Industrial Engineering; so broad, so vague. Is just business deg. w/ Eng. slapped on?

[tacotaco11]

I've posted a few months ago about going into Industrial Engineering in university from a technical college of Electronics Technician training.

I've been doing my research and I'm confused with the terms of systems operations, operations management, operations research, supply chain management, etc that is used often when describing Industrial Engineering.

Just how broad is this field? I think there's a huge difference between designing automation processes to operations management. I know one thing for sure; Industrial Engineeering is about maximizing efficiency and it's one of the most Math intensive engineerings out there [feel free to correct me if I am wrong] which can go from range from social [hospitals, airports] to manufacturing plants.

Aside from your engineering core courses, what are some of the things that you do for your Industrial Engineering courses? Specifically, technical things that require analytical and calculating results? Seeing how broad IE is, does this mean it can range from employment in the blue collar industry, like automation production to white collar Operations Management careers?

I've looked at Decisions Sciences and Management Information Systems [gathering of information and basing your business decisions from results] from John Molson and there are some things in here that I can see an Industrial Engineer do.

I've been in the workforce for quite a few months and feel that there isn't really much "electronics" tech stuff that I could do. The amount of time used to troubleshoot hardware costs so much it's cheaper to just buy a new product and most of the things I'm doing is just computer-related tech support with my current training, which gets repetitive and extremely boring.

I know what Mech Eng is, E. Eng, Comp Eng, Bio Eng....but Industrial Engineering? It seems like it's just a business degree slapped with Engineering to make it all nice and shiny.

p.s Let's not turn this thread into a demand thread :P

[gekkexx]

I went to UofT for mechanical engineering, and while this fact may seem unrelated to your question, the department was called: 'Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering'. So we technically had the industrials in there kicking around.

Anyways, till this day, I still don't know exactly what they do. Except for the fact that some get hired at banks. I also remembered, we had thesis groups in which mechanicals and industrials were mixed together. Some of the industrial 'theses' involved the following (no joke):

- Analyzing patient comfort wearing a bandage like thermometer that transmits wireless signals back to the doctor.
- Coming up with a phone user interface for blind people.
- Predicting the break-down rate of a certain machine mathematically.
- Figuring out in which procedure the staff in a surgery theater should set up their equipment and how it should be placed.

Soooo, long story short, if someone were to ask me (being 'near' industrial engineers) what they do, I would still have no idea.

[YongeIrish]

I went to UofT for mechanical engineering, and while this fact may seem unrelated to your question, the department was called: 'Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering'. So we technically had the industrials in there kicking around.

Anyways, till this day, I still don't know exactly what they do. Except for the fact that some get hired at banks. I also remembered, we had thesis groups in which mechanicals and industrials were mixed together. Some of the industrial 'theses' involved the following (no joke):

- Analyzing patient comfort wearing a bandage like thermometer that transmits wireless signals back to the doctor.
- Coming up with a phone user interface for blind people.
- Predicting the break-down rate of a certain machine mathematically.
- Figuring out in which procedure the staff in a surgery theater should set up their equipment and how it should be placed.

Soooo, long story short, if someone were to ask me (being 'near' industrial engineers) what they do, I would still have no idea.

sounds like a marginally more technical version of Industrial Design.

[MarkovChain]

It's far from a "business degree."

Some of the concepts you'll learn and apply - should you decide to pursue the field - are optimization (this is the crux of what you'll be doing), probability theory (calculus based), stochastic processes (advanced probability theory), numerical methods, etc. Like you said, it's about maximizing some factor, like output, given a certain constraint (IE resources). This can be applied to numerous business processes.

[Eyies]

I get the impression from some Indys that they have no idea either.. any indy grads in industry now?

[GateGuardian]

....so it's a math degree with "engineering" slap to it?????????????????????

It's far from a "business degree."

Some of the concepts you'll learn and apply - should you decide to pursue the field - are optimization (this is the crux of what you'll be doing), probability theory (calculus based), stochastic processes (advanced probability theory), numerical methods, etc. Like you said, it's about maximizing some factor, like output, given a certain constraint (IE resources). This can be applied to numerous business processes.

[frozenmelon]

It's far from a "business degree."

Some of the concepts you'll learn and apply - should you decide to pursue the field - are optimization (this is the crux of what you'll be doing), probability theory (calculus based), stochastic processes (advanced probability theory), numerical methods, etc. Like you said, it's about maximizing some factor, like output, given a certain constraint (IE resources). This can be applied to numerous business processes.

Sounds like operations research and management science.

[jumbo463]

I've posted a few months ago about going into Industrial Engineering in university from a technical college of Electronics Technician training.

I've been doing my research and I'm confused with the terms of systems operations, operations management, operations research, supply chain management, etc that is used often when describing Industrial Engineering.

Just how broad is this field? I think there's a huge difference between designing automation processes to operations management. I know one thing for sure; Industrial Engineeering is about maximizing efficiency and it's one of the most Math intensive engineerings out there [feel free to correct me if I am wrong] which can go from range from social [hospitals, airports] to manufacturing plants.

Aside from your engineering core courses, what are some of the things that you do for your Industrial Engineering courses? Specifically, technical things that require analytical and calculating results? Seeing how broad IE is, does this mean it can range from employment in the blue collar industry, like automation production to white collar Operations Management careers?

I've looked at Decisions Sciences and Management Information Systems [gathering of information and basing your business decisions from results] from John Molson and there are some things in here that I can see an Industrial Engineer do.

I've been in the workforce for quite a few months and feel that there isn't really much "electronics" tech stuff that I could do. The amount of time used to troubleshoot hardware costs so much it's cheaper to just buy a new product and most of the things I'm doing is just computer-related tech support with my current training, which gets repetitive and extremely boring.

I know what Mech Eng is, E. Eng, Comp Eng, Bio Eng....but Industrial Engineering? It seems like it's just a business degree slapped with Engineering to make it all nice and shiny.

p.s Let's not turn this thread into a demand thread :P

I am an industrial engineering grad. basically i would say industrial engineer maximize efficiency like u said. and that very important in all industries. Look at it this way, Industrial Engineer is able to reduce cost, reduce cycle time but no other field of engineering could. so go figure... are we just a business degree but being called engineer

[Ceryx]

Sounds like operations research and management science.

Industrial Engeering is opertaion reseach/management science.

The one in UT also has human interface design and information system stream.

[Truemana]

....so it's a math degree with "engineering" slap to it?????????????????????

I am an industrial engineering grad. basically i would say industrial engineer maximize efficiency like u said. and that very important in all industries. Look at it this way, Industrial Engineer is able to reduce cost, reduce cycle time but no other field of engineering could. so go figure... are we just a business degree but being called engineer

Ask the engineering professional associations (APEGx, PEO, etc) what the definition of an engineer is. They don't know, and that's why the term can't be protected from being used in job titles. That's why "Systems Engineers", aka IT Professionals, (not actual BASc/BEng) aren't barred from using the term. Courts have told that the definition these organizations use is too broad and could be massaged for nearly any career:

“[T]he creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.”

Also OP, remember that most engineering disciplines are combinations or specializations of the core disciplines (Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical). Don't fret too much about the discipline you're in in school. You can vary your skills to apply to different positions. Our Senior Engineer in an electrical consulting firm is originally a Chemical from UBC.