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Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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Leonhard Building

The Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering is the name of the Pennsylvania State University's industrial engineering department and, having been founded in 1908, is the oldest such department in the world. The department's graduate school is currently ranked third in the country according to U.S. News, and its undergraduate program is ranked fourth.[1] The department is currently headed by Dr. Richard J. Koubek[2] and is based in the Leonhard Building, a $12 million building containing the acclaimed FAME manufacturing lab. The department employs 25 faculty members, who in 2005 served a total of 127 graduate and 345 undergraduate students.[3]

History

Penn State at the turn of the 20th century was known for its engineering curriculum, but industrial engineering was only beginning to emerge as an academic discipline. Noted efficiency expert Frederick Taylor recommended that university president James A. Beaver hire Hugo Diemer, a professor from the University of Kansas, in the hopes that Diemer would create an industrial engineering curriculum at Penn State. A two year option was ready by 1908, and a four year baccalaureate degree program emerged the following year, the first of its kind in the world. At the time, courses consisted of modern industrial engineering fundamentals such as time and motion study, plant layout optimization and engineering economics in addition to business-like courses on advertising and sales. The new department also took over the instruction of manual shop skills, including carpentry and metalworking.[4]

At the time, the department did not have its own building, and for many years shared building space with other departments in the university's College of Engineering. In the 1980s, Penn State board members began to look to develop the area of campus on the west side of Atherton Street and in 1987, initial plans to construct a new engineering building were in place. The Penn State Board of Trustees funded the project in 1995 amid concerns of damaging the asthetics of the previously undeveloped west campus. Some trustees disapproved of the building design, but the board ultimately released $5 million from its fund dedicated to expanding west campus.[5] In 1998, the project received additional funding from the State of Pennsylvania.[6] The building opened in 2000 and was named for William E. Leonhard, a 1936 Penn State alumnus who with his wife has donated in excess of $1 million toward engineering at Penn State.[7] In 1999, the department itself was named for Harold and Inge Marcus, a couple living in Seattle who donated $5 million to the department.[8]

In 2005, the department restructured the undergraduate industrial engineering curriculum for the first time in 21 years. Shifting its focus somewhat from its traditional manufacturing emphasis, the new curriculum introduced several new introductory courses related to the service industry. An industry advisory board in conjunction with faculty helped guide the changes, mentioning healthcare, supply chains and e-commerce as service industry examples of where industrial engineers might be utilized. Under the new curriculum, students take a number of refactored courses, and are offered a choice between three separate subject tracks, allowing them to focus their major on manufacturing, the service industry, or information technology.[9][10]

Facilities

One of the two large classrooms in the Leonhard Building.

Today, the main offices of the department are located in the Leonhard Building. The building has 95,200 ft² (8840 m²) on three main floors, and its exterior is made of brick, cast stone and glass.[5] While the building contains some offices for mechanical engineering faculty and hosts a variety of engineering and non-engineering related classes, it primarily serves industrial engineering students and faculty. The building contains two large lecture halls and three smaller classrooms, a 24-hour computer lab, and undergraduate and graduate student lounges.[11] The building also contains numerous research and instructional laboratories, including the Benjamin W. Niebel Work Design Laboratory,[12] the Metrology Laboratory (equipped with laser micrometers, coordinate measurement machines and a roundness testing gauge),[13] and the Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) and Robotics Laboratory (containing 7 material handling robots).[14]

A Haas CNC turning center in the FAME lab.

Additionally, the building contains a 10,000 ft² (900 m²) high-bay manufacturing lab called the Factory for Advanced Manufacturing Education, or the FAME lab. With the goals of reinforcing material taught in the classroom and introducing students to common engineering processes, the department brought together a variety of manufacturing equipment. It partnered with Haas Automation to create the Haas Technical Center, a section of the lab that contains 10 Haas CNC machining centers and turning centers.[15][16] The lab also contains a metalcasting area were students learn about casting and molding methods like green sand casting, resin bonded sand casting, and loast foam casting.[17] A welding area is made up of six welding booths and contains equipment used for shielded metal arc welding, gas metal arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding, submerged arc welding, spot welding and plasma arc cutting. The facility also contains injection molding equipment, a manual machining area, and various types of testing and measuring tools.[18][16]

Alumni and faculty

The department claims numerous industry leaders among its graduates. Susan M. Sinclair (1993) and Allen L. Soyster are among those who have held the position of President of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE).[19] Harold W. Gehman, a 1965 graduate, served as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Joint Forces Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic until he retired in 2000. In 2003, he was appointed to head the investigation of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.[20] Business leaders who have graduated from the department include Gregory Lucier (1986), the President and CEO of Invitrogen,[21] and Edward M. Kasody, president and CEO of American Trim, a subsidiary of Alcoa.

The department's faculty consists of 25 professors including former department head and IIE fellow A. "Ravi" Ravindran, the author of several textbooks in the area of operations research, and Harriet Black Nembhard, the winner of the 2004 Armand V. Feigenbaum Medal for her work in quality engineering.[22] Other faculty members that are Fellows of professional organizations like IIE or the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, including Richard A. Wysk, Jose A. Ventura, and Robert C. Voigt.[23][24] Former faculty include Amos E. Neyhart, a traffic safety education pioneer and creator of the first driver education classes in the United States in 1933.[25] Inyong Ham, a Penn State professor from 1958-95 and an IIE Fellow, was known for his development of group technology and research on the use of computers in manufacturing and process planning.[26] Another former faculty member, Benjamin W. Niebel, authored an introductory industrial engineering textbook, served as department head, and was a winner of the IIE Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Award in 1976.[27]

Notes

  1. ^ "2006 College of Engineering Rankings from U.S. News & World Report". Retrieved 2006-03-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  2. ^ "Dr. Richard J. Koubek Faculty Profile". Retrieved 2006-03-21.
  3. ^ "IE Facts". Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  4. ^ Michael Bezilla. "Shaping a Modern College". Penn State: An Illustrated History. Retrieved 2006-03-21.
  5. ^ a b Paula Shaki (March 20, 1995). "New West Campus building funded". The Digital Collegian. Retrieved 2006-03-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  6. ^ Patricia K. Cole (May 1, 1998). "Ridge releases funds to help construction". The Digital Collegian. Retrieved 2006-03-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  7. ^ "Alumnus, wife donate $1 million to college". The Digital Collegian. August 31, 2000. Retrieved 2006-03-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  8. ^ Daryl Lang (January 25, 1999). "Engineering department named for benefactors". The Digital Collegian. Retrieved 2006-03-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  9. ^ Mary Lord (February, 2005). "The Big Squeeze". ASEE Prism Magazine. Retrieved 2006-03-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  10. ^ "New engineering curriculum will bring techniques to service industry". Penn State Live. Retrieved 2006-03-21.
  11. ^ "General Purpose Facilities". Retrieved 2006-03-21.
  12. ^ "Benjamin W. Niebel Work Design Laboratory". Retrieved 2006-03-21.
  13. ^ "Metrology Laboratory". Retrieved 2006-03-21.
  14. ^ "Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) and Robotics Laboratory". Retrieved 2006-03-21.
  15. ^ Preston Gratiot (Summer 2000). "Haas Technical Center Finds FAME at Penn State". CNC Machining Magazine. Retrieved 2006-03-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  16. ^ a b "Factory for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) Laboratory". Retrieved 2006-03-21.
  17. ^ "FAME Lab Metalcasting Area". Retrieved 2006-03-21.
  18. ^ "FAME Lab Welding Area". Retrieved 2006-03-21.
  19. ^ "IIE Board of Trustees". Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  20. ^ "Harold Gehman named by Penn State as Distinguished Alumnus". July 16, 2004. Retrieved 2006-05-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  21. ^ "Gregory Lucier Named Recipient of Penn State's World-Class Engineer Alumni Award". April 21, 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  22. ^ "Nembhard Receives Feigenbaum Medal". July 12, 2004. Retrieved 2006-05-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  23. ^ "Previous IIE Honors and Awards Winners". Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  24. ^ "Robert C. Voigt faculty profile". Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  25. ^ Michael Bezilla. "The Quest for National Recognition". Penn State: An Illustrated History. Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  26. ^ "Remembering Inyong Ham". Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  27. ^ "Previous IIE Honors and Awards Winners". Retrieved 2006-05-23.
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