Fall / Winter 2019

Also in this IssueCHALLENGE MET 05

5 REASONS TO GET A GRADUATE DEGREE IN ISE 12

STUDENTS MEET THEIR GRAND CHALLENGES 20

How ISE students engineered a better way to get breast milk to babies in need

Page 18

FROM: DONORSTO: BABIES

Spring / Summer 2019

Department HeadDr. Julie Swann

Director of Graduate ProgramsDr. Yahya Fathi

Director of Undergraduate ProgramsDr. Kanton Reynolds

inGear StaffEditor and Design DirectorRobert Lasson

Graphic DesignersRobert Lasson, Ian Price, Rebecca Ross

Contributing WritersLarry Bowman, Robert Lasson, Ian Price, Rebecca Ross, Julie Swann

Contributing EditorsRichard Bernhard, NC State College of Engineering Commuications

Photographers and Photo CreditsLarry Bowman, Tony Blevins, Damon Butler, Clark Nexsen, Rick Coffey, Cheryl Doninger, Shari Eberhard, Rachel Figard, French West Vaughan, Rebecca Griffin, Rashida Hodge, ISEGSA, Ravi Jaikumar, Jeff Johnson, Justin Lancaster, Gayle Lanier, Robert Lasson, Lingchao Mao, Leon McGinnis, Andres Medaglia, Scott Moody, Chang S Nam, Stuart Nisbet, NC State University, Oakland Raiders, Dave Parker, Joe Pleasant, Jr., MLB, Kim Schofield, Shutterstock, Juli Trexler, WakeMed Milk Bank, Bagas Wardono

inGear is a publication of the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. It is distributed two times a year to alumni, IE departments, faculty, students and friends. We welcome your feedback about the magazine and invite submissions of news to ise-socialmedia@ncsu.edu.

To receive news updates throughout the calendar year, please subscribe to inGear online by going to go.ncsu.edu/JoininGear.

NC State Engineering Foundation, Inc.Campus Box 7901NC State UniversityRaleigh, NC 27695-7901919.515.7458go.ncsu.edu/EngrFoundation

Change of Address?Visit go.ncsu.edu/UpdateMyInfo or send address corrections to alumnianddonor_records@ncsu.edu; or call 919.515.7458, toll-free: 866.316.4057.

@ 2019. The Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering produced 5,800 copies this document at a cost of $8,753.00.

DEGREES OFFERED• B.S. in Industrial Engineering

• Accelerated Bachelor/Master in IE

• Master in Industrial Engineering

• Master in Industrial Engineering (Online)

• M.S. in Industrial Engineering

• Master of Industrial Engineering /Master of Business Administration

• Doctor of Philosophy in IE

Operations Research• Master in Operations Research

• M.S. in Operations Research

• Doctor of Philosophy in Operations Research

Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering

• Master in Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering

• Master of Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering (Online)

National Rankings (U.S. News)

Undergraduate Program: #12

Graduate Program: #15

Degrees Granted (2018-2019)

78 Undergraduates

59 Masters

15 Ph.D.

Faculty (2018-2019)

25 Tenured and Tenure-track

7 Distinguished Professors

6 Professors

7 Associate Professors

5 Assistant Professors

7 Lecturers

12 Emeritus

17 Adjunct

Enrollments (2018-2019)

284 Undergraduates

129 Masters

72 Ph.D.

BY THENUMBERS

Dr. Julie SwannISE Department Head and A. Doug Allison Distinguished Professor

“Without you, ISE and the University would never have reached and exceeded their goals for their inaugural Day of Giving.”

go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 1

Dear Alumni and Friends of ISE,

Many of the articles in this magazine are about facing and conquering challenges. In fact, two of them involve the Grand Challenges for Engineering - more on that later. So, I want to start by saying, “THANK YOU” for the generosity of our department’s alumni, students, staff, faculty, and friends in helping us meet our challenge. Without you, ISE and the University would never have reached and exceeded their goals for their inaugural Day of Giving. See “Where in the World are ISE Alumni?” on page 25 for stories from some of our alumni who live all over the world.

It was an overwhelming success and exceeded even my lofty expectations. As you may know, I like to win - and win we did. I do not want to give away the results here, but you can see them and all the details from NC State’s Day of Giving on page 30.

As I had mentioned before, there are two stories about the Grand Challenges for Engineering. The first involves undergrads Rachel Figard and Grant Jordan who made up two members of the five-person team from NC State that traveled to London to compete in the Global Grand Challenges Summit.

Each summit features a student team competition of innovation, design, and business development based on themes related to a major challenge facing society and the planet. This year’s theme? Engineering in an unpredictable world. Turn to page 5 to learn more about their trip and how our team faired in the competition (SPOILER: They did really well).

The second article about Grand Challenges for Engineering involves four ISE undergrads — Alaina Alford, Meriem Laroussi, Katie Lawson, and Hannah Teeters — who received Grand Challenges Scholarships from NC State. These scholarships are, in the words of the National Academy of Engineering, “Aimed at inspiring young engineers across the globe to address

the biggest challenges facing humanity in the 21st Century.”

Alford and Laroussi chose the Advance Personalized Learning track; Lawson selected to work in the Reverse Engineer the Brain area; and Teeters picked Engineer Better Medicines. You can read each of their stories in “Students Meet Their Grand Challenges” on page 20.

Speaking of challenges, who likes the process of moving? Well, we have begun the long procedure of cleaning out and packing up the ISE Department in preparation for our move next summer to Fitts-Woolard Hall. Our new home is looking great and right on schedule. You can see some of the latest photos from inside and outside the building on page 8.

Stay in touch, Wolfpack!

Dr. Julie L. Swann

Do you like inGear?Please take a second to tell me what you like and

what you would like to see (jlswann@ncsu.edu).Thanks,

Julie

2 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

5 Questions with ...

RICK COFFEYHometown:Graduating Class:Career Overview:

Wilkesboro, NC

BSIEFMM, 1978After graduating from NC State, Rick Coffey began his career with Stanley Furniture in Virginia. At the age of 24, he became Stanley’s youngest plant manager. From there, he worked at several furniture companies including Broyhill, Thomasville, and MASCO. Then in 1998, Coffey bought an existing upholstery business and Morganton Chair was born. In 2000, his specialty upholstery business flourished and merged with McCreary Modern. At 44, Coffey became president and COO of McCreary Modern and maintains that position today.

What is the single most important experience or understanding you gained in the ISE department? To embrace change, question everything and never stop learning!

What is the most pressing issue facing human society that engineers should be working harder to solve? The proper identification and reduction in non-value-added processes and

operations.

What would you like to accomplish in your career? What are you most proud of so far? I would like to create a legacy and culture that enables McCreary Modern to meet the future demands for manufacturing in America. I am most proud of helping create a company that is considered one of the most successful, innovative, and productive

in our industry.

If you were not in the engineering field, what would you likely be doing? My formal industrial engineering career only lasted a couple of years. However, it enabled me to use these skills to quickly move forward on a very successful

and rewarding career path.

What advice do you have for current ISE students? Become an expert in observation and analysis. To use an old manufacturing cliché, “What you see is the best it will ever be.” Continuous process improvement is critical to an organization’s success and survival. Also, always seek and never dismiss a simple solution. Use the KISS Method, Keep It Simple Stupid.

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IN THIS ISSUE

CHALLENGE METTwo ISE students travel to

London to compete in one of the biggest student engineering

competitions in the world.

FROM: DONORSTO: BABIESHow ISE student teams engineered a better way to get breast milk safely from donors around the state to babies in need up and down the east coast.

Also in this IssueMEET LEILA HAJIBABAI 06FACULTY PROFILE: CHANG “CS” NAM 07DAY OF GIVING RESULTS 30

18

20

04

05

12STUDENTS MEET THEIR GRAND CHALLENGESFour ISE students joined the Grand Challenges Scholarship Program and are confident they can face any engineering challenge that comes their way.

ISE IN THE PROSThree ISE alumni — Anton Ipsen, AJ Cole III, and Andrew Knizner — are playing professional sports in some of the biggest leagues in the world.

5 REASONS TO GET A GRADUTE DEGREE IN ISEHerer are five ideas for you to consider if you are on the fence about pursuing a graduate degree.

4 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

ISE IN THE PROSANTON IPSEN

ANDREW KNIZNER

In 2014, Ipsen decided to pack up his goggles and head to NC State to swim for the Wolfpack. He didn’t take long to settle in and start breaking records. By the time the 2016 Rio Olympic Games came around, he had earned All-ACC, All-ACC Academic, and All-America honors. During the Olympics, Ipsen finished 18th in the 1,500-meter freestyle for Denmark and 20th in the 400-meter freestyle. He returned to lead the Wolfpack for his final season and finished off his stellar college career by taking his first NCAA Championship title in the 1650-meter freestyle. After graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA, Ipsen joined the Cali Condors ISL team while he prepares for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. After the Olympics, Ipsen will attend MIT to get his master’s in statistics.

AJ COLE IIIIn February of 2014, AJ Cole III signed with the Wolfpack to punt for the football team and enrolled at NC State for the 2015 spring semester. He was a four-year starter and finished his collegiate career ranked second in the program’s history in punting yards and third in punts. As a junior, he was a finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy, an award given to the college football player who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement, and he was a semifinalist as a senior. During his junior year, Cole was one of 22 players in the nation to join the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, which honors community service. Cole’s commitment to service was best shown when he traveled on spring break to Nakuru, Kenya, where he volunteers at the Mountain Park Academy working with the children. This is something he had started in high school and continued throughout his time at NC State. After graduating in May, he attended the Oakland Raiders’ rookie mini-camp and impressed the team so much that they signed him to a contract. He later won the starting punting job during training camp and kicked off his rookie season in September.

In 2014, Andrew Knizner began his college career at NC State as a member of the baseball team. It didn't take long for him to find success earning a spot on the ACC Academic Honor Roll, First Team Freshman All-America, and All-ACC third team. He was the first Wolfpack freshman to earn all-conference since Carlos Rodon in 2012. Before his sophomore season, he switched from third base to catcher. After his junior year, the St. Louis Cardinals drafted Knizner in the seventh round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft. Knizner signed with St. Louis and made his professional debut with the Johnson City Cardinals. In 2019, he began the season with St. Louis' Triple-A Memphis Redbirds. But on May 31, the Cardinals called him up to the major leagues for the first time. Knizner made his major league debut at Busch Stadium on June 2 versus the Chicago Cubs. On July 24, he hit his first major league home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates, leading St. Louis to a 14-8 win.

Anton Ipsen swims for the Cali Condors while training for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

AJ Cole III punts for the Oakland Raiders

Andrew Knizner catches for the St. Louis Cardinals

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Two of the five NC State engineering students selected by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) to

represent the U.S. at the 2019 Global Grand Challenges Summit (GGCS) in London were from the ISE Department. The team consisted of ISE’s Rachel Figard and Grant Jordan, as well as Silvana Alfieri (environmental engineering and environmental policy), Kevin Duke (civil engineering), and Pippin Payne (mechanical engineering and religious studies). The NAE selected NC State as one of the five finalists to represent the U.S. in London against 10 teams from the U.K. and China, who qualified by similar methods. When the competition was over, the Wolfpack finished first in the U.S. and second in the world.

Their adventure began back in February when the NAE announced the national sustainability pitch competition in April. They formed their team and traveled to Washington D.C. to compete against more than 50 teams from across the country. After winning a place in the finals, the team spent the summer improving their business model for the next round of competition.

The team knew that to succeed against global competition, they would have to

take their concept to the next level. So, they not only addressed the sustainability side of the problem but the societal side as well. The team created the business Peak Coffee Processing. To improve sustainability, they developed an affordable treatment process that would not only filter the toxic wastewater from coffee production but turn that waste into clean water and fertilizer that coffee growers could use to increase crop yields and reduce topsoil erosion. “We are the first team to be able to mass-produce both clean water and fertilizer from this wastewater,” shared Figard. “That is important because the fertilizer has more economic value to farmers than the filtration system costs.” At the same time, their system also benefits the villagers that live around coffee plantations. “Usually the toxic wastewater ends up straight in their drinking water supplies, where it causes negative health effects for most of the villagers living near the plantations, explained Jordan.

This solution impressed the six-member panel of judges, which was made up of distinguished academics, industry-leading experts, and C Suite executives from around the world. They judged the teams based on their original concepts, business

model development, uniqueness, and pitch quality. After all groups pitched, the judges deliberated and the NC State team placed first among the U.S. teams and second in the world.

Global Grand Challenges Summit

The GGCS, a collaboration between the NAE, the U.K.’s Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, offered each student more than a single competition.

During the student collaboration events, more than 300 students came together from across the U.S., U.K., and China to take place in a set of high-impact experiences. “We did everything from simulations, networking, hearing from industry-leading speakers, and capped the collaboration off with a smaller pitch competition,” explained Figard. For the pitch competition, students formed into teams of six consisting of two members from each country. They had less than 12 hours to develop a full business pitch aimed at solving a Grand Challenge for Engineering or U.N. Sustainable Development Goal. “This was a truly extraordinary opportunity and we got to connect with some of the best scholars from across the globe,” said Jordan .

CHALLENGE METThe NC State student team showing their Wolfpack pride after placing second in the world [Top Right] Rachel and Grant

outside of the County Hall in London

[Bottom Right] The NC State team accepting their second place finish in the competition

6 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

MEET LEILA HAJIBABAIIt was her interest in mathematics,

physics, and the arts that drew her to engineering and her enthusiasm

for mentorship that attracted her to teaching. So, becoming an engineering professor seemed like a no-brainer. Say "Hello" to the ISE Department's newest faculty member, Dr. Leila Hajibabai.

Assistant Professor Hajibabai, who received her Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, selected NC State for two reasons. "I was attracted to working at NC State due to its amazing academic environment," said Hajibabai. "NC State is very prestigious in engineering, science, and math, and ISE at NC State is among the top-ranked industrial engineering departments in the nation." She always wanted to be part of a university where she can grow and educate successful future leaders. "I also like the Raleigh area as it is a great city for living in terms of size, weather, access to amenities, and raising a family."

Her research focuses on resilient and economic transportation services in regards to emerging technologies and human-made decisions. Some examples include dynamic resource management, automation in transportation networks, routing and scheduling, supply chain logistics, and asset management. "I am focusing on renewable-energy-driven mobility services with their underlying infrastructure design, utilization management, and social perspectives,” shared Hajibabai. ”My team develops methodologies to solve these complex problems in large-scale networks."

Please join us in welcoming Leila Hajibabai to the NC State ISE Department as she bolsters our data science concentration area.

go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 7

Having a fascination with how things work is a common trait in all great

engineers. So is the willingness to fail and continue trying. As a child, ISE professor CS Nam displayed a passion for both. “When I was a child, I was always fascinated with building things and also taking something like the family’s clock or a toy robot apart to see how they work,” recalled Nam. “Sometimes I could assemble them, but most of the time I failed to put them back together.” But with each failure, he learned a little bit more. This thirst for knowledge drove him to study industrial engineering in college.

While in college, Nam discovered that he had an interest in how humans interact with machines. He wanted to use this knowledge to improve his designs. “While I was studying industrial engineering at college,” Nam

shared, “I became interested in how humans interacted with machines at behavioral, cognitive and neural levels and products and how those systems should be designed to be compatible with humans’ abilities and limitations.”

After expressing his desire to explore this field to his advisor, Nam enrolled at the State University of New York at Buffalo to pursue his master’s degree. He didn’t stop at a master’s degree, though. After finishing at Buffalo, he continued his education at Virginia Tech, getting a Ph.D. in industrial engineering.

Nam didn’t want to keep everything he had learned to himself, though. With his Ph.D., he could finally realize his lifelong dream of teaching. Nam chose NC State to fulfill this dream, attracted by the outstanding work and reputation of NC State, ISE, and the human-systems engineering program. He also wanted to put his knowledge

to use by enhancing scholarship and research. Nam knew that he could bring new dimensions to the department, such as neuroscientific principles and approaches.

Today, Nam teaches and performs research in the areas of Neurally Inspired Human-Systems Engineering and building human brain simulations. Through his research, Nam is working on helping vegetative patients communicate with the outside world. He encourages students with an interest in his research to visit the Brain-Computer Interface and Neuroergonomics Lab and discover more about his work.

Nam has come a long way from his childhood of disassembling toys. He is helping those in need, teaching the next generation of engineers, and enjoying many more successes and even continuing to learn from occasional failures.

CS Nam demonstrates one of his brain-computer interface experiments to chancellor Randy Woodson

8 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK INTO

Fitts-Woolard Hall

OUTSIDE THE MAIN ENTRANCE

OUTSIDE THE NORTH ENTRANCE

go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 9

INSIDE ON THE 1ST FLOOR

INSIDE ON THE 2ND FLOOR

LOOKING OUT FROM THE 2ND FLOOR

To learn more about how you can support Fitts-Woolard Hall and the naming opportunities available, contact Griffin Lamb, Assistant Dean for Development and College Relations with the College of Engineering, at grlamb@ncsu.edu or 919.515.7458.

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10 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

ISE “SEEN”It’s an exciting time to be part of ISE, and these photos prove it. Have you been seen?

ISE senior Rebecca Griffin was the first people to make a donation — University-wide — to the Day of Giving Campaign and earned the ISE Department $2,000

ISE grad student Karl Schuchard and his new friends are having fun at the ISE/MAE Day of Giving Celebration

Event at the Raleigh Times in Downtown Raleigh

ISE grad student Lokesh Karthik Narayanan talks with families about growing living tissues at the

College of Veterinary Medcine Open House

ISE junior Spencer Matthews shows the kids at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences the cool 3D-printed

parts as part of Triangle SciTech Expo

ISE grad student Shari Eberhard qualified and ran in the 2019 Boston Marathon

ISE and OR grad students blow off some steam and celebrate the end of the semester at the Tought and Did

Party hosted by the ISE GSA Student Organization

@ncstateiseon

Instagram

@NCStateISEon

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go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 11

ISE students Nabeel Mehdi and Omkar Bandal present their cloud-based project for Vision Aid which serves the visually challenged in remote towns of India since 2004

A Bachelor of Industrial Engineering degree awarded to Edward F. Parnell, Jr. in 1942.

ISE alumni Daniel Heater showing off the table that he and his classmates built "back in the day" in the Furniture Manufacturing and Management lab

ISE research assistant professor Tim Horn and CAMAL are pushing the boundaries of 3D printing

Senior Jackson Hudson walks across the stage to receive his diploma in the bottom half of his Mr. Wuff mascot costume

Senior Trea Johnson wows the audience with the greatest dance ever preformed at an ISE graduation ceremony

Junior Jessica Berlin protects

the Women’s Soccer Team

as their #1 goalkeeper

Junior Julia Peters cheers on many of NC State’s teams including the Wolfpack Football Team

12 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

5REASONS TO GET A GRADUATE DEGREE IN ISE

#1 - Because You Love ItPassion is the reason most people choose a career. By seeking an education at the graduate level in a subject you are passionate about, you get to learn more about that subject. Our flexible graduate curricula enable you to tailor your degree program to suit your particular needs and passions.

#2 - R-E-S-P-E-C-TEarning an advanced degree is difficult. Employers know this and that is why they often have a higher level of respect for those who complete graduate programs. The degree proves you are capable of setting a goal, following through, and obtaining the results you want. At NC State ISE, you will work and build personal relationships with some of the most respected and recognized faculty members in the field.

#3 - Things ChangeStatistics show that you will change jobs 12 times during your career. An advanced degree offers you versatility in your professional life and makes you much more marketable. It not only allows you to be an expert in your chosen field but gives you the qualifications for a broader spectrum of careers in that career field. ISE’s wide range of concentration areas allows you to learn about everything from the latest smart manufacturing technologies to improving healthcare systems to tackling big data.

#4 - Working it Like a BossGraduate school helps you improve your leadership skills. An advanced degree lets potential employers know that you are willing and able to be a leader in your chosen field. Industrial and systems engineers improve quality and productivity while at the same time cutting waste like time, materials, money, and energy. This is why many NC State industrial and systems engineers are often promoted into management positions. At many major employers, a master’s degree has become the de-facto credential for leadership roles within the company.

#5 - Building Your NetworkEarning a graduate degree means spending more time in school. This gives you more time to build up a portfolio of professional connections. These can help you find a better job than you could have on your own. They can also give you advice and help guide your career. At NC State, you will meet with industry leaders, either as faculty members or as part of your education process. Also, your classmates will become part of your network and those connections can lead to promotions or job placements in the future.

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Did you know that many of today’s healthcare problems are being solved with math

and engineering? Priscille Koutouan discovered this fact while working on undergraduate research. When she was young, Koutouan knew that she wanted to be either a surgeon or an engineer. “I wanted to help people through pursuing medicine, but I also had a passion for mathematics, physics and other similar areas and wanted to use those in an advanced manner to solve problems,” Koutouan reflected. Her mother, who is an electrical and mechanical engineer, was the inspiration for her decision to pursue engineering. “She has always been this example for what I can achieve as a woman in engineering, so studying to become an engineer has always been an option,” shared Koutouan.

Koutouan began her college career studying petroleum engineering at the University of Houston. During her junior year, she participated in a summer research experience project with her mentor, Dr. Taewoo Lee. They worked on streamlining treatment planning for prostate cancer patients using an inverse optimization technique. It was at that moment that she saw the opportunity to combine her passion for engineering and desire to help others through healthcare. She explains, “I didn’t know before about the variety of problems in healthcare that could be improved using engineering techniques. I thought I could only make a difference in people’s lives if I was a physician.” This experience showed her that there were many ways to help improve people’s lives as an engineer.

Dr. Taewoo Lee guided Koutouan to

NC State, where she would meet professors Maria Mayorga and Julie Ivy in the health systems engineering concentration. Their research covers areas of healthcare that Koutouan could see herself doing in the future. Along with the research, she enjoys the NC State ISE program. “Every student I meet is very driven and the professors make themselves available for you if needed and are very encouraging,” said Koutouan. “It is a great environment to work in, especially when things become challenging.”

Koutouan loves being on a campus where people come from different cultures and backgrounds. “It is almost like getting a glance at the world without travelling.” she remarked. She enjoys serving with Chi Alpha Christian fellowship on campus and is a Bible study group leader. She also likes reading and spending time with friends when not focusing on academics.

Although Koutouan has kept her plans for after graduation open, she does have an idea about where she would like to work. “I am interested in working with the Center

for Disease Control, hospitals or other companies that have a research focus on applying models to solve some medical questions or improve a health-related system,” speculated Koutouan. “But, then again, I just finished my first year, so who knows, I might want to stay in academia when it's all finished.”

Priscille Koutouan is a first year Ph.D. student studying in the Systems Anayltics and Optimization concentration. She has plans to focus her research in health systems engineering under the guidance of professors Mayorga and Ivy.

14 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

STUDENTORGSJoining an ISE student organization is one of the best ways for students to build their network. These six organizations will help students broaden their horizons and learn new skills. They are also great for meeting people who can further their success.

Alpha Pi Mu (APM)APM is one of the most recognized societies in the field of industrial engineering. It identifies its members as being the top of their class.

Moreover, the Society invites students to interact with their peers and form relationships to last beyond college. Potential employers see APM students as leaders which let them bring our high level of academic achievement to the workforce. So it’s no surprise that we have succeeded in industry.

Industrial and Systems Engineering Graduate Student Association (ISE GSA)ISE GSA represents graduate students in the ISE Department. It serves as an intermediary between the department and its graduate students for any and all concerns. Their mission includes fostering unity within the graduate students through seminars, social gatherings, and other activities.

The membership of the ISE GSA consists of all graduate students enrolled in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department.

Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)INFORMS is the world’s largest organization for advanced analytics professionals. It focuses on providing data analytics and operations research information, training, and best practices for its members and industry at large.

NC State’s Student Chapter of INFORMS is for both graduate and undergraduate students. For students with interests in the operations research and management science fields, INFORMS is for them.

Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE)IISE is the world’s largest professional society dedicated to supporting the industrial engineering profession. It is perfect for individuals involved with improving quality and productivity.

The NC State IISE student chapter connects students to industrial engineering beyond NC State. As a member, students will have the opportunity to make valuable professional connections, attend academic conferences, sit in on company presentations, and land an internship or job!

SMESME has served the manufacturing industry for more than 80 years. They promote advanced manufacturing technology and developing a skilled workforce. They work with manufacturers to share knowledge and resources to solve industry demands.

NC State’s SME student chapter gives students the opportunity to take manufacturing plant tours, network with upperclassmen and professors, build lifelong friendships. And, it looks great on your resume!

Society for Health Systems (SHS)The Society for Health Systems promotes the use and awareness of systems engineering, analysis, and process improvement in the healthcare field by providing appropriate education and career opportunities to NC State students. This organization is a committee that operated under IISE but focuses specifically on Health Systems Engineering.

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What do LEGOs, a construction contractor, and living your best life have in common? In the case of Lingchao Mao, they all served as the inspiration to pursue a career in engineering. As far back as elementary school, Mao has loved to build things with LEGOs. “I was one of those kids who would save all my money to buy the newest LEGO

spaceship model,” shared Mao. The construction contractor arrived at her door one summer. Her family’s restaurant was undergoing a big renovation that gave Mao the opportunity to follow the lead contractor around. “I saw his ability to build and problem solve as I had never seen in other professions,” she recalled. When most people think about living their best life, they usually think about being smart, popular, influential, and independent. But Mao thinks a little differently, “I want to be a great problem-solver. Because solving problems for others makes me fulfilled. It brings value and enjoyment all at once.”

Mao is an international student who came from Spain, so she had many U.S. universities to consider. NC State stood out as having great engineering and statistics programs, two areas that she enjoyed. Another key was the location. The RTP area is home to many great IT companies such as SAS, IBM, and Cisco. At many universities, recruiters must travel a great distance to attend the campus career fair, but NC State is just a 10-minute drive. This opens room for many on-campus company events and mentorship programs to start building one’s network. Another key reason was the weather. “It is not as hot as the Miami Beaches and almost every spring it snows and we get our classes canceled,” joked Mao. “Isn’t that great?”

Once she had decided on NC State, Mao had to pick a major. The problem was that she liked all of the engineering programs. “You

can’t do 18 programs at once,” confessed Mao. So, she decided on industrial and systems engineering because she felt it

was an “all-in-one” engineering package. “You get to learn a little about civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering; material science, business, as well as useful job skills such as production, logistics, and simulation,” said Mao. The Systems Analytics and Optimization track was attractive to her and the curriculum fit well with her second major, statistics. She also likes the practicality of the ISE program. “It does not only teach you tools, formulas, and concepts, but it also instills a mindset in you, a drive to optimize.”

Her dream job would involve developing algorithms and models. “But like many students, I am still in the stage of reading

research papers, attending webinars, and exploring internships and research experiences,” said Mao. After graduation, Mao plans

to pursue a Ph.D. in operations research after taking a road trip to Yellowstone National Park. “Plan B would be an

M.S. in computational data science,” confided Mao.

But right now, Mao thinks that being a college student is one of the best jobs in the world.

“You get to do all the things that NC State has to offer while getting time

to think about what you want to do with your life and who you want to become.”

Lingchao Mao is a senior who participated in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program and received the 2017 Alpha Pi Mu Outstanding Sophomore Award as well as the 2019 Faculty Senior Scholar Award.

16 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

Outside support through philanthropy and sponsorship allows us to enhance our programs. The ISE Enhancement Fund addresses one of the department’s greatest needs, discretionary support. These funds allow the department head to quickly respond to these opportunities and challenges. For more information, contact:

Mike Walsh | mpwalsh2@ncsu.edu | 919.515.7237

PHILANTHROPY AND SPONSORSHIP

COOPERATIVE EDUCATION (CO-OPS) AND INTERNSHIPSCo-ops and internships allow you to work with some of the nation’s top students. They give you the opportunity to test a student’s effectiveness and potential as a future employee. Students also benefit by gaining valuable work experience. For more information, contact:

Julie Swann | jlswann@ncsu.edu | 919.515.6423.

RECRUITINGInterested in our students? We encourage you to send job announcements to the department. You can also post right on our social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. For more information, contact:

Julie Swann | jlswann@ncsu.edu | 919.515.6423

CAREER FAIRSTake part in one of NC State’s Engineering Career Fairs. This is a great way to enhance your company’s visibility to future job candidates in ISE. To register go to https://www.engr.ncsu.edu/careerfair/employers/ or contact:

Brian Koehler | engineering@ncsu.edu | 919.515.3263

INDUSTRY RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIESISE’s faculty and students work with corporations and governmental agencies to perform in-context research. This research broadens knowledge and creates new methodologies. For more information, contact:

Julie Swann | jlswann@ncsu.edu | 919.515.6423.

Got your own ideas?

We are always eager to explore new and creative ways to team up with our alumni and industry friends. Simply go to go.ncsu.edu/PartnerWithISE

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Outside support through philanthropy and sponsorship allows us to enhance our programs. The ISE Enhancement Fund addresses one of the department’s greatest needs, discretionary support. These funds allow the department head to quickly respond to these opportunities and challenges. For more information, contact:

Mike Walsh | mpwalsh2@ncsu.edu | 919.515.7237

PHILANTHROPY AND SPONSORSHIP

ISE’s senior design course is a chance to work with students who can analyze your proposal and provide valuable solutions. For more information, contact:

Kanton Reynolds | ktreyno2@ncsu.edu | 919.515.0605

PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES

PRESENTATIONS AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE CLASSROOMYou can interact with ISE students through class presentations, panels and lectures. This allows you to engage students in real-world problems and solutions. For more information, contact:

Julie Swann | jlswann@ncsu.edu | 919.515.6423

SUMMER CAMP OPPORTUNITIESYou can interact with future ISE students through class presentations and hand-on exercises. This is a great way to expose students to what it’s like to be an industrial engineer. For more information, contact:

Jason Low | jclow@ncsu.edu | 919.515.1424

TOURS OF INDUSTRIAL FACILITIESHave students tour your industrial facilities. This is a great opportunity for students to see principles taught in the classroom getting put into action. For more information, contact:

Rohan Shirwaiker | rashirwa@ncsu.edu | 919.515.6414

Ready to go?

Simply go to go.ncsu.edu/PartnerWithISE and fill out the short form.

18 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

FEATURE

In North Carolina, there are more than 10,000 premature births each year. These fragile

newborns need the best possible nutrition to grow and develop into healthy infants. Breast milk has life-saving antibodies that protect these preemies against disease and illness.

Ill premature babies sometimes cannot breastfeed and/or their mothers are unable to pump enough milk. For a baby in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), milk donations can be essential to life. This is where WakeMed's Mothers' Milk Bank steps in. It is a non-profit milk bank that provides 200,000 ounces of safe, pasteurized donor breast milk a year to babies

in birthing centers, NICU’s, and hospitals in North Carolina and all along the East Coast.

One of those hungry babies was the child of ISE faculty member Dr. Natalia Summerville. "I have a personal interest in the organization since they donated milk for my baby," shared Summerville.

So when Summerville's Data Analytics for Engineering class selected their projects that support a local non-profit through data analytics, she knew exactly whom to call. "I reached out and discussed some challenges that could be approached through data analytics with their director, Montana Wagner-Gillespie," said Summerville.

Wagner-Gillespie, a 2013 NC State graduate, jumped at the chance to work with the ISE Department. The class identified two problem areas, facility locations and culture testing.

The Facility Locations Project

Currently, Mothers’ Milk Bank has limited drop-off locations available to donors. If a drop-off site is not located near a donor, the milk bank pays for the shipping of the breast milk to their facility. This is quite an expensive process.

To increase the milk bank’s reach and to cut costs, the student team — Jennifer Breese, Diego Hernandez, Sean Murray, Drew Schell, and Conner Walker — developed a facility location

FROM: DONORSTO: BABIES

How ISE students engineered a better way to get breast milk to babies in need

go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 19

FEATURE

mathematical model to determine the effectiveness of more drop-off locations.

The model used data collected by the milk bank that included donation history, donor location (Zip codes), and delivery method (shipped, dropped-off, etc.). With the use of SAS/OR Software, the team determined that the milk bank could open as many as 15 more drop-off locations and save more than $10,000 by doing so. An added benefit to the new locations is that they would increase awareness of the program and encourage others to take part.

"For a nonprofit with limited staff, the research the students did would never have been possible to do internally," said Wagner-Gillespie. "They created a clean, easy-to-understand presentation that could be used to justify donor growth initiatives and new projects to senior leadership. Way to make a difference team.”

The Culture Testing Project

Before accepting any milk, WakeMed screens each donor for many factors including alcohol use, travel to Europe, and use of certain prescription medicines.

Once they have received the milk, it goes through two different testing phases. The first is a pre-culture test in which WakeMed selects random samples and tests them for Bacillus — a pathogenic bacteria that affects premature, non-immunized or low-birth infants.

After the first test, they combine two to four donations into a batch. Then, all batches are tested for Bacillus during the second testing phase. If they find Bacillus, they must discard a large amount of milk. The goal of the student team was to streamline the process to save time and maximize the amount of milk distributed to those in need.

A positive result occurs when either a positive donation slipped through the initial pre-culture testing or a handler contaminated the milk during the pasteurization process. The student team — Jacob Green, Brycen Moser, Liesl Miranda, and Abhimanyu Shah — set out

to determine the frequency of each and whether there was any correlation between particular donors and handlers to result in a positive test.

Through the student team's analysis, they determined that the

milk bank could save over $130,000 worth of discarded milk by pre culture testing every donation during phase one. The cost of the extra tests was only $7,828.50 compared to the $140,000 worth of discarded milk.

The student teams encouraged the milk bank to continue to update its models over the next couple of years to see if new trends and conclusions emerge.

The student team generated a heat map showing the concentration of donors by region Handlers at the WakeMed Mother’s Milk Bank testing samples of donated milk

Milk donation samples are tested twice to ensure babies receive a safe product

20 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

In 2008, The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) created a global vision for how engineers should serve

all people on the planet. They called it the Grand Challenges for Engineering. Its vision statement was only 15 words: Continuation of life on the planet making our world more sustainable, secure, healthy, and joyful.

Currently, engineering education programs around the world develop students for careers in the culture of their own country, and the U.S. is no exception. At the same time all engineers agree that engineering in the 21st century is global. All engineering students graduating today will work globally, even if they do not believe so at the moment. So, it is important to prepare students with the mindset to work anywhere in the world. From this realization, The Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) was born.

The GCSP identifies five competencies that a student must achieve to prepare

them to address the global Grand Challenges for Engineering:

1. Talent 2. Multidisciplinary 3. Viable Business/Entrepreneurship 4. Multicultural5. Social Consciousness

This fall semester, the College of Engineering and the Office of Academic Affairs selected four ISE students —Alaina Alford, Meriem Laroussi, Katie Lawson, and Hannah Teeters — for the GCSP. Alford and Laroussi chose the Advance Personalized Learning track, Lawson selected to work in the Reverse Engineer the Brain area, and Teeters picked Engineer Better Medicines.

ALAINA ALFORDAlford learned about the GCSP from a current scholar, Sydney Floryanzia. "She told me how the program allows there to be a space for like-minded students to find new and innovative ways to

solve grand challenges," said Alford. "I applied to the program because I thought it would be nice to have other students who care about the same problems and learn what their takes are." She also thought that the program would motivate her to get involved in the community and work toward her engineering goals.

Alford chose Advance Personalized Learning because she believes that it is imperative that we understand what helps students learn. She also wants to understand, and change, what success means in the context of the current education system. "As of now, I would like to focus on the correlation, or lack thereof, between standardized testing and retaining information," explained Alford. "This is how success is currently measured in the public education system."

Although she admits her focus may change as she learns more about the

(left to right) Meriem Laroussi, Hannah Teeters, Katie Lawson, and Alaina Alford are confident they can face any engineering challenge that comes their way

go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 21

field, she wants to stay in the realm of technology-rich learning research. "Research in this area could lead to possible changes and developments about how we teach our students and what we should place as product benchmarks," shares Alford. "It is important to attempt to reevaluate the standards of education so students will be more prepared for the lifestyle they choose."

MERIEM LAROUSSILaroussi discovered the GCSP at the Taste of Engineering event held in January, 2019. "A few of the current scholars were there giving a brief overview of the program," she said. "It sounded interesting and hence I applied for the program." She believes that Grand Challenges for Engineering is a perfect example of the goals and desires of an engineer and she wants to contribute. "Investing my time and skills to improve the world is the whole reason I went to college and this program allows me to do that," explained Laroussi.

She selected Advance Personalized Learning because she believes that learning is everywhere and is how humans, along with any other species, grow and evolve. It is fundamental to our survival, health, and enjoyment. "There is no doubt each person has the ability to contribute to their community in a significant way," said Laroussi. "The question becomes how can we advance personalized learning to capitalize on each of our unique perspectives and experiences? In that way, by allowing everyone a place at the table, we are bettering society as a whole."

Laroussi plans to focus her project on the reasons why learning in schools is so constrictive and how it only appeals to a percentage of learners. "I want to research all the different styles of learning, find what types of people are neglected, and how to better incorporate their unique styles into schools or another learning medias," she said. Laroussi believes that schools could better invest their time, research and money into technology that can better serve all students. "No matter where in the world, education is vital to an individual’s or their family’s upward mobility," she explained. "I would like to bridge that gap for them."

KATIE LAWSONLawson learned about the GCSP from the teaching assistant in her E-102 class. His enthusiasm for the program and stories detailing opportunities he had to do research, work with a mentor, and

study abroad were all experiences she wanted to have as an engineering student. Being in an engineering and entrepreneurial family, taught Lawson that an entrepreneurial spirit comes from individuals who gravitate towards opportunities to be innovative and create value. "Through serving others in the GCSP, I

saw an opportunity to combine my love for entrepreneurship with my desire to research neuroplasticity," explained Lawson.

When she applied to the program, her focus was on Engineering Better Medicines. But, a book by Norman Doidge, M.D., fascinated her so she switched to Reverse Engineering the Brain. "Neuroplasticity is fascinating, and I am applying to research labs at

NC State that focus on human cognition / control or neurological diseases / behavioral plasticity," said Lawson.

Lawson plans to focus on better understanding of the brain’s ability to heal, change, and adapt. Just as medication and surgery were once new fields that changed the way doctors treated patients, the discovery of and research in neuroplasticity will change how doctors treat patients and personalize medical care. “Applying to the program and figuring out my path as a scholar has encouraged me to think about my future and how I want to take my entrepreneurial and industrial engineering background to drive advancements that improve quality of life," reflects Lawson.

HANNAH TEETERSTeeters also discovered the GCSP in her E-102 class. She saw it as an opportunity to work beyond the classroom at NC State and to grow as a student in a field in which she could help others.

Teeters chose Engineer Better Medicines because over the past year she had become interested in this field. She has also, through attending seminars, developed an appreciation for how much each engineering department at NC State uses the unique skills of its students and faculty members to transform the essential field of medicine — making it more effective and efficient.

Teeters plans to focus on personalized medicine and would like to start undergraduate research in this area. She also plans to join Engineers without Borders to apply her education to projects that can make a difference in the lives of those in poorer countries. "I would love for my work to allow others to have better and more personalized access to medical treatment not only in the United States but in other parts of the world," said Teeters. "I cannot wait to see where my participation in the GCSP takes me."

"No matter where in the world, education is vital to an individual’s or their family’s upward mobility. I would like to bridge that gap for them."

Meriem Laroussi

22 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

Xiaolei Fang, assistant professor, received the 2019 Best Ph.D. Thesis Award from the Georgia Tech Chapter of Sigma Xi Society. His faculty advisors also received a certificate.

XIAOLEI FANG

Russell King, Foscue Distinguished Professor, received the Teaching Excellence Award in the OR Division of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE).

King was also a finalist for the UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching from NC State’s Offices of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, Faculty Affairs, and Faculty Development at the Teaching Awards Ceremony in April.

RUSSELL KINGRichard Wysk, Dopaco Distinguished Professor, received the Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Industrial Engineering Award from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. The Gilbreth Award is IISE’s highest and most esteemed honor.

Wysk joins fellow NC State ISE faculty members Louis Martin-Vega and Thom Hodgson as winners of this prestigious award.

RICHARD WYSK

Harvey West, associate research professor, received an Award for Excellence from the NC State College of Engineering. This award is the most prestigious honor bestowed upon non-faculty employees.

HARVEY WEST

Maria Mayorga, professor, received the C.A. Anderson Outstanding Faculty Award from the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Mayorga also received the Women & Minority Engineering Most Supportive Faculty Award from the Women & Minority Engineering Program at NC State.

MARIA MAYORGA

go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 23

Osman Ozaltin, assistant professor of personalized medicine, received tenure at the rank of associate professor from the NC State University Board of Trustees. He joined the ISE Department in the fall of 2013 as a Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program cluster hire in personalized medicine.

OSMAN OZALTIN

KARL SCHUCHARD

Karl Schuchard, Ph.D. student, received a 2019 Best Manufacturing and Design Student Paper Award from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. He becomes the third NC State ISE student in a row to win this award joining Parth Chansoria, 2018, and Lokesh Karthik Narayanan, 2017.

Schuchard also received the 2019-2020 E. Wayne Kay Graduate Scholarship from SME. Winners of this scholarship receive $8,000 as well as a one-year complimentary student membership to SME.

Parth Chansoria, Ph.D. student, received a prestigious 2019 Gilbreth Memorial Fellowship from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. He was selected from graduate students throughout North America. PARTH CHANSORIA

Sarah McConnell, senior, received the John L. Imhoff Scholarship from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. This scholarship is for students who have made noteworthy contributions to the development of the industrial engineering profession through international understanding. SARAH MCCONNELL

ISE Research Team, Brandon McConnell, Thom Hodgson, Michael Kay, Russell King, Yunan Liu, and James Wilson received the Richard H. Barchi Prize from the Military Operations Research Society (MORS).

BRANDON MCCONNELL

24 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

The Simio Pack, ISE students Katherine Bygate, Emily Cooke, Julia Hansen, and Meredith Rhoney, won 3rd Place in the Spring 2019 Simio Student Simulation Competition. The contest consisted of 797 students participating in 210 teams. These teams came from 27 schools across 13 countries.

Along with The Simio Pack, a second team from Rick Wysk’s class, Hannah Caison, Ethan Miller, Alana Oktay, and Brooke Rudenhall aka (The Warehouse Bunch), finished as finalists and one of the top 10 teams in the competition. The third team of ISE grad students, Anirudh Baradwaj Sridhar and Swetha Sivakumar, who were mentored by ISE alumnus Jeff Joines also finished in the top 10.

THE SIMIO PACK

Blake Schwartz, Ph.D. student, received the 2018 Army Operations Research Symposium Best Paper Award from the Department of the Army. Schwartz’s presentation at the 2018 Army OR Symposium was selected as Best in Working Group (Operations) and he was invited to submit a paper for the Best of AORS competition.

Binil Starly, professor, received a Convergence Accelerator Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his research project, Product Design and Manufacturing Graph-as-a-Service. The NSF plans to fund his work for up to nine months and up to $1 million.

BLAKE SCHWARTZ

BINIL STARLY

CS Nam, professor, is an editor of the Brain–Computer Interfaces Handbook: Technological and Theoretical Advances which won the 2018 Award for Outstanding Book in STEM from Taylor and Francis Group.

CHANG “CS” NAM

WH

ERE

IN THE WORLD

AR

E

I S E ALUMNI?I S E ALUMNI?

go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 25

ANDRÉS MEDAGLIABogotá, Colombia

Shortly after receiving his Ph.D. from NC State in 2001, Andrés Medaglia joined the faculty of the Industrial Engineering Department at the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, where he served as department chair from 2014 to 2017. Now, being a faculty member in his home country, he sees mentorship as the most valuable academic activity. When recalling his time at NC State, Medaglia remembers the warmth, one-to-one mentorship, and time that the faculty gave with overwhelming generosity to guide him through his doctorate.

As an avid road cyclist, he won the Colombian national title in the individual time trial in the master’s category (46-52) in 2018.

RAVI JAIKUMARNampa, Idaho

After completing his bachelor’s degree in his home town of Chennai, India, Ravi Jaikumar worked for a couple of companies before deciding to pack his bags for the United States and pursue a master’s degree in industrial engineering at NC State in 2015. “NC State prepared me for life after school in the U.S. for sure,” said Jaikumar. He graduated in three semesters and accepted a job with ON Semiconductor in Nampa, Idaho.

As for his life in Idaho, Jaikumar enjoys his involvement in the community and having made good friends. He has been visiting the different national parks — 10 down, 48 to go — and becoming more outdoor-friendly.

BAGAS WARDONOJubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia

After receiving his Ph.D. from NC State in 2001, Bagas Wardono joined the American University of Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia, as an assistant professor in the Industrial Engineering and System Management Department. Then, he worked as a senior lecturer at the Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka in the Management Department in Durian Tunggal, Malaysia. At present, he works as an assistant professor for the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Jubail University College, Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia.

KIM SCHOFIELDAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Kim Schofield received her Bachelor of Science in engineering operations in 1983 from NC State. For more than 16 years she has lived and worked in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah, UAE where she founded her company O2K Limited. Schofield’s engineering degree allows her to facilitate collaboration between her company’s clients including governments, global manufacturers, academia, and technology companies.

Schofield supports the U.S. business community with her participation as a director for AMCHAM Abu Dhabi, a sister organization of the US Chamber of Commerce. She is chair of the SME Committee and Offsets Subcommittee.

WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE

ISE ALUMNI?An industrial engineering degree can be used in almost any industry anywhere. See how some of our alumni have used that to their advantage to live and work all over the world.

26 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

CENTURY FURNITUREJuan Arias, Lisa Grossman, Zachary Johnston

Century Furniture has used the same method for setting fabric waste factors for the last 35 years. These factors play a critical part in determining how much fabric they purchase. The student team’s goal is to discover if there is a more accurate method for determining waste factors and improving inventory accuracy, costing of fabric grades, and customer satisfaction.

CVG - SEAT SEQUENCINGVictoria Atkins, Brycen Moser, Zoltan Pukanecz

CVG’s Concord facility produces custom-designed products using three types of plastic manufacturing technologies: injection molding, reaction injection molding, and thermo-forming. Up until now, they have used an Excel spreadsheet for their injection molding production schedule. The student team’s mission is to develop an automated system that combines their order data from several sources with their equipment availability to streamline their production scheduling process.

CVG - UPHOLSTERY SEQUENCINGJoshua Espinoza, Sarah Hartzog, Alexander Janus

CVG’s Concord facility produces custom-designed products using three types of plastic manufacturing technologies: injection molding, reaction injection molding, and thermo-forming. As demand has grown, corrugated materials have been stored in random locations that leads to big inefficiencies in the production processes. The student team’s goal is to discover the best way to store these materials to optimize their retrieval and replenishment.

CVG - CAB SEALING PROCCESSWesley Jones, Carl Johnson, Sarah Troxell

Workers at CVG’s Kings Mountain facility apply a sealer to clean water out of the joints of Mack Truck cabs manually. This can cause inconsistent amounts of sealer in the drip rail as well as missing areas altogether. The student team’s job is to create processes to reduce defects before they reach final inspection therefore reducing the number of customer complaints. Finally, having these upgrades pay for themselves in the first year.

DUKE ENERGYGustavo Darquea, Joanna Fletcher, Matthew Halsted, Jacob Nagy

Duke Energy has several call centers that answer millions of calls from their customers many of which are routine transactions. There are often inconsistencies amongst these transactions. Duke Energy wants to provide a consistent experience for their customers while at the same time improve the productivity and efficiency of their customer service representatives. The student team’s goal is to develop processes that will reduce the average handle time the routine transactions and predict how these processes will improve customer satisfaction.

GSKMadelyn Lammert, Gibson Russell, LaurieBeth Shapiro, Benjamin Talbert

GSK wants to scale up the production of its multi-dose dry powder inhaler line that treat respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD. They want to make sure they maximize the use of the space in their facility. The student team’s job is to create a simulation model that can be used to figure out what is the best use of their facilities, product mix and staffing.

SENIOR DESIGN

Team GSK (left to right: Gibson Russell, Benjamin Talbert, LaurieBeth Shapiro, and Madelyn Lammert) finishes second

Team CVG - Kings Mountain (left to right: Wesley Jones, Carl Johnson, and Sarah Troxell win first place

go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 27

LENOVOCaitlin Daugherty, Troy Luddy, Alexandra Porter

Due to limited space and substantial growth at their US Fulfillment Center, Lenovo is running out of room to store inventory and wants to avoid having to purchase another facility. The student team’s goal is to develop new methods for optimizing storage space and automating the material handling processes.

SECMATIONBrian Chen, Rachel Hicks, Jackson Hudson, Kyle Rogers

The chemical manufacturing industry must take great care in handling and storing the chemicals they produce. Secmation wanted to develop an Unmanned Ground Vehicle system for use in the Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) process to increase safety and cut environmental impact. The student team’s job is to define the LDAR tasks and methods for performing those tasks. These tasks will then be used to figure out the requirements on robot mobility, manipulation, and sensing capabilities needed. We will also build a draft proposal to obtain funding for our robotic LDAR concept.

REDHATAnton Ipsen, Nishant Singh, Stewart Spanbauer

Driving product awareness and interest is a critical factor of success for any business. RedHat wants to research ways to optimize the traditional methods of Demand Generation and measure how much awareness they create. The student team’s goal is to discover the effectiveness of “Blitz” Campaigns, such as mass cold-calling, and offer recommendations on whether they should continue with this campaign compared to lead generation.

SYNTEC - SUBASSEMBLY & LINE INTEGRATION Madeline Caringi, Alexis Jones, Nicola Sink

Due to limited space, there is a production line balancing issue at SynTec. The small order sizes and small space for storage means that orders have to be placed on the same pallet, requiring workers to move the parts for newer orders to reach older ones. The student team’s job is to develop a solution that will eliminate the need to stack orders without reducing the output possible.

SYNTEC - LEARNING CURVE DEVELOPMENTSean Murray, John Poff, Elizabeth Underkoffler

To better gauge whether or not new employees are effectively learning during training, SynTec wants to create learning curves to better understand employee learning. The student team’s goal is to develop learning curves for every operation in our area.

THE MEDICINE SHOPPEAdelyn Ballard, Hannah Caison, Madison Huckabee, Macie Ware

Medication non-adherence is a serious problem in the US. The Medicine Shoppe is helping address this problem by expanding the number of pills in a premade pack. However, problems related to delivery and inventory have occurred as the program grows. The student team needs to determine how many seniors live in a predetermined zone and define the time period of the insurance agencies. This will allow a cash flow to be mapped out and controlled.

WRIGHT GLOBAL LOGISTICSJoseph Scott, Matthew Simpson, Austin Soell

Due to the desire to downsize, Wright Global Logistics would like to condense their number of facilities to two. The student team’s job is to analyze the footprint of Wright Global Logistics and make recommendations on how to optimize their space. The goal is to reduce the number of buildings used by one.

SPONSORS ENGINEERINGDESIGN DAY|

Team The Medicine Shoppe (left to right: Adelyn Ballard, Macie Ware, Hannah Caison, and Madison Huckabee) takes third place

28 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

HSECP SPONSORSENGINEERING DESIGN DAY

CARILLONThu Le, Caleb Sheffield, Ellen Wilson

Carillon is an assisted living company focused on providing quality care and mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing for its residents. The student team’s will be used to help personalize the care given by Carillon so that it can better meet its goal of providing holistic quality care.

DUKE DEPT. OF MEDICINEBailey Butler, Jumana Jalmiran, Chelsea Nagy

Due to the impact of provider burnout, Duke Medicine is looking for ways to optimize clinic flow so that the workload is distributed more evenly amongst providers. The student team’s goal is to research the causes of provider burnout and find ways to optimize their workload so that they aren’t as overwhelmed.

DUKE SPINE CLINICHisham Abu Nimeh, Jenny Breese, Rebecca Ellis

There is a correlation between patient satisfaction and the amount of time it takes to be treated. The Duke Spine Clinic is trying to increase patient satisfaction by increasing efficiency and decreasing the amount of time a treatment will take. The student team’s job is to help standardize workflow and increase efficiency so that customer satisfaction will increase.

UNC REX HEALTHCAREShari Eberhard, Blake Hilgen, Caitlin Rogers

CT scans and X-Rays are taking longer than expected to complete at UNC Rex Hospital. UNC Rex has discovered that the delays are caused by inefficient patient flow and would like to address that issue. The student team’s job is to help to investigate what is causing the hold up in patient flow and increase the output by 50%.

HEALTHSTATDavid Barnes, Kathryn Hayes, Emily Murphy

Healthstat focuses on holistic medical care and offers an outreach program to help check up on patients. Healthstat would like to better tailor their outreach program to suit patients. The student team’s job is to produce write an in-depth data analysis for the past three years so that Healthstat can improve their outreach and be more successful in reaching patients.

Team Duke Spine Clinic (left to right: Hisham Abu Nimeh, Rebecca Ellis, and Jenny Breese) finishes second

Team UNC Rex Healthcare (left to right: Caitlin Rogers, Blake Hilgen, and Shari Eberhard) wins first place

Team UNC Rex Healthcare also wins the inaugural Fan Favorite online voting competition

go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 29

ADVISORY BOARD 2019Board Chair’s Notes - October 2019

The ISE Department receives valuable input from its advisory board. The board maintains and fosters relationships with students, faculty, the Dean of the College of Engineering, the community and alumni. The advisory board meets each semester.

Larry BowmanBSIE, NC State 1973

ISE Distinguished Alumni 2008

Principal with Bowman Investments, LLC

Gayle LanierBSIE, NC State 1982

ISE DistinguishedAlumni 2007

Senior VP and CCO of Duke Energy (Retired)

Dr. Leon McGinnisPh.D., NC State 1975

ISE DistinguishedAlumni 2006

Professor Emeritus at Georgia Tech

Stuart NisbetBSCSC, NC State 1987

Vice President, Business Intelligence Research & Development at SAS

F. Scott MoodyBSIE, NC State 1980

ISE DistinguishedAlumni 2015

Co-founder and CEO of K4Connect

Cheryl DoningerMCS, NC State 1986

Senior Research & Development Director at SAS

Rashida HodgeMSIE, NC State 2002

ISE Outstanding Young Alumni 2018

Vice President at IBM

Juli TrexlerBSIE, NC State 1997

ISE DistinguishedAlumni 2017

Global Executive and Director for IBM Support

Joe Pleasant, Jr.BSIE, NC State 1972

ISE DistinguishedAlumni 2010

CIO and Senior VP of Premier, Inc. (Retired)

Damon ButlerBSIE, NC State 2002

President at Triangle Blvd

President at Intelligencity

Jeffrey JohnsonBSIE, NC State 1978

ISE DistinguishedAlumni 2017

Owner of JWJ Energy

David ParkerMSM, NC State 1996

Co-founder and CEO of Dexios

Co-founder and CEO of ServeMore

It is a genuine honor for me to serve as chair of the ISE Advisory Board for 2019-20. But before I tell you

about myself, I would like to thank Joe Pleasants for serving as the board’s chair this past year. I know I speak for everyone when I say, “Thank you, Joe.”

I received my bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering 46 years ago, in 1973 and have served on the ISE Advisory Board since 2013. It makes me proud to say that one of my sons also graduated from the College of Engineering and that a grandson has come to NC State to be an engineer.

It’s exciting to see the Department continuing to strengthen its diversity while recruiting the top students and faculty members. In November, ISE will hold its Second Annual Graduate Student Recruitment Event. The three-day event is an opportunity for potential students to visit campus to learn about current research and to experience the quality of our graduate program.

The walls, windows, and doors are up and the excitement continues to build as the construction of Fitts-Woolard Hall is on schedule for its grand opening this summer. Fitts-Woolard Hall will be one of the most dynamic research and education environments in the world, giving ISE a competitive advantage in recruiting the best and brightest students and faculty to NC State.

I encourage everyone who has an interest in industrial and systems engineering at NC State to find a way to get connected. If you haven’t been to campus in a while, make a point to do so. Perhaps a nostalgic visit to Daniels Hall, Park Shops, or Riddick Hall would be meaningful, and Homecoming is always a great time to come back to campus.

GO PACK!!!

Larry BowmanBSIE 1973

Tony BlevinsBSIE, NC State 1989

ISE DistinguishedAlumni 2018

VP of Procurement at Apple, Inc.

30 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

FOUNDATIONS

Julie Swann and the rest of the ISE Department would like to say, “THANK YOU” for your generosity

If you have not heard by now, Dr. Julie Swann, department head, can be a little competitive. "I. Like.

To. Win," she said. "I am more than a little competitive — don’t ask me how my last Monopoly game ended." So, when she learned that there would be competitions throughout NC State's first-ever Day of Giving, she started to make battle plans.

Within the College of Engineering (COE), the competitions were for the highest percentage of alumni to donate and on the highest number of gifts. "The first one is easy," explained Swann. "The second one needs a plan.

So, if I go in and make a gift to ISE in the morning of $100 and make a gift to ISE in the afternoon of $100 — that counts as two gifts for ISE. I think any good industrial engineer should be able to think about Key Performance Indicators and the behaviors that will result."

THE RESULTSJulie Swann pleaded for your help and you responded like true superheroes. "Thank you for your generosity and your time," said Swann. "Thank you for your posts on social media and for reaching out to your colleagues. Thank you for sending us your stories. I am grateful for the outpouring of support from all corners of North Carolina and the world."

Because of the generosity from ISE supporters, the Department received:

• The highest percentage of alumni who donated to a Department

• The highest amount of prize money earned by a Department

• The second most departmental gifts in the COE

• The second highest dollar amount of donations

• The second highest number of new donors

Also, student Rebecca Griffin was the first person to make a donation University-wide and earned the ISE Department an extra prize.

THANK YOUOn the Day of Giving, ISE supporters provided critical support for students and faculty members. But the event also gave ISE a chance to reach out and engage with its alumni and friends. "I would love to continue that conversation," shared Swann. "Please send us your story about what you have been doing since you graduated, personal or professional. Tell us about someone from NC State who changes your life or a fun memory you have from your time at NC State."

Universities are life-changing places. ISE thanks everyone for joining in on this journey.

go .ncsu .edu/ inGear | 31

FOUNDATIONSDONORLIST

The Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at NC State is grateful to our donors for their generous support. This list represents donations between January and June of 2019. While we make every effort to be accurate and thorough, it is possible to accidentally omit or misspell a name. Please contact 919.515.7237 with any additions or corrections.

CORPORATE GIFTS

Bank of America Foundation

Brinks Incorporated

Carillon Assisted Living

Cloudera Foundation

Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc.

Duke University

GlaxoSmithKline Corporation

Goldman Sachs Foundation

Healthstat Inc.

Honeywell

IBM

Institute for Defense & Business

Intel Foundation

Merck Company Foundation

Microsoft

Reynolds American Foundation

Schneider Electric

Toshiba Global Commerce

UNC Rex Healthcare

ALUMNI, FACULTY, STAFF, STUDENTS, AND FRIENDS

Sadaf M. Adam Zach Adams Burcu Adivar Muralidharan Alagarraj Sidney B. Allen IIIDebbie Allgood-Staton Christopher A. Becker Timothy E. Beeker Neal M. Bengtson Vishal Prakash Bhandari Wendy C. Blue Phillip H. Bonardi Daniel C. Botz Susan A. Breniman Michael T. Brohawn Evelyn C. Brown Damon C. Butler Darrell Butler David Butler Sarah C. Butz Steven A. Cartee Alexander M. Cathey Parth Chansoria Jocelyn Chase Kim Childs Fernando Curado Royal T Daniel IIIJanet S. Davis W. Alexander Deaton, Jr.Jia Deng Mohamed DesokyCheryl G. Doninger John P. Durham Gordon M. Earle, Jr.Cynthia N. Elderkin Iman Vasheghani Farahani Yahya Fathi Kenneth D. FranklinWanda B. FranklinJennifer M. Frix Laura E. Geary Todd Goldfarb Rebecca D. Griffin Marissa D. Grisham Ashlyn Grobman Steven L. Grobman Mary E. Hadley Yiwei Han William T. Hardy Daniel W. Heater Elizabeth H. Hester

Rashida A. Hodge Thom J. Hodgson Ethan P. Houser Jackson L. Hudson Anton O. Ipsen Julie S. Ivy Matthew J. Izzo Addie L. Jackson Ravi Jaikumar Jumana Jalmiran Qingwei Jin Yayun Jin Jeffrey W. Johnson Jeffery A. Joines Courtney L. Jones Regenia Jones Wesley Jones Wesley N. Jones Xiangcheng Kong Jeremy Daniel Kramer Robert P. Laing Justin E. Lancaster Dwain K. Lanier Gayle S. Lanier Robert R. Lasson Thomas K. Laundon Josh Layne Tronda A. Lee Jiranut Loetamonphong Achut Malur Atchyuta Bharadwaj Manda Lingchao Mao Bob Marx Scott B. Matthews Spencer G. Matthews Martha Ann C. Mayo Jean M. Mccabe Leon F. Mcginnis, Jr.Michael L. McLamb James S. Mclawhorn Andres L. Medaglia Allen Ronald Mendes F. Scott Moody W. Kara Moon FrenchRamadas K. Murali Patrick Murray Urs Nager Siddhartha Nambiar Richard E. Nance James C. Neill Stuart A. Nisbet

Isaac D. Osabutey-Aguedje Thomas C. Paisley Jr.Kyle E. Paret David C. Parker Jr.Mary S. Parker Edward Fitzgerald Parnell Jay Paschall Hiren Vitthalbhai Patel Michael S. Patrick Thomas D. Pearson Jason W. Peele Jennifer L. Pennock Cindy Pipes Jerry W. Pipes Joseph M. Pleasant JrChristina M. Pucci Stephen E. Quirk Girish A. Ramachandra Bharath Ramachandran Sandeep R. Ramakrishna Nicholas E. Randall Caroline K. Reda Ralph J. Reda Phillip B. Renfrow Nancy Roberts Rod Robinson Amy E. Roosje William A. Russell IVKarl G. Schuchard Sara Shashaani Angela Sherrill Timothy M. Sherrill Rohan A. Shirwaiker Michael J. Shiver William L. Sigmon, Jr.William E. Simmons IIIFred G. Singer Ravindra Singh Mikayla L. Slomski Kathryn N. Smith Mindy B. Smith Alan Sowards Randall W. Spencer Rob Squires Kenneth A. Stevens H. Brad Sullivan Julie L. Swann Stephen M. Taylor Alec E. Thomas Margaret G. Tobey C. Michael Trexler

Juli Sherbon Trexler Manish Tripathy Emily L. Tucker Kelly F. Turner Reha M. Uzsoy Brian Vanover Bo Walden Jr.William W. Walker Michael P Walsh JrChris Warren Eric S. Warren William R Watson Donald B Wechsler Chuang Wei Sr.Karen T Welton Taylor R. Wingate Lelon W. Winstead Jr.S. Travis Worth David N. Wurst Samuel W Wurst Kathleen M. Wynegar Kanishka Yadav Willy G Yamamoto Robert E. Young Kevin A. Zak Anthony T. Zellars Ling Zhang

32 | inGear - Fal l /Winter 2019

FOUNDATIONS

WAYS TO GIVE BACK TO ISE

Annual Giving: Annual gifts to ISE are generally for an

unrestricted purpose. Gifts of more than $1,000 qualify for

membership in the Dean’s Circle. Annual gifts from alumni

are measured as “participation rate” and directly affect

national rankings.

In-Kind Gifts: These are gifts of goods or services to the

Department at a discount or no cost.

Capital Gifts: These gifts go toward “brick and mortar” projects.

Donors are given “naming opportunities.” These include the

planned Engineering Oval building.

Ready to help?Go to go.ncsu.edu/ISEgiving to donate to the department today

Planned Giving: Planned gifts can be as simple as a bequest

(including us in your estate plans). Other options include trust

vehicles and annuities, which have the potential to provide an

income stream and significant tax benefits.

Endowment: An endowment is a fund held in perpetuity

that benefits a specific purpose. Most endowments held

by the Department are either for scholarships or endowed

faculty purposes.

Special Gifts: These gifts are directed to unique projects,

centers or initiatives as directed and approved by the Dean

of Engineering.

Mike Walsh | Director of Development | 919.515.7237 | mpwalsh2@ncsu.edu

Would you like to help the Department continue to provide world-class industrial engineering education and

relevant, cutting-edge research? Here are some options:

For more information, please contact Mike Walsh at 919.515.7237 or mpwalsh2@ncsu.edu. The Federal Tax

Identification Number for the Engineering Foundation is 56-6046987.

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Becoming a senior design sponsor is rewarding for both you and the student team. A sponsorship is an opportunity to work with students who can analyze your proposal and provide a valuable solution.

Throughout the semester students communicate with presentations, reports, and emails or conference calls. You will receive the final project report, copies of any software files, and physical prototypes. You’re also a stakeholder who has input in the student team’s evaluation.

Our process to submit your proposed projects is straightforward and simple. All you have to do is complete our Senior Design Sponsor Form and Dr. Kanton Reynolds will take it from there.

To help you better understand, we have provided guidelines on what to expect from your student team. We have also listed what we want to see from you, our sponsor. So explore some of our past senior design projects and we look forward to working with you soon.

For more information and to sign up, go to:

Become a Senior Design Sponsor

go.ncsu.edu/ISESeniorDesign

Engineering Design Day