IIE Solutions articles from December 2002

IIE Solutions archives from December 2002

Accentuate the positive.(Editorial)
December 1, 2002... Monica Elliott This is a most wonderful time of year, but not everybody feels that way. It is unfortunate and rather disturbing, but for many people the holidays are a lonely, stressful time that causes the already booming self-help market...

Bird of Prey unwrapped: once a highly classified project, the demonstrator features technologies that have become industry standards. (News).(Boeing Co.)
December 1, 2002... Boeing unveiled its "Bird of Prey," a technology demonstrator that pioneered breakthrough technologies and revolutionized aircraft design, development, and production. The once highly classified project ran from 1992 through 1999 and was...

Taking aim at costly incompatibility: automotive trade group tests new data file sharing technology. (News).(Automotive Industry Action Group)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The Automotive Industry Action Group has successfully tested new technology that allows automakers and suppliers to share previously incompatible product data files used to design auto components. The test represents a breakthrough in online...

The White House wants you: Fellows Program gives young professionals the opportunity to participate in government. (News).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Applications for the White House Fellows Program are now open. White House Fellowships are granted to between 11 and 19 U.S. citizens each year for the purpose of giving young professionals firsthand, high-level experience with the federal...

Texas Engineering Experiment Station. (Newsmakers).(Texas A&M University Dwight Look College of Engineering appoints G. Kemble Bennett)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... G. Kemble Bennett, Ph.D., was named vice chancellor for engineering, dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University, and director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station. An IIE member for more than 30 years, Bennett...

Virginia Tech. (Newsmakers).(Disc Manufacturing promotes Cliff Boyd)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... IIE member Cliff Boyd was promoted to director, manufacturing, Sony Disc Manufacturing in Springfield, Ore. He will be responsible for ensuring efficient operation in all manufacturing departments and will oversee quality assurance and...

California Polytechnic-Pomona. (Newsmakers).(William F. Girouard received the George R Hart Award)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... William F. Girouard received the George R Hart Award for Outstanding Faculty Leadership from California Polytechnic-Pomona, where he teaches in the industrial and manufacturing engineering department. A fellow of IIE and a student chapter...

2002 Faculty Scholar Medal. (Newsmakers).(Pennsylvania State University awards Soundar R.T. Kumar)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Penn State's 2002 Faculty Scholar Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering went to Soundar R.T. Kumar, professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering. Kumar's research has led to the creation of new paradigms that include...

Optimistic about growth. (News).(MasterCard International and Thomas Regional Directory Co. Industrial Small Business Outlook survey)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Seventy-five percent of industrial small businesses--such as distributors, manufacturers, service companies, and their suppliers--expect their business to grow in the coming year, according to the "Industrial Small Business Outlook" survey...

Best-practice motor management: efficient electric motors cost a little more but save a lot. (News).(Consortium for Energy Efficiency )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... In some industries, as much as 90 percent of a company's electric bill can go toward keeping electric motors humming. Motor energy costs can exceed $1 million a year in large industrial plants. And in steel plants, they can exceed $6 million....

Building blocks of education: Lego competition shows kids the fun of engineering. (News).(Mountain Home High School, Arkansas; Lego League Arkansas State Tournament)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Mountain Home High School in Mountain Home, Ark., will be awash in bright lights, loud music, and hundreds of excited youngsters Dec. 7. Uninformed onlookers might assume the hullabaloo is the result of an athletic competition, but these kids...

Obituary.(Alphonse Chapanis)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Ergonomics pioneer dies Alphonse Chapanis, a founder of the ergonomics discipline and promoter of the use of human factors in design, died in October. He was 85. One of Chapanis' most notable projects was the development of the keypad...

UPS completed an expansion of its global all-points air facility in Louisville, Ky. (Business Briefs).(United Parcel Service of America Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... UPS completed an expansion of its global all-points air facility in Louisville, Ky. The newly named UPS Worldport was more than doubled in size to 4 million square feet by the $1 billion expansion. The express package sorting process was...

The human-machine interface market. (Business Briefs).(ARC Advisory Group report)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The human-machine interface market, which totaled $414 million in 2001, will hit nearly $590 million in 2006, outperforming the industrial automation market, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study.

The inaugural Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Excellence in Manufacturing Award was given to the Reuter Organ Co. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The inaugural Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Excellence in Manufacturing Award was given to the Reuter Organ Co. Reuter has been manufacturing pipe organs for 85 years and last year built a $4 million manufacturing facility in...

The Atlanta Business Chronicle named MAPICS, a provider of extended enterprise applications for manufacturers, an A+ employer. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The Atlanta Business Chronicle named MAPICS, a provider of extended enterprise applications for manufacturers, an A+ employer. The designation honors the best places to work in Atlanta based on such criteria as employee benefits and employees'...

The Texas Engineering Experiment Station and Texas A&M's engineering program are providing leadership for the American University of Sharjah's engineering programs. (Education Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The Texas Engineering Experiment Station and Texas A&M's engineering program are providing leadership for the American University of Sharjah's engineering programs. The Emirate of Sharjah is located adjacent to Dubai in the United Arab...

Pittsburgh's Manufacturing Assistance Center, which is run by the University of Pittsburgh's industrial engineering department. (Education Briefs).($350,000 state grant )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Pittsburgh's Manufacturing Assistance Center, which is run by the University of Pittsburgh's industrial engineering department, was awarded a $350,000 state grant to pay for equipment upgrades, staffing, and scholarships for people who need...

Learning about learning: NSF grant will fund a national research center exploring engineering student education. (News).(University of Washington's Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education created with National Science Foundation grant)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... A University of Washington professor received a $10 million National Science Foundation grant to establish a national center that will explore how students think and learn about engineering. "There isn't a lot of data out there about how...

PM study: good processes ensure performance. (News).(Interthink Consulting Inc. report of project management)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... A new project management benchmark study is out. The good news is that a strong association can be seen between the quality of an organization's processes and its ability to deliver results reliably. The bad news is that most organizations...

Preventing and detecting food contamination. (News).(Purdue University's Center for Food Safety Engineering )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... In an effort to protect the nation's food supply from biological and chemical contaminants, Purdue University and U.S. Department of Agriculture engineers and food scientists have teamed up to develop faster, more exact ways to detect possibly...

Walk off with Transportation Statistics. (Site to See).(Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics web site)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics launched TranStats, a Web site that offers extensive resources by giving access to more than 100 transportation-related databases. Aimed at transportation...

Split decisions on keyboards. (News).(Marquette University report; ergonomics of split keyboards)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Split keyboards for computers are intended to reduce wrist-strain injuries, but according to a report from the department of mechanical and industrial engineering at Marquette University in Milwaukee, they aren't the answer to injury...

The Modine Board of Directors. (Newsmakers).(Modine Manufacturing Co. appoints David B. Rayburn )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The Modine Board of Directors named David B. Rayburn president and chief operating officer. Rayburn obtained his B.S. in industrial engineering from Penn State University and his M.B.A. in management from Xavier University. He joined the...

Alcoa Inc. (Newsmakers).(William F. Oplinger)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... William F. Oplinger will take the reins as director of investor relations for aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. He joined Alcoa in 2000 as manager, corporate analysis, in the finance organization. Oplinger obtained a bachelor's degree in industrial...

Tunable Photonics Corp. (Newsmakers).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Tunable Photonics Corp. appointed George Balogh chief executive officer. Balogh brings 23 years of management experience in optical components and instrumentation industries. He attended California Polytechnic State University for his...

GES Exposition Services Inc. (Newsmakers).(Mary J. Simons)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Mary J. Simons was named general manager, Northeast Division, for GES Exposition Services Inc. Simons previously spent five years with the Ingersoll-Rand Co., most recently as general manager of the industrial/MRO tool strategy business unit....

11 improvements for 2003. (Performance Improvement).
December 1, 2002... We have reached the end of another year. As you ponder what the coming year may be like, I hope you are trying to identify a few key systems changes that will help take your location to a higher level of performance. Since people often struggle...

The myth of rationality. (Management).(decision making)
December 1, 2002... Rational decision making is the heart of management. A manager who1 cannot deal logically with copious amounts of conflicting, misleading, and sometimes inaccessible information does not have much chance of achieving effective results, The...

Infinite possibilities: Pamela McCauley-Bell uses the power of positive thinking to reach great heights.
December 1, 2002... Looking out into the vast, starlit Oklahoma sky during childhood summers with her grandmother, anything seemed possible to Pamela McCauley-Bell. She knew success was attainable in any direction, but exactly how she would translate her...

A brave new education: industrial engineering scholars are leading the crusade for an improved curriculum.(Institute of Industrial Engineers retreat)
December 1, 2002... IIE's Council of Fellows conducted an all-day retreat May 19 in Orlando, Fla., in conjunction with the IIE Annual Conference. The purpose of the retreat was to bring the collective wisdom and experience of the most senior and respected members...

The right place for a bottleneck: capacity planning in a microbrewery is made easier with simulation.
December 1, 2002... F.C. "Ted" Weston Jr. The difference between a microbrewery and a major brewery is that big breweries have many more resources to plan beyond day-to-day beer production. Two areas ripe for both short- and long-term planning in a...

Biblio-file 2002: a shelf-full of the year's best books.(Bibliography)
December 1, 2002... Driving American success Fred Zimmerman and Dave Beal traveled the country and interviewed workers and managers; they also analyzed an exhaustive database of manufacturing trends. Manufacturing Works presents their simple yet critical...

Research Reports: executive summaries of current studies.(assembly lines, manufacturing facilities and shop-floor control software)
December 1, 2002... This edition of Research Reports focuses on three problems related to the design and operation of manufacturing facilities: the design of an assembly line, including the determination of the number of parallel machines to have at each stage and...

Election time is here: candidates for IIE's Board of Trustees share their platforms for a better profession. (Focus on IIE).(Institute of Industrial Engineers)
December 1, 2002... November is gone, but there are still candidates for elected office who are anxious to win your vote. The polls will be open Dec. 17 through Feb. 4, 2003 for members to cast ballots for 2003-2004 IIE Board of Trustees positions. To vote in...

Big decisions gone wrong: twenty years of cognitive research hasn't had an impact. (Punchline).(University of Warwick research)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Not a week goes by that the public isn't treated to yet more news about big decisions gone wrong in business or government. Almost two decades of cognitive science research that could help enhance decision making has been ignored, it seems. ...

The weaker link: don't know much about science. (Punchline).(Americans, science knowledge)(Cobb County, Georgia allows creationist theories in the classroom)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The average American knows little about science. And the average American woman knows even less. No one is more distressed about that finding than Florida State researcher Susan Carol Losh, who recently reviewed surveys of basic scientific...

Nosy neighbors are all wet. (Punchline).(group behavior research, swordtail fish)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... No word yet on whether birds and bees do it, but swordtail fish have been discovered to eavesdrop. University of Louisville evolutionary biologist Lee Dugatkin and Georgia State University biologist Ryan Earley say eavesdropping among the fish...

Cad incompatibility. (News).(National Institute of Standards and Technology report on product development cycles)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Four months could be shaved off a 36-month product development cycle if interoperability problems did not exist, according to a 1999 report by the National Institute of Standards and technology.