News Archive

September, 2006
[pdf]
US-Mexico Binational Aerospace Workshop for Supplier Development

The IE department is organizing, in partnership with Monterrey Tech and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the first US-Mexico Binational Aerospace Workshop for Supplier Development. The workshop will be held on October 5th and 6th, in the city of Chihuahua, Mexico and is part of the activities of the USAIDsponsored graduate program on logistics of the aerospace industry. The event is also cosponsored by the Secretariat of Industrial Development of the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

One of the main objectives of the USAID-sponsored program on logistics is the improvement of the global competitiveness of an integrated North American aerospace industry, for the benefit of the economy and the welfare of North America.

The Workshop will include participation of OEM’s (i.e. Honeywell, GE Aviation, Cessna, Bombardier, Hamilton Sundstrand and Goodrich), representatives from the Mexican Federal Government and governments of a selected group of Mexican States; industrial developers, international and Mexican suppliers. Some of the main objectives of this workshop include:

• Set strategic directions for aerospace supplier development in Mexico
• Identify future trends of the aerospace industry in the global market
• Benchmark the current state of the aerospace industry in Mexico
• Benchmark current programs and incentives for supplier development in Mexico
• Facilitate interaction between OEM's and current and potential suppliers from the US and Mexico
• Identify specific opportunities for aerospace suppliers in Mexico

June, 2006
Dr. Anderson-Rowland honored for contributions to diversity in engineering

Throughout her career, Mary Anderson-Rowland has been honored for her dedication to promoting diversity in engineering and 2006 is proving no different. This year's honors include election to the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) board of directors, election as a fellow of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and receipt of the ASEE Minorities in Engineering Award.
Anderson-Rowland is an associate professor in the Fulton School of Engineering Department of Industrial Engineering and director of three academic scholarship programs - NACME (National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering), CIRC (Collaborative Interdisciplinary Research Community), and CIRC/METS (Maricopa Engineering Transition Scholars). She has also been instrumental in creating several engineering diversity initiatives including the Women in Science and Engineering program and the Minority Engineering Program.
With election to the ASEE board of directors, Anderson-Rowland will serve as chair of the Professional Interest Council IV, which promotes and facilitates engineering education activities in areas related to teaching, research, entrepreneurship, diversity, graduate studies and technology.

Anderson-Rowland was honored with the 2006 ASEE Minorities in Engineering Award in recognition of her success in increasing student diversity and motivating underrepresented students. She is also involved in research and activities to increase the recruitment, enrollment and retention of women in engineering education programs.

June, 2006
WIRED | Wall Street Journal | NPR
New boarding procedures increase airline efficiency

Menkes van den Briel, graduate student of industrial engineering, is in the news again, this time in WIRED magazine (his research was featured last fall in the Wall Street Journal ). All the excitement in the media is over his 2002 summer research project which produced an innovative system that boards airline passengers in less time. America West, which after a recent merger is now U.S. Airways, flew Menkes to Los Angeles, where he observed and filmed passenger boarding habits. He then brought notes and film back to his Industrial Engineering colleagues at Arizona State University. With the application of his IE tool kit, the "reverse pyramid" system he helped develop shaved two minutes off of a U.S. Airways flight boarding time. Read more in WIRED and the Wall Street Journal or listen to an interview with Menkes on NPR.

April, 2006
[pdf]
Montgomery named ASU Regents' Professor

Make statistics your starting point, and it can take you almost anywhere. That's what ASU professor Douglas Montgomery has discovered in almost four decades as an industrial engineering teacher, researcher and consultant.

March 23-24, 2006
[pdf]
Statistics Week 2006!

Invited lectures, Statistics Fair, etc. - The Statistics Fair will be held on the Hayden Lawn. Representatives scheduled to attend from Motorola, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell, St. Jude Medical, Banner Health, NDCHealth, General Dynamics, Wells Fargo, Health Services Advisory Group. Come and meet with them and learn about their organizations and how they use statistics.

February 28, 2006
[pdf]
Alumnus honored for entrepreneurial leadership

Gary Spanner, who received a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Arizona State University's Fulton School of Engineering in 1994, received an entrepreneurial leadership award on Feb. 21, 2006.

February 22, 2006
Researchers look to reduce emergency room waits

On News Year's Day this year, Banner Baywood Medical Center in Mesa closed its emergency room for three hours when it couldn't handle the number of patients showing up at its doors.

January 1, 2006
[pdf]
Askin Joins ASU as Industrial Engineering Chair

Dr. Ron Askin says his decision to come to Arizona State University was spurred by colleagues in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. "I saw excitement and energy. People here are really motivated,'' says Askin, who took his new position as chair of the school's Industrial Engineering department on Jan. 1, 2006.

November 2, 2005
[pdf]
Plane Geometry

Scientists Help Speed Boarding of Aircraft - America West Saves Minutes With 'Reverse Pyramid'; Link to Relativity Theory Several years ago Menkes van den Briel, an industrial engineer at Arizona State University, tackled a "nonlinear assignment problem with quadratic and cubic terms in the objective function." In other words, he wanted to stop people from bumping into each other when they board an airplane.

October 11, 2005
[pdf]
Experiment helps ERs handle overloads

East Valley medical centers working to eliminate long waits for patients - Emergency rooms in the East Valley are trying a new approach that could alleviate some long waits. For one year the six hospitals, city fire departments and ambulance companies in the region are doing away with "diversion," a common practice in which hospitals temporarily close an ER to noncritical incoming patients.

September 23, 2005
Announcement of Faculty Positions Industrial Engineering

We are seeking outstanding candidates for two tenure-track faculty positions at all ranks for the 2006-2007 Academic Year. Individuals will be expected to teach at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, publish, conduct research, and provide service to the discipline and the community.

September 14, 2005
[pdf]
For Arizona, Mexican port promises new opportunity - GUAYMAS, Mexico

Early each morning, as the sun is still spreading golden light over the Gulf of California, the grizzled men of the Guaymas Stevedores Union crowd into a run-down building near the wharves to hear the bad news. There are no ships today, union secretary Manuel Gutiérrez tells the group of about 60 men.

March 11, 2005
[pdf]
First Person: What it's like to simulate a dairy business for class credit

I belong to a group of ASU students that is running simulated multimillion-dollar dairy companies this spring. We are involved in the Global Marketing Game, run by a company in Spain. Our performance in the game determines whether or not we receive course credit for our participation in the game.