10 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine
As NASA and its partner space
agencies return to the moon in the
Artemis mission, a key challenge
in setting up long-term bases on
the lunar surface is how to produce
the material needed. Hauling large
quantities of building resources a
quarter-million miles is logistically
dicult and cost prohibitive.
The answer: 3D printing
technology. The plan is for Artemis
crews to create what they need from
lunar material, known as regolith,
and build structures on-site.
ICON, a construction rm based
in Austin, Texas, has contracted
with NASA to create the technology
needed for landing pads, habitats and even roads on
the moon. The in situ system known as Project Olympus,
based at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Alabama, would send a 3D printer to the moon
to make concrete from rock, sand and mineral fragments
on the lunar surface, then build structures layer by layer.
“When we talk about a sustainable human presence,
to me that means that you have a lunar settlement
and you have people living and working on the moon
continuously,” said Raymond Clinton Jr., deputy director
of the science and technology oce at Marshall Space
Flight Center, in an Oct. 1, 2023, New York Times article.
“What that could be is only up to the imagination of
entrepreneurs.”
ICON is partnering with architects at the Bjarke Ingels
Group and SEArch+ (Space Exploration Architecture)
to draw up concepts and designs. While creating such
materials on earth is within the technology, doing so in the
void of space presents dierent challenges.
“Chemistry is the same up there, but physics are
dierent,” Patrick Suermann, interim dean of the School of
Architecture at Texas A&M University, a NASA partner, told
the Times.
The benets include saving the enormous weight of
sending materials to the moon; each additional kilogram
on a rocket costs some $1 million to transport.
“And there’s no Home Depot up there. So you either
have to know how to use what’s up there, or send
everything you need,” Suermann said.
The companies have created more than a dozen testing
chambers at the Huntsville site to test the equipment in
simulated harsh environments. ICON plans to test its main
printer in February in such a chamber. One requirement
is heat resistance; concrete used for a rocket pad, for
instance, must withstand high temperatures while also
functioning in the moon’s extreme cold, high radiation and
low gravity.
“If you can survive our chambers, then you’re very
likely to survive space,” said Victor Pritchett, director of
experimental uids and environmental test branch for
Marshall.
NASA’s ultimate goal is to create a system on the moon
that would then be feasible for use on future missions to
Mars by the middle of the century.
“Can we actually manipulate the soil on the lunar
surface into a construction material?” asked Jennifer
Edmunson, the lead geologist at Marshall Space Flight
Center for the project. “We need to start this development
now if we’re going to realize habitats on the moon by the
2040 time frame.”
News from the field
The front line
Building space colonies from green cheese
NASA partners work on 3D printed structures using lunar resources
An artist rendering by construction company ICON depicts the plan to manufacture
structures on the moon using lunar rocks and dirt and 3D printing.
Photo courtesy of ICON
January 2024 | ISE Magazine 11
Smartphone use has become ubiquitous among nearly
every segment of the population, so much so the devices
often seem an extension of our bodies connecting hand to
ear. But is reliance on these gizmos good for us?
Two industrial engineering graduate students at Auburn
University have researched the physical consequences of
constant smartphone use and determined it can lead to
musculoskeletal strains, as reported on eng.auburn.edu by
Dustin Duncan.
Ravinder Thaper, an IISE student member, and Murray
Gibson published their ndings in the International Journal
of Industrial Ergonomics. The authors included ISE professor
Richard Sesek, an IISE member, and assistant professor
Konstantinos Mykoniatis.
“Initially, the idea was to focus on exoskeleton technology,
but the focus quickly shifted to smartphones/devices,”
Gibson said. “Then, we began to contemplate the physical
impact of smartphones. Almost everyone has one, but we
know very little about the potential risks of using them.”
The rst issue is how tightly many people grip their
phones, likely due to the high cost of replacing one that slips
through your ngers.
“You don’t want to drop the thing because if you do, it’s
expensive to replace. So, you end up holding onto it much
more tightly than necessary, using much more force than
the device actually weighs,” Gibson said.
The study also looked at how users operate their screens
with their ngers and thumbs, with faster texting leading
to greater force. It also examined the eects of looking at a
screen for multiple hours per day, up to six hours a day for
the average college student, Gibson said.
“If you spend six hours looking down at your phone, you’re
supporting the weight of your head and neck, which is about
as heavy as a bowling ball,” Gibson said. “It’s not something
we think about because our bodies are basically calibrated
not to sense the forces required to support the weight of the
body itself. However, the supporting the head can fatigue
the muscles of the neck and upper back.”
The research also found that larger phone screens can
decrease musculoskeletal pressure as smaller screens lead
users to bend their necks more.
Gibson suggests altered viewing habits that can ease
physical strain, such as elevating the phone with books while
sitting to allow a more neutral neck posture.
“Anything that can keep you in a neutral posture, not
requiring bending the neck, or eliminating forces required
to use the device can help prevent injuries related to
smartphone use,” Gibson said.
Smartphones are a pain in the neck
Auburn researchers study health eects of all-day screen gazing
Articial intelligence has already been deployed in various
processes in healthcare to improve diagnoses, treatments
and improve communications.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Aairs has put out
a call for AI solutions to help ease burnout among its
healthcare workers by easing their administrative burdens.
The request from the VA came following the Biden
Administration’s executive order on monitoring the
development and use of AI tools to protect national
security and American society, according to a Nov. 1, 2023,
article in Forbes.
The eort was joined by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in its eorts to ease stress-related
challenges faced by healthcare providers.
The VA is oering $1 million in prizes in a “tech sprint” to
companies that can develop note-taking tools for doctors
and software to help sort and combine medical records
from various sources.
Gil Alterovitz, chief AI ocer for the VA, told Forbes the
agency seeks a conversation-to-text platform to help
streamline telehealth visits so “physicians can actually
look you in the eye and have that conversation with you, as
opposed to typing on the computer.”
He said the record processing solution will involve
companies working with simulated data to develop a
model that means workers “don’t have to manually look
through hundreds of dierent pieces of paper.”
“It’s a three-month engagement – you can think of it as a
bridge toward potential private-public partnerships – that
allow us to take a journey together,” he said.
Health agency seeks AI aid to ease caregivers’ load
Veterans Aairs wants better communications, record-keeping solutions
Photo by Getty Images
12 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine
the frontlinethe front line
As the manufacturing industry looks to
ll its shortage of workers, one ready
source of trained professionals oers a
solution: military veterans.
Already, 12% of all U.S. employed
veterans work in manufacturing, second
only to government (23%) at employing
those with military experience. The
more than 200,000 members leaving
the service each year provide a pool
for lling the approximately 627,000
manufacturing jobs open as of
September.
Yet a 2017 report by Call of Duty
Endowment and Zip Recruiter revealed that nearly a
third of veterans are underemployed or performing jobs
that don’t match their level of experience. This despite
federal data showing more than 6 million veterans hold
a bachelor’s degree or higher, and another 6 million have
some college education or an associate degree.
“If you look at safety, maintenance, communications,
logistics, I mean, these are all experts coming out of the
military with these qualications that they learned in the
military,” said Amy Thomas, national director of military
and veterans initiatives of the Manufacturing Institute’s
“Heroes MAKE America” program.
Marine Corps veteran Justin Henderson, senior vice
president of sales at Recruit Military, notes the military
serves as “kind of that leading trade school” with
hundreds of thousands of veterans having technical
backgrounds from their service experience.
Yet many face obstacles nding jobs in civilian
corporate life, sometimes due to false impressions.
“Hollywood doesn’t do us any favors. We’re not all
Navy SEALs. We’re not all door-kickers. We’re not all
Delta operators,” Henderson said. “We’re admin. We’re
drivers. And it can be everything from introducing
(companies) to the community through a job fair or doing
direct hire, or just an overall strategy of how to get your
company’s brand inside of the veteran community.”
Vets are untapped manufacturing labor solution
Former service members have expertise needed to fill worker gap
Employers, take note: New requirements have been put in
place this year by OSHA in reporting work-related injuries
and illnesses.
Companies with 100 or more workers in designated
industries are required to submit case-specic information
from the OSHA Form 300 Log and the OSHA Form 301
Incident Report. The form requires incident details such
as the date, physical location and severity of the injury
or illness; details about the worker injured and how the
incident occurred. It must be submitted electronically
through OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA), which
will begin accepting 2023 data Jan. 2. The due date to
complete this submission is March 2.
OSHA cites numerous benets to the new procedure
including use of case-specic data to help identify
hazards to improve worker safety and health and better
analyze trends, and more accurate statistics on work-
related injuries and illnesses for specic occupations and
industries.
For employers and their workers, the information can
help them make more informed decisions about workplace
safety and health to help prevent future incidents.
For more, visit osha.gov/injuryreporting/nal-rule.
OSHA changes incident reporting process
New rules should provide more data for analysis, problem-solving
Photo by Getty ImagesPhoto by Getty Images
January 2024 | ISE Magazine 13
Waste is the enemy of both process experts and environmentalists seeking ecient use
of resources and labor. Thus, Lean principles and sustainability can ow together toward
a common goal. A 2024 book, Lean Sustainability: A Pathway to a Circular Economy, is a
guidebook that merges Lean methodology with sustainability practices in the quest for a
circular economy. Authors Elizabeth A. Cudney, Sandra L. Furterer, Chad M. Laux (each IISE
members) and Gaganpreet S. Hundal note that while Lean has excelled in streamlining
operations, it has yet to fully embrace sustainability. The book features an integrated Lean
Green Sustainability Framework that outlines how Lean tools can align with sustainability
principles, emphasize waste reduction and minimize environmental impact. The authors cite
specic Lean methodologies such as mapping value streams for eco-friendly ow; using
Lean for sustainable process mapping; and leveraging tools such as 5S, Hoshin Kanri and
Total Productive Maintenance. They provide a roadmap for practitioners to aim for operational
eciency, waste reduction and environmental consciousness across industries through real-world
examples illustrating practical applications across industries. “We hope readers will nd this book a valuable
resource and empower them to transform their business practices, foster environmentally conscious processes
within their organizations and champion environmental stewardship in their pursuit of continuous improvement,”
Cudney told ISE. In the foreword, A. Blanton Godfrey wrote: “There is no challenge more important now than
developing the means for increased global prosperity while protecting the only world we have. New thinking in
designing products and services is severely needed. The authors are providing a wonderful basis for this thinking
and providing many of the tools we need to achieve breakthroughs in sustainability by showing us how to use tools
and methods we already know in new ways. ... This book should be on any leaders’ bookshelves and shared with
everyone in an organization wanting to make a dierence and how they do business.”
Lean Sustainability: A Pathway to a Circular Economy is published by CRC Press.
Lean + green: Process improvement meets sustainability
IISE members collaborate on book to foster eco-friendly ideas
Book of the Month
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Regression Refresher ● Systems Engineering Tools for Process Improvement ● and more …
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14 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine
the frontlinethe front line
As urban trac increases along with the desire to cut
carbon emissions, nonmotorized forms of transport are
being deployed more often as last-mile delivery options.
New York City is looking to push this along by allowing
larger cargo bikes to operate in the city as a way to
cut truck trac. The Department of Transportation has
proposed amending rules to allow bikes up to 48 inches
wide with up to four wheels to make deliveries. The
current standard limits cargo bikes to 36 inches and
fewer than four wheels.
The DOT said in April 2023 nearly 90% of goods in the
city are moved via truck, making use of the bikes a way
to reduce trac and pollution. To remedy this, the city
launched a cargo bike pilot program with three carriers,
UPS, FedEx and DHL, to help ease street congestion.
The bikes can load and unload wherever commercial
vehicles can and in designated areas.
As a result of the pilot eort, cargo bikes made more
than 130,000 trips in 2022, delivering over 5 million
packages, the city said.
“Just two cargo bikes can replace one box truck,
increasing safety and reducing CO₂ emission by 14
tons per year, equivalent to 30,872 passenger car
miles traveled,” New York DOT Commissioner Ydanis
Rodriguez said in a statement.
A similar project is in place in Miami.
Use of larger cargo bikes is common in Europe but
would require cities to plan for wider bike lanes in the
future, Corey Hannigan, active transportation program
manager at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, said
in a statement.
Source: Supply Chain Dive
Wider cargo bikes sought for Gotham deliveries
City considers rule change to allow 4-wheel vehicles to ease trac, emissions
Photo by Getty Images
Retailers continue to add high-tech enhancements to the
shopping experience to help customers make that all-
important decision: Does this look good on me?
The latest is an app oered by Walmart that oers a
virtual way to try on makeup to see what customers prefer.
It allows users to apply blush, lip color, eyeshadow and
bronzer to an image of their face to see how it looks. The
app oers more than 1,400 products from several major
brands carried by the retailer. Customers can select the
app and apply the products through a lter powered by
augmented reality technology from Perfect Corp.
Walmart says the app does not store customer data.
“As a destination for beauty, we’re committed to
identifying new and emerging opportunities to inspire
our customers and create more personalized, seamless,
customer centric shopping experiences,” Creighton
Kiper, vice president of beauty at Walmart U.S., said in a
statement.
The virtual try-on option eliminates the need to apply
product samples, which minimizes waste and harmful
environmental impacts.
“As beauty customers turn to retailers for personalized
advice and product recommendations, we are thrilled to
be collaborating with Walmart to build an enhanced try-
on experience with cutting-edge AI and AR technology,”
Perfect Corp. CEO and founder Alice Chang said in a
statement. “As we look to the future, AI and AR-powered
technology will continue to be integral for Walmart and
other retailers to engage customers and oer customized
shopping experiences to all.”
Source: Retail Dive
A virtual way to touch up your face
Walmart oers AR platform where customers can sample makeup
BY THE NUMBERS
ENROLLMENT (FALL 2023)
FACULTY
Undergraduates
875
DEGREES AWARDED
(AY 2022-23)
279
B.S.
159
M.S.
6
M.E.
22
Ph.D.
503
Graduates
RANKINGS (2024)
Undergraduate Program
Ranked No. 8 (Public)
(U.S. News & World Report)
Graduate Program
Ranked No. 6 (Public)
(U.S. News & World Report)
#
8
#
6
42
Total
Faculty
14
18
Tenure-
Track
Society
Fellows
12
16
7
Tenured
Faculty
Academic
Professional Track
Endowed Chairs
and Professorships
RESEARCH EXPENDITURES
$
10.6 MILLION
Lijun Ding
Assistant Professor
Jon (JP) Elizondo
Lecturer
NEW FACULTY
David Huckleberry
Gutman
Assistant Professor
Jihoon Jeong
Assistant Professor
Shixuan Zhang
Assistant Professor
Perfect Corp. creates makeup filters with augmented reality
for customers to digitally try on makeup, currently oered on
the Walmart app.
Image courtesy of Perfect Corp.
January 2024 | ISE Magazine 15
BY THE NUMBERS
ENROLLMENT (FALL 2023)
FACULTY
Undergraduates
875
DEGREES AWARDED
(AY 2022-23)
279
B.S.
159
M.S.
6
M.E.
22
Ph.D.
503
Graduates
RANKINGS (2024)
Undergraduate Program
Ranked No. 8 (Public)
(U.S. News & World Report)
Graduate Program
Ranked No. 6 (Public)
(U.S. News & World Report)
#
8
#
6
42
Total
Faculty
14
18
Tenure-
Track
Society
Fellows
12
16
7
Tenured
Faculty
Academic
Professional Track
Endowed Chairs
and Professorships
RESEARCH EXPENDITURES
$
10.6 MILLION
Lijun Ding
Assistant Professor
Jon (JP) Elizondo
Lecturer
NEW FACULTY
David Huckleberry
Gutman
Assistant Professor
Jihoon Jeong
Assistant Professor
Shixuan Zhang
Assistant Professor
16 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine
the frontlinethe front line
Quote, unquote
AI may only learn enough to rival your pet
“Text is a very poor source of information. Train a system on the equivalent of 20,000 years of
reading material and they still don’t understand that if A is the same as B, then B is the same
as A. There’s a lot of really basic things about the world that they (AI programs) just don’t get
through this kind of training. ... Most of human knowledge has nothing to do with language ...
so that part of the human experience is not captured by AI.”
— Yann LeCun, an artificial intelligence pioneer and researcher at Meta, as reported by CNBC from
a November media event in San Francisco to highlight the 10th anniversary of the company’s Fundamental AI Research team.
LeCun said he believes AI is likely to attain “cat-level” or “dog-level” intelligence long before it reaches human-level learning and
calls fears that AI could take over humanity “preposterously ridiculous.”
Sources: CNBC, Business Insider
Adding eight new
tenure-track faculty
university in
sustainability
— Association for Advancement of
Sustainability in Higher Education
#
1
universities for
engineering
and technology
worldwide
—Times Higher Education
TOP
250
best public
university
in the U.S.
—U.S. News & World Report
#
35
million annually in
research funding from 2020–23
$8.5-12
250
under-
graduates
200
master’s
students
200
doctoral
students
33
tenured/
tenure-track
faculty
4
SUNY
Distinguished
Professors
10
SUNY
Chancellor’s
Award
recipients
SSIE.BINGHAMTON.EDU
AVAILABLE POSITIONS IN SYSTEMS SCIENCE
AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
• Assistant Professor in Energy Systems
• Assistant Professor in Health Systems
• Assistant Professor in Systems Science
• Associate or Full Professor in Energy Storage
• Associate or Full Professor in Energy Systems and Policy
• Associate or Full Professor in Flexible, Additive and Hybrid
Electronic Systems
• Associate or Full Professor in Systems Engineering in Electronics
and Semiconductor Manufacturing
• Associate Professor of Nanofabrication
The ideal candidates must have an earned doctorate in industrial
engineering, systems science, or other related disciplines, excellent
leadership skills, and superb records of research, including garnering
funding and scholarly publications. Teaching experience is preferred.
FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE POSITIONS AND TO SUBMIT
APPLICATION, GO TO BINGHAMTON.INTERVIEWEXCHANGE.COM
23-548 SSIE fact sheet IISE ad.indd 123-548 SSIE fact sheet IISE ad.indd 1 12/12/23 2:28 PM12/12/23 2:28 PM
Yann LeCun
Photo by Jérémy Barande | Ecole
polytechnique Université Paris-Saclay
Steering more high school students toward
careers in science, technology, engineering
and math (STEM) is a priority for industries
who need bright, capable minds to manage
advanced technology and systems.
One way to pave this career path is to
hold career days that expose these students
to professionals in the eld. A recent study
conducted showed that such events help
increase the number of young people
pursuing a STEM education.
Michael Williams, an assistant professor
in the College of Education and Human
Development at the University of Missouri,
analyzed a nationwide survey conducted by
Harvard University. It asked nearly 16,000
college students if they attended a STEM career day while
in high school. The results showed that those who did so
were far more likely to have STEM-related career goals.
“Now that we have found that this type of intervention
works for turning that potential interest in STEM into
career aspirations in STEM, we can work on designing
these interventions in a way to be even more eective and
accessible to develop a more diverse STEM workforce,”
said Williams, also a faculty fellow in the school’s Division
of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity.
The study based on the survey was published in the
International Journal of Science Education.
“If you want someone to be good at something, you
want them to develop a sense of ecacy, which is
about putting them in a position where they can see
themselves doing it and succeeding at it, and seeing
other people that look like them doing it as well,” he said.
Williams told Show Me Mizzou that his graduate
classes included many international students and he
was the only Black student in some of his classes.
Exposing more high school students from varied
backgrounds to STEM opportunities could help diversify
the profession, he said.
“The United States trails a lot of global competitors in
the production of STEM talent, especially in areas like
sophisticated technology and quantitative methodologies,”
Williams said. “The National Science Foundation has
pushed for broadening participation in STEM elds and
increasing diversity for populations that have previously
been excluded from STEM-related opportunities. So,
I am passionate about reaching people earlier in the
educational pipeline and seeing what interventions help
turn interest into career aspiration.”
Source: showme.missouri.edu
To fill STEM classes, hold more career days
Study shows events to introduce science, engineering can steer students
Photo by Getty Images
January 2024 | ISE Magazine 17
Adding eight new
tenure-track faculty
university in
sustainability
— Association for Advancement of
Sustainability in Higher Education
#
1
universities for
engineering
and technology
worldwide
—Times Higher Education
TOP
250
best public
university
in the U.S.
—U.S. News & World Report
#
35
million annually in
research funding from 2020–23
$8.5-12
250
under-
graduates
200
master’s
students
200
doctoral
students
33
tenured/
tenure-track
faculty
4
SUNY
Distinguished
Professors
10
SUNY
Chancellor’s
Award
recipients
SSIE.BINGHAMTON.EDU
AVAILABLE POSITIONS IN SYSTEMS SCIENCE
AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
• Assistant Professor in Energy Systems
• Assistant Professor in Health Systems
• Assistant Professor in Systems Science
• Associate or Full Professor in Energy Storage
• Associate or Full Professor in Energy Systems and Policy
• Associate or Full Professor in Flexible, Additive and Hybrid
Electronic Systems
• Associate or Full Professor in Systems Engineering in Electronics
and Semiconductor Manufacturing
• Associate Professor of Nanofabrication
The ideal candidates must have an earned doctorate in industrial
engineering, systems science, or other related disciplines, excellent
leadership skills, and superb records of research, including garnering
funding and scholarly publications. Teaching experience is preferred.
FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE POSITIONS AND TO SUBMIT
APPLICATION, GO TO BINGHAMTON.INTERVIEWEXCHANGE.COM
23-548 SSIE fact sheet IISE ad.indd 123-548 SSIE fact sheet IISE ad.indd 1 12/12/23 2:28 PM12/12/23 2:28 PM
18 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine
the frontlinethe front line
Businesses may strive to create healthy oce
environments for their workers, but sometimes
the bottom line expenses to do so may lead to
compromises.
To quantify the need for such enhancements, a recent
study from Japan published in the September 2023 issue
of the journal Building and Environment showed a direct
link between a healthy oce setting and the economic
benets of improved production.
Researchers in the project began by surveying 1,644
workers in 29 Tokyo oce buildings to gather data both
through worker questionnaires and physical indoor
environmental quality measurements. They then
compared the workers’ perceived eciency to that
found in an “ideal” oce producing maximum eciency
to estimate the economic value. They also examined the
practice of “presenteeism,” shorthand for working while
sick, and compared it to a scenario in which workers
faced no health-related barriers.
The study found that participants perceived their
work eciency to be at an average of approximately
77%. Presenteeism varied, with some participants
reporting no symptoms in the last 30 days, while
others experiencing symptoms every day. The average
decrease in performance due to presenteeism was
approximately 34%.
“Workers in oces with lower environmental
performance had low work eciency, while those in
higher-performing oces had high work eciency,”
said professor Shun Kawakubo from the Faculty of
Engineering and Design at Hosei University, who headed
the project. “The 16.8-point dierence in work eciency
between workers in oces with relatively good and poor
environments equates to an annual economic benet
of about 1,039,000 (Japanese yen, about $7,052 in U.S.
dollars), highlighting the nancial advantages of a good
work environment.”
An improved oce setting also helped improve
performance losses due to workers’ poor health while on
the job.
“The better the oce environment, the lower the
amount of loss due to presenteeism,” Kawakubo
said. “The dierence in annual economic loss due to
presenteeism between workers in oces with relatively
low environmental performance and workers in oces
with relatively high environmental performance was
423,000 (yen, about $2,871 U.S.).”
The study showed improvements in interior and
furnishings, building sanitation, better airow from
heating, ventilation and air conditioning and adequate
meeting space all were associated with improved
perception of work eciency. Lighting, thermal
environment and communications had lesser eects on
notions of eciency.
The bottom line shows that investment in a healthier
oce environment pays o.
“Companies around the world are rearming the
importance of human capital,” Kawakubo said. “We
believe that widespread recognition of the fact that
investment in the creation of a good oce environment
is directly linked to maintaining and improving the health
of oce workers and increasing the productivity of the
company as a whole, will contribute to the building of a
healthier society.”
Healthy oce means productive workers
Japanese study confirms economic boost from investing in health, safety
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page when you register for RAMS.
Great Reasons to Attend:
• Gain new insights into creating more ecient
and eective reliability and maintainability
(R&M) programs
• Take actionable R&M knowledge back
to your organization
• Make valuable contacts by networking
with industry leaders and professionals
• Gain career advancing skills and CEUs for certifications
• Earn an optional RAMS Certification by participating in
the tutorial tracks
• Participate in a track dedicated to training and
preparation for the ASQ CRE exam
• Attend technical sessions to learn from the authors
of papers published in IEEE Xplore
• Obtain ideas for your own papers and presentations
for next year!
To name a few……
RAMS
®
disciplines play a critical role in the data-driven acquisition,
development, and operations within the Digital Engineering
Ecosystem which enables stakeholders to work collaboratively and
securely using shared knowledge and resources.
RAMS
®
2024 will bring together an international audience of R&M
leaders and professionals, in-depth sessions and tutorials presented
by top R&M experts, exhibit floor featuring leading companies,
keynote session insights, networking and job-related opportunities,
and more.
“Integrating R&M Throughout The Digital
Engineering Ecosystem”
RAMS
®
is the premier, global forum for sharing your
experience, knowledge, and roadmaps to success.
The Clyde Hotel | Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Tutorials - basic to advanced
• Technical paper sessions
• ASQ CRE training track
• Panel sessions
• Exhibits program
• Spouse program
• Certificate program
• Networking opportunities
Attend The 70th Annual
Reliability & Maintainability Symposium
Register at rams.org
January 22-25, 2024
SPONSORING
SOCIETIES
Photo by Getty Images
January 2024 | ISE Magazine 19
SPECIAL
room rates for
RAMS
®
2024 attendees available at
The Clyde Hotel | Albuquerque, NM
Hotel information is on the Lodging & Travel
page when you register for RAMS.
Great Reasons to Attend:
• Gain new insights into creating more ecient
and eective reliability and maintainability
(R&M) programs
• Take actionable R&M knowledge back
to your organization
• Make valuable contacts by networking
with industry leaders and professionals
• Gain career advancing skills and CEUs for certifications
• Earn an optional RAMS Certification by participating in
the tutorial tracks
• Participate in a track dedicated to training and
preparation for the ASQ CRE exam
• Attend technical sessions to learn from the authors
of papers published in IEEE Xplore
• Obtain ideas for your own papers and presentations
for next year!
To name a few……
RAMS
®
disciplines play a critical role in the data-driven acquisition,
development, and operations within the Digital Engineering
Ecosystem which enables stakeholders to work collaboratively and
securely using shared knowledge and resources.
RAMS
®
2024 will bring together an international audience of R&M
leaders and professionals, in-depth sessions and tutorials presented
by top R&M experts, exhibit floor featuring leading companies,
keynote session insights, networking and job-related opportunities,
and more.
“Integrating R&M Throughout The Digital
Engineering Ecosystem”
RAMS
®
is the premier, global forum for sharing your
experience, knowledge, and roadmaps to success.
The Clyde Hotel | Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Tutorials - basic to advanced
• Technical paper sessions
• ASQ CRE training track
• Panel sessions
• Exhibits program
• Spouse program
• Certificate program
• Networking opportunities
Attend The 70th Annual
Reliability & Maintainability Symposium
Register at rams.org
January 22-25, 2024
SPONSORING
SOCIETIES
SPECIAL
room rates for
RAMS
®
2024 attendees available at
The Clyde Hotel | Albuquerque, NM
Hotel information is on the Lodging & Travel
page when you register for RAMS.
Great Reasons to Attend:
• Gain new insights into creating more ecient
and eective reliability and maintainability
(R&M) programs
• Take actionable R&M knowledge back
to your organization
• Make valuable contacts by networking
with industry leaders and professionals
• Gain career advancing skills and CEUs for certifications
• Earn an optional RAMS Certification by participating in
the tutorial tracks
• Participate in a track dedicated to training and
preparation for the ASQ CRE exam
• Attend technical sessions to learn from the authors
of papers published in IEEE Xplore
• Obtain ideas for your own papers and presentations
for next year!
To name a few……
RAMS
®
disciplines play a critical role in the data-driven acquisition,
development, and operations within the Digital Engineering
Ecosystem which enables stakeholders to work collaboratively and
securely using shared knowledge and resources.
RAMS
®
2024 will bring together an international audience of R&M
leaders and professionals, in-depth sessions and tutorials presented
by top R&M experts, exhibit floor featuring leading companies,
keynote session insights, networking and job-related opportunities,
and more.
“Integrating R&M Throughout The Digital
Engineering Ecosystem”
RAMS
®
is the premier, global forum for sharing your
experience, knowledge, and roadmaps to success.
The Clyde Hotel | Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Tutorials - basic to advanced
• Technical paper sessions
• ASQ CRE training track
• Panel sessions
• Exhibits program
• Spouse program
• Certificate program
• Networking opportunities
Attend The 70th Annual
Reliability & Maintainability Symposium
Register at rams.org
January 22-25, 2024
SPONSORING
SOCIETIES
20 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine
the frontlinethe front line
More companies aim to shrink, adjust workspaces
With remote and hybrid oce work seemingly here to
stay, many companies are looking to downsize from
their large operating spaces even as they strive to bring
more workers back on-site. A November 2023 survey by
Robin, a workspace platform provider, reveals that 75%
of companies plan to cut oce space in 2024, an increase
of nearly 30% over 2022. Of the more than 500 business
owners and facility managers surveyed, 82% said they are
concerned about their ability to retain their current oce
space. Yet 88% of the companies surveyed still require
their employees to work a certain number of days on-site,
up nearly 20% since 2022. “As companies have leases coming due, they are trying to bring down space
to a level that makes sense nancially. Most of them won’t renew their lease,” Robin CEO Micah Remley
told Smart Cities Dive. “That means the mandate out there for facilities managers is that they’ve got to do
more with less when it comes to oce space.” Other survey ndings showed a 19% increase in full-time
oce work and a 21% decline in hybrid work since 2022; 56% said the majority of their employees work
on-site full time with 40% saying most workers are hybrid; 40% of companies use half of their available
space or less, and only 28% use 100%; and 89% of oces are revamping their spaces to adjust to new
work behaviors, including exible seating arrangements. “Working cross-functionally is becoming more
important as technology becomes more critical to how the oce functions,” Remley said.
Prime Number
Opinions on the benets and downsides of remote work
vary as much as businesses and their employees. Whether
it’s ideal to work outside or within the oce, or a mix of the
two, elicits dierent responses.
While many employees embrace the opportunity to
skip the morning trac and remain in sweatpants, some
say they miss the personal dynamics of the oce. A Nov. 9
Business Insider article shared views from workers posting
on social media of feeling depressed as a result of their
remote jobs.
Software worker Grace Phelan of the UK said in a TikTok
post the gloomy weather and unchanging routine have her
in the dumps.
“For the last God knows however many days, I’ve literally
gone from bed, straight to laptop,” she said. “On a good day,
potentially walk to the gym, do an average gym session
and come back, and then watch TV. But not really watch
TV because I’m on TikTok. And then go to bed and do the
same thing all over again.”
A Texas psychologist, Kelsey Latime, told Insider that
extroverts in particular may miss the energy they gain from
being around other people.
“Even those that are introverted can still struggle
because there is a sort of lack of structure that comes from
being at home versus having an oce to go to,” she said.
“People may get lax in terms of getting ready for work,
taking a morning shower, getting dressed, and start to
develop bad habits such as working in their bed all day.”
Latimer recommends those languishing in their home
routine develop more regimented workday habits such as
showering and getting dressed each morning and avoid
working from their beds.
Remote work: New paradigm or depressing rut?
Varied views emerge on growing trend toward skipping the oce
Photo by Getty Images
Photo by Getty Images
