Focus

Keeping pace with IIE in the January 2014 issue of Industrial Engineer  

Maximizing medical outcomes

Workshops kick off annual healthcare conference
Four varied pre-conference workshops will kick off the Healthcare Systems Process Improvement Conference 2014 in Orlando, Fla.

Attendees can choose between the following:

• "Maximizing Healthcare Process Redesign Engagements: Improving Processes, Getting Results and Engaging Others"
• "Value Stream Mapping: How to Visualize Work and Align Leadership for Organizational Transformation"
• "Measurement Systems Analysis in Healthcare"
• "Discrete-Event Simulation for Process Redesign/Re-engineering in Healthcare."

Jean Ann Larson, president of JALarson & Associates, will lead "Maximizing Healthcare Process Redesign Engagements," a course that provides a team-based, practical approach to redesigning and creating new processes. The course will give an overview of the necessary tools and how they enhance PDSA, lean and Six Sigma; the methods to use for work redesign teams; and the role of technology in redesigning and creating new processes.

Karen Martin of The Karen Martin Group Inc. will detail how value stream mapping, despite being developed in the 1990s, remains a misunderstood and under-utilized management practice in improving performance across clinical and administrative work systems. In "Value Stream Mapping," participants will learn how to plan and execute a value stream mapping activity, whether clinical or administrative; create current and future state maps; and create an actionable, consensus-driven transformation plan.

"Measurement Systems Analysis in Healthcare," led by Keith Poole and Nimish Patel of HCA Healthcare, takes the belief that all measuring devices – including humans – can and should be assessed and calibrated on a regular basis. This hands-on workshop applies measurement systems analysis to make sure that the thousands of measurements taken each day can result in data that healthcare workers can trust. Participants also can walk away with electronic copies of all the templates used.

And finally, Thomas Roh and Tarun Mohan Lal of the Mayo Clinic will introduce how to use "Discrete-Event Simulation for Process Redesign/Re-engineering in Healthcare." Such simulations are computer-based operations research modeling techniques that can evaluate, improve and optimize stochastic processes. The results can help define critical strategic and operational decisions by assessing trade-offs between resource use, service and operating costs to improve patient outcomes.

The Healthcare Systems Process Improvement Conference, sponsored by the Society for Health Systems, is Feb. 21-24 at the Hilton Orlando in Orlando, Fla.

All pre-conference workshops will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Feb. 21. Advance registration is required. For more information and to register, visit www.shsconference.org.

Flying stars and ergonomics

Keynote speakers specialize in space safety, aviation maintenance
Keynote speakers for the Applied Ergonomics Conference 2014 will take attendees up and away to the sky and stars.

Brooks R. Kimmel of NASA’s speakers’ bureau plans to talk about specific ergonomic challenges and solutions that the U.S. space agency has implemented to protect astronauts and ground support personnel over the years. Colin G. Drury will draw on his experience leading a team that applies human factors techniques to reduce errors in aviation maintenance and inspection, which he has done since 1989 as director of the Research Institute for Safety and Security in Transportation (RISST).

Kimmel, who will speak at 9:45 a.m. March 25, currently oversees technical training and employee development for Abacus Technology Corp. Abacus runs the spaceport information management and communications services for Kennedy Space Center, providing communications, graphics, data centers and IT services for NASA and the entire Kennedy Space Center spaceport.

Kimmel noted that Wernher von Braun, the father of American spaceflight, once said, "In the space business, 99 percent perfection is equivalent to disaster." Over the years, NASA has learned a number of difficult lessons about discovering how to prevent systemic problems arising from the design of work environments.

Drury, the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Industrial and Systems Engineering at University at Buffalo, SUNY, will speak at 9:45 a.m. March 26. He is a fellow not only of IIE, but of the Ergonomics Society, the International Ergonomics Association and the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society. He is president of the Applied Ergonomics Group Inc. and has more than 200 publications on topics in industrial process control, quality control, aviation maintenance, security and safety.

Drury’s honors include receiving the Bartlett medal of the Ergonomics Society and both the Fitts and Lauer Awards of the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society. He also earned the Federal Aviation Administration’s Excellence in Aviation Research Award and the American Association of Engineering Societies’ Kenneth Andrew Roe Award.

The Applied Ergonomics Conference 2014 will be held March 24-27 at the Hilton Orlando in Orlando, Fla. In addition to networking events and dozens of educational sessions, attendees can choose from six pre-conference workshops. More details and registration information are available at www.appliedergoconference.org.

Start your power play

University regional conferences offer opportunities to begin your rise up
Students and young industrial engineers can jump-start their careers with IIE’s 2014 university regional conferences.

In addition to various competitions that allow the winners to present at the Annual Conference and Expo 2014 in Montréal later in the year, attendees can meet and listen to speakers from industries, take plant tours to learn about processes and potential employers, and start forming their own professional networks with other up-and-coming students.

Below are the scheduled conference dates, locations and contacts:

Canada – Jan. 23-25

Ryerson University, Toronto

CONTACTS: Cory Searcy, cory.searcy@ryerson.ca; Syed Mahmood, syed.m.mahmood@ryerson.ca; Devi Odisho, devi.odisho@ryerson.ca 

South Central – Jan. 30 - Feb. 2

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.

CONTACTS: Chase Rainwater, cer@uark.edu; Bentley Fitchue, bentley.fitchue@gmail.com; Harsha Malshe, harshamalshe@gmail.com 

Great Lakes – Feb. 21-23

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich.

CONTACTS: Tycho Fredericks, tycho.fredericks@wmich.edu; Kyle Croes, kyle.e.croes@wmich.edu 

Mid-Atlantic – Feb. 21-23

Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

CONTACTS: Pat Koelling, koelling@vt.edu; Zvonko Cindrich, zzvonko@vt.edu 

Western – Feb. 21-23

California Polytechnic – Pomona, Calif.

CONTACTS: Kamran Abedini, kabedini@csupomona.edu; Arianne Maristela, vicepresident@cppiie.org; Minerva Munoz, workshoplead@cppiie.org; Crystal Chea, president@cppiie.org 

Southeast – Feb. 28 - March 1

University of Central Florida, Orlando, Fla.

CONTACTS: Chris Geiger, cdgeiger@ucf.edu; Jose Sang, jsang@knights.ucf.edu; Patricia Truax, trishtruax@knights.ucf.edu; Anna Marquez, caritomarquezf@knights.ucf.edu 

North Central – March 6-8

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, S.D.

CONTACTS: Dean Jensen, dean.jensen@sdsmt.edu; Katy Ramsbacher, katy.ramsbacher@mines.sdsmt.edu; Terry Nguyen, terry.nguyen@mines.sdsmt.edu 

Central and South America – March 13-15

Universidad de la Sabana, Chia, Cundinamarca, Colombia

CONTACTS: Elver Alfonso Bermeo Munoz, alfonsobemu@unisabana.edu.co; Andres Nieto Rivera, andres.nieto1@unisabana.edu.co 

Mexico – March 18-21

Instituto Tecnologico de Ciudad Madero, Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico

CONTACTS: Jesus Esquivel, ing.jesusesquivel@yahoo.com.mx; Samuel Ochoa Vazquez, seo_ymca911409@hotmail.com or iie965@gmail.com; Lizeth Aguilar Gonzalez, liz-aguilar@live.com 

Northeast – March 21-23

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass.

CONTACTS: Renata Konrad, rkonrad@wpi.edu; Marina Chevis, m.chevis@wpi.edu; Veronica Vallenilla, vvallenilla@wpi.edu 

The logistics of education

UPS donation will honor excellence, help young engineers enter their chosen careers
 

UPS continued its drive to help young industrial engineers enter the field with another $15,350 donation to IIE.

Art Muniz and Kelli Franklin-Joyner, two of the shipping company’s industrial engineering department senior directors, delivered the check in October to IIE headquarters in Norcross, Ga. The award funds the UPS Excellence Award for Minority Advancement in Industrial Engineering and UPS-sponsored scholarships for female and minority industrial engineering students. Winners will be announced at the IIE Annual Conference and Expo 2014, scheduled for May 31 until June 3 in Montréal.

Franklin-Joyner, whose responsibilities include people, development and training, said her group is responsible for filtering and approving all the requests for grants that come into the engineering department each year. The UPS Foundation distributes millions of dollars in grants each year.

She said UPS is focused on exposing young people in general and minorities in particular to the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. The IIE scholarships help translate an education in STEM-related fields into real-world professions.

"We’re concerned about the gaps that exist in terms of the U.S. compared to the other parts of the world in the areas of STEM," she said. "We want to improve that. We want to close that gap."

IIE Executive Director Don Greene, who accepted the donation on the institute’s behalf, said UPS employs more industrial engineers than any other company and clearly understands the value IEs can deliver.

"What UPS is doing through its women and minorities outreach program is a tremendous benefit to the profession of industrial engineering, IIE and the scholarship recipients," Greene said. "There are many engineers practicing today who earned their degrees because of UPS’ generosity. The institute truly appreciates their longtime support."

He noted that UPS specializes in logistics, which is an IE specialty in and of itself.

Muniz said that he "loved logistics before it was called logistics."

"We always called it our transportation network. It was our pickup and delivery process," he said. "I don’t know when the term logistics was coined in the industry, but it describes what we do."

Europe without jet lag

Annual conference heads to Canada
 

If you want to people-watch along the Champs-Elysées of Paris but dread the interminable jet lag, perhaps you should head north to the IIE Annual Conference and Expo 2014.

The Palais des Congrés de Montréal will host the annual gathering from May 31 to June 3. Sometimes called the Paris of the North, Montréal boasts a mix of New World energy and Old World architecture. And the outdoor terraces of Saint-Denis Street can rival the panache of any European café.

What’s more, three pre-conference workshops will offer visitors to the Canadian province of Quebec the chance to learn about and counteract a recurring and new type of muda (waste), inspire innovation and help lead change management.

Michael McCarthy of SustainLeanGains.com will lead "The 9th Muda: Failure to Sustain (How to Sustain the Gains of Lean Six Sigma)." The prefix "re" seems to be prevalent in symptoms of failure to sustain, such as retraining teams to do the improved process and restarting or revitalizing lean, continuous improvement or Six Sigma programs. The workshop will help participants avoid the ninth muda of doing management rework.

In "Basics of Invention and Innovation," Berok Khoshnevis of the University of Southern California will present the essentials of inventive thinking and technological creativity that could lead to breakthrough engineering designs and research endeavors.

"Leading Change and Managing Changes" are also important factors in today’s competitive climate. Paul Odomirok of Performance Excellence Associates has designed this workshop of 10 modules to address the elements of change and focus on creating a plan for change.

For more information and registration, visit www.iienet.org/annual.

Big bucks for the winning

Partner students with PEs; Win cash prizes from NCEES
The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) will give prizes of $62,500 to accredited engineering programs that partner its students with professional engineers next year.

The deadline for entering the NCEES Engineering Award is May 5, although all projects must be complete or in progress by March 15. NCEES will award one $25,000 grand prize and five $7,500 prizes.

The awards recognize projects that promote collaboration between students and licensed professional engineers. Engineering programs that are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technologies (EAC/ABET) are eligible to enter.

The grand prize winner will be recognized at the NCEES Annual Meeting in August 2014. All award-winning submissions will be exhibited at the event and publicized in NCEES and other related publications.

The 2013 grand prize winner was the Cleveland State University Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.

The jury will grant awards based on:

• Successful collaboration of faculty, students and licensed professional engineers
• Benefit to public health, safety and welfare
• Multidiscipline and/or allied profession participation
• Knowledge or skills gained
• Effectiveness of display board, abstract and project description

Entry forms and more information are available at ncees.org/award. Contact engineeringaward@ncees.org with inquiries.

You, too, can tube

IAB video contest has student chapters use creativity to promote profession
$1,000 is up for grabs again for the best video that promotes the industrial engineering profession to high school students, teachers and college counselors.

The Industry Advisory Board is sponsoring the contest, and the deadline is Feb. 22. The streaming YouTube video must comply with guidelines for the fair use of copyrighted materials. The winning video gets the $1,000 prize provided by members of the IAB. Awards will be presented during the student mixer at the IIE Annual Conference and Expo 2013, May 31 - June 3, in Montréal.

A panel from IAB will judge the entries, and winners will be notified by February. All rights for the winning entry will be owned by IIE. Each university campus is limited to one submission, although if the school has campuses in various cities or towns, each campus may submit one entry.

Send the URL (Web address) to your online video, accompanied by two DVD copies in AVI or MP3/4 format, to IIE headquarters. The entries must be postmarked by the contest deadline of Feb. 22 and mailed to IIE, Attn: Donna Calvert, COO, 3577 Parkway Lane, Suite 200, Norcross, GA 30092. The email address is IAB_You-TubeVideo@iienet.org.

KUDOS

Celebrating member achievements  

	Omar Badhurais has been named senior manager for the plant maintenance department at UNITED-SABIC Petrochemical Co. KSA. He formerly was a central maintenance services department manager.
	Jaime Camelio, associate professor and assistant department head of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech, recently was named Commonwealth Professor of Advanced Manufacturing. The post recognizes research excellence, and recipients hold the position for five years.
	Alejandro Cataldo, an associate professor at the University of Atacama in Chile, has been named a visiting scholar at Babson College. Cataldo, also a lecturer at the University of Rovira in Spain, is preparing an entrepreneurship course to teach when he returns to Chile.
	Vincent W. Howell Sr., manager of information security and policy for Corning Inc., has been inducted into the Society of Manufacturing Engineers 2013 College of Fellows. Howell is a former president of IIE’s Process Industries Division.
	Rajan Batta has been appointed SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at University at Buffalo, SUNY. Batta also serves as associate dean for research and graduate education at the university's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Batta is a former IIE senior vice president of publications.

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.