomics and Human Factors. In the ﬁrst, a team

led by Yaniel Torres examined several potential

factors contributing to the fatigue experienced by

assembly workers, ﬁnding that mental workload

and some elements of the work schedules adversely

inﬂuenced fatigue. In the second paper, Alec Smith

and colleagues examined the occurrence of drowsy-

driving incidents among night-shift nurses and

found that a large portion of near crashes occurred

within the ﬁrst 15 minutes of commutes, and that

prior near-crashes were a strong predictor of future

incidents.

Francesco Zammori Mattia Neroni

Davide Mezzogori

Yaniel Torres Sylvie Nadeau

Kurt Landau

52 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine

consider cognitive workload as a key contributor to fatigue

in complex manual assembly. Additionally, work schedule

planning should be done considering shift duration, start

times and end times to reduce the impact on fatigue and

potential sleep disruptions among workers.

CONTACT: Yaniel Torres; yaniel.torres-medina.1@ens.etsmtl.ca or sylvie.

nadeau@etsmtl.ca; École de technologie supérieure; 1100 Notre-Dame

West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C 1K3

Study ﬁnds night-shift nurses’

near miss vehicle crashes

follow a predictable pattern

Drowsy driving contributes to nearly 100,000 crashes and

1,000 deaths each year. Night-shift nurses are particularly

susceptible to drowsy driving due to their long working

hours and disrupted sleep schedules.

In their paper “The Impact of Commutes, Work Sched-

ules and Sleep on Near-Crashes during Nurses’ Post Shift-

Work Commutes: A Naturalistic Driving Study,” graduate

student Alec Smith and professor Anthony McDonald of

Texas A&M University and Farzan Sasangohar of Texas

A&M and Houston Methodist Research Institute, con-

ducted a naturalistic driving study with night-shift nurses

to better understand how shift, sleep and driving conditions

contribute to drowsy driving incidents. Nurses placed a da-

ta-logging device in their vehicle that captured kinematics

and GPS data, and they completed daily surveys about their

shift duration and sleep quality and quantity. While crashes

are the best indicator of roadway safety, they rarely occur;

instead, near-crashes (i.e., swerves, hard brakes) were used

as a surrogate dependent measure for crashes. The driving

and survey data were analyzed using regression and fre-

quency analysis.

Their analysis showed that that the largest contributing

factor to a drowsy driving incident was a prior near crash

on the same drive. Furthermore, a large proportion of near-

crashes occurred within the ﬁrst 15 minutes of the drive,

and the majority of near-crashes occurred within 30 min-

utes. Most near-crashes occurred on highways and feeders

to highways, with relatively few occurring on commercial

and residential roads.

These ﬁndings highlight

the danger of post-night-

shift commuting and illus-

trate a need for new inter-

ventions to limit the crash

risk. In particular, interven-

tions should be explored that

can be placed in the vehicle

(e.g., in-vehicle monitoring

systems) or before the nurse

commutes.

CONTACT: Anthony McDonald; mcdonald@tamu.edu; Department of

Industrial and Systems Engineering, Texas A&M University

Yu Ding is the Mike and Sugar Barnes Professor of Industrial

and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University and associate

director for Research Engagement at the Texas A&M Institute of

Data Science. He is editor-in-chief of IISE Transactions and a

fellow of IISE.

Maury Nussbaum is the HG Prillaman professor at Virginia Tech

in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, editor-

in-chief of the IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonom-

ics and Human Factors, and a fellow of IISE.

research

IISE Transactions (link.iise.org/iisetransactions) is IISE’s ﬂagship

research journal and is published monthly. It aims to foster exchange

among researchers and practitioners in the industrial engineering

community by publishing papers that are grounded in science and

mathematics and motivated by engineering applications.

IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors

(link.iise.org/iisetransactions_ergonomics) is devoted to compiling

and disseminating knowledge on occupational ergonomics and

human factors theory, technology, application and practice across

diverse areas. You can follow on Twitter at twitter.com/iisetoehf or

@iisetoehf.

To subscribe, call (800) 494-0460.

Call for special issue submissions

Author submissions are being sought for an upcoming special

issue of IISE Transactions, “Modeling and optimization of supply

chainresilience to pandemics and long-term crises.” The issue

aims to attract novel research dealing with supply chain resilience

modeling and optimization in context of long-term crises motivated

by the COVID-19 pandemic. The submission deadline is Feb. 28. For

more, visit think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/supply-chain-

resilience-pandemics.

About the journal

Farzan SasangoharAlec Smith Anthony McDonald

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Pitt, UPRM students adapt remotely

2020, a long a year of disruptions

A model for operational excellence

Case Study: Improving university

cleaning processes

INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AT WORK

What’s Your Story?

ISE educator

Harriet B. Nembhard

Lessons

from the

pandemic

ISE students overcome

COVID-19 limitations

JANUARY 2021 | Volume 53 | Number 1 | $23

Supply chains to ease human

nutrition, healthcare needs

Why AI sparks the need

for general know-how

Forgotten hypothesis theory

gets a fresh look

Case Study: Hospital tiered

huddles tackle issues

Can water

ﬁll power

gaps?

Hydroelectricity

may support clean

energy grid

JULY 2021 | Volume 53 | Number 7 | $23

What’s Your Story?

Apple CEO Tim Cook

INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AT WORK

JULY 2021 | Volume 53 | Number 7 | $23

JUNE 2021 | Volume 53 | Number 6 | $23

Building social capital

into your company culture

Celebrating women in engineering

Choosing the right AI

for your business

Highlighting IISE’s

Honors & Awards winners

Following the

DMAIC path

to success

What’s Your Story?

West Point systems

engineering instructor

Isabella T. Sanders

Six Sigma principles

improve production

Following the

DMAIC path

to success

Lean and Six Sigma aid

smart meter installation

Phantom assembly tool

cuts costs, boosts efficiency

Kitting plan helps jet maker

fit out planes more efficiently

Ergonomists lead innovative

efforts to advocate safety

What’s Your Story?

The Ergonomics Center

Executive Director Julia Abate

MARCH 2021 | Volume 53 | Number 3 | $23

ISEs as

unsung

HEROES

Solutions

for shifting

workplaces