What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial Engineering is...

...a field focused on decision-making, improvement and analysis. Industrial engineers are often business-driven and people-oriented. The skills of industrial engineers include: quantitative modeling, statistical analysis, computing, work systems improvement, economic reasoning, management and communications.

Graduates of the Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas work for Amazon, American Airlines, ArcBest, BNSF Railway, Boeing, Burns & McDonnell, Cerner, Dillards, Disney, FedEx, Frito Lay, General Motors, Google, JB Hunt, John Deere, Lockheed Martin, MasterCard, Nestle, PepsiCo, Phillips 66, Sam’s Club, Texas Instruments and Walmart..

Graduates choosing to further their education have attended graduate engineering and MBA programs at Clemson, Duke, University of Florida, Georgia Tech, MIT, Michigan, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Standford, Virginia Tech, and of course the University of Arkansas.

In the complicated, interconnected world of the twenty-first century, industrial engineers are more important than ever, helping people cooperate and get things done.

Example Areas of Study Include

Use science, engineering and management skills to make decisions that help companies become more competitive. For example, you could work as the corporate vice president and oversee the entire sales division of a company.

Use mathematical and computer modeling to organize the purchase, storage, transportation and delivery of goods, and find ways to effectively use limited resources. You could work for a clothing company, deciding exactly how many items they should keep in stock at one time and creating a system to deliver the goods to stores.

Improve employee efficiency, safety and productivity by studying how the human body fits into the workplace. You could work in the manufacturing industry, designing new hand-held tools that reduce carpal tunnel syndrome.

Improve the quality of finished products with statistics and management techniques. You could use statistical analysis to help a car manufacturing operation improve the overall quality of its vehicles.

Manage and control the flow of goods, energy, information and other resources like products, services, and people from the source of production to the marketplace.

Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas

  • A Community of Learning—With an open-door policy, the IE faculty at the U of A are always available to students. Class sizes are kept small, and questions are always welcome.
  • Ties to the Working World—As an IE student, you will solve real engineering problems for real companies. In addition, our faculty have many ties to industry which provides excellent employment connections for graduating students.
  • A-4-U—Distinguished alumni of the department provide extensive support to students through mentoring and mock interviews.
  • Student Organizations—The U of A chapter of the IE honor society, Alpha Pi Mu, consistently ranks among the top five chapters nationwide. Also, our student chapter of the professional society, IISE, (Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers), is traditionally one of the top five largest chapters.
  • Accreditation—The BS degree in Industrial Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET; http://www.abet.org/.