2006-09-15 04:54:57 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
Let me tell you a personal history.
From the third grade on, when I got my first chemistry set for Christmas, I wanted to be a physicist or chemist. When I got into college, I discovered that, although I was fairly good at it, I found physics boring...even PhD level physics.
Then I discovered Industrial Engineering... wow! For me, it was the perfect combination of complex mathematics and real-world, tangible problems to solve. For the first time in my long college career, I actually enjoyed what I was studying. I even joined and presented conference papers for ORSA and TIMS (both industrial sciences/engineering organizations).
What made IE/IS/OR/MS (all variants on industrial engineering) interesting was solving industrial or management problems that were meaningful in the real world. Here are some examples:
1. How to set up checkout stands so that no more than three people will be in line (Three's a crowd) in a grocery store.
2. How to feed and stack aircraft arriving at an airport so that each arriving aircraft will not be in the air excessively while awaiting its turn to land.
3. How to build and implement a continuous production line; so that each element will have just in time resources to work with...no scarcities and no over supply.
4. How to acquire and allocate resources optimally so that there will be minimum costs and maximum profits in what is being manufactured or built.
5. How to ensure that arriving data in a data stream will be processed entirely and none of it will be dropped.
There are a lot more where the above came from. But you see the deal with IE; it's about applying math and the scientific approach to real-world issues. That's what makes it fun.
2006-09-15 07:07:46 · answer #1 · answered by oldprof 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, you can tell "the great one" is only a student... Industrial Engineering is necessary in any factory in the world. It certainly isn't glamorous, it certainly isn't the highest paying, but it can be quite interesting and rewarding, just like any Engineering discipline.
Actually, many people think about Civil engineering the same way he thinks about Industrial... If you go into Civil engineering, you will most likely be working for the Department of Transportation or designing sewers... FUN!
The first poster described industrial engineering in its basic form. There is no way to tell "everything about Industrial Engineering"
2006-09-15 06:10:54 · answer #2 · answered by S W 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yup, it's all about Statistical Process Control. So, if you master statistics, you've taken a big step in becoming an accomplished Industrial Engineer.
Of course, you'll have to learn a little about manufacturing technologies and methodologies. But, Quality Control is the IE's bread and butter... so, master Statistics!
2006-09-15 11:28:48 · answer #3 · answered by entropy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
industrial engineering is not a good career,Is the easiest of all engineering fields and the less respected.You don't have to be intelligent to be an industrial engineer.The real good engineering fields are civil,electrical and mechanical.Also the job is boring,very boring.
2006-09-15 05:00:59 · answer #4 · answered by The Apostle 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no, but i can tell you nothing about industrial engineering
trees, i can tell you a lot about trees...would you like to hear?
2006-09-15 13:08:08 · answer #5 · answered by Cap'n Donna 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It has to do with the whole production process. (Quility control, imporving time and movements, critical paths and so on).
2006-09-15 04:57:44 · answer #6 · answered by morganna_f 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋