Industrial Engineering
Department of Industrial Engineering
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
438 Bell Hall
North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260-2050
Phone: 716.645.2357
Fax: 716.645.3302
Web: www.ie.buffalo.edu
Colin Drury
Chair
Ann Bisantz
Director of Undergraduate Studies
About the Department
The Industrial Engineering (IE) department at UB offers a full range of undergraduate and graduate programs in industrial engineering.
Industrial engineers apply knowledge from mathematical, physical, information and human sciences to study, design and improve systems. A B.S. degree in industrial engineering from UB leads to fascinating careers in industries as diverse as airline operations, automotive manufacturing, health services, military operations, and financial services. IE graduates have maximum flexibility to pursue their goals for advancement in management as well as systems design.
At UB, students are taught by award-winning faculty, and can learn about and participate in cutting-edge research in areas such as biomedical prototyping, human-computer interaction, design for disabled individuals, HAZMAT routing, aviation safety and security, and data mining. All undergraduate IE students are required to complete a faculty supervised, industry based internship or co-op -- we make sure students have the job skills they will need.
At our departmental website (http://www.ie.buffalo.edu), one will find a complete description of the department, profiles of current students and faculty,and exciting news and events about the students, faculty, and research programs in IE.
Degrees Offered
Undergraduate: B.S.
Combined: B.S./M.B.A., B.S./M.Eng., B.S./M.S.
Graduate: M.S., M.Eng., Ph.D.
About Our Degrees
Acceptance Criteria
Minimum GPA of 2.0 overall.
Minimum GPA of 2.0 in technical and engineering courses.
Current Applications Information
Deadlines: The general application deadline for the Fall semester is before the Spring semester ends in May. However, individual applications may be accepted at any time during the year.
Number of accepted majors (2001-2002): Approximately 35
Total number of majors currently enrolled: Approximately 90
Degree Requirements
See the Undergraduate Catalog.
About Our Courses
In IE 101 Discover Industrial Engineering (1 credit, Spring), all the IE faculty participate in introducing industrial engineering, and the department, through case studies and examples. This is a great way to learn about the field of industrial engineering.
Freshman and sophomore course requirements are consistent with those of other engineering departments, and consist of mathematics, physical (and/or biological) sciences, engineering science, and computer programming. It is simple to transfer among engineering majors in the freshman and sophomore years.
Junior and senior level IE courses focus on the application of mathematics and engineering science to IE problems in areas of operations research, human factors, facility design, engineering economy, quality control, production planning, and simulation.
Many IE courses take advantage of UB’s technologically equipped classrooms. The IE department provides its students with a computing laboratory equipped with state of the art software, as well as a recently renovated manufacturing and human factors laboratory.
Our students have the flexibility to take technical electives from a broad range of disciplines including behavioral sciences, engineering, mathematics, computer science, and management.
The typical class size for:
Freshman/introductory courses is: over 100 (engineering-wide courses)
Sophomore/intermediate courses is: 50-80 (engineering-wide courses)
Upper level/advanced courses is: 30-40 (industrial engineering courses)
In the Department of Industrial Engineering, what do teaching assistants do?
They hold office hours to answer students’ questions about homework and exam preparation, grade homework (exams are normally graded by instructors), manage lab assignments, and sometimes hold recitation sessions.
For course descriptions, please see the Undergraduate Catalog.
About Our Faculty
Undergraduate IE students at UB have access to award-winning faculty who maintain high standards in teaching and research activities in diverse expertise areas (Human Factors, Operations Research, and Production Systems). The Department of Industrial Engineering has eleven full-time faculty, six associated faculty with adjunct appointments, and three lecturers, all holding a Ph.D. degree. Class sizes in IE are small (often less than thirty-five students) insuring personal connections between students and faculty. In aulition to teaching undergraduate courses, our faculty regularly involve undergraduate students in ongoing engineering research. In surveys of our graduating seniors, interactions with faculty are consistently cited as one of the best aspects of the department.
The Undergraduate Director, Dr. Ann Bisantz, can be contacted at bisantz@buffalo.edu.
Special Academic Opportunities
Independent Study
Independent study is available in the senior year on the basis of mutual agreement with a faculty member.
Internships and Co-op Opportunities
All undergraduate IE students complete supervised projects as a required part of the IE curriculum. These projects can be completed as a one-day per week internship during the spring or fall semester of the senior year, or between the junior and senior years as a student identified internship, or through the Engineering Career Institute administered by the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Students can also take advantage of the co-op program administered through the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, which blends work experiences with an undergraduate degree.
Extracurricular Activities
Our undergraduate students are active in student chapters of many national professional societies, including:
Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE)
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Society of Manufacturing Engineering (SME)
American Society for Quality (ASQ)
INFORMS
Alpha Pi Mu, the industrial engineering honor society
Omega Rho, the operations research honor society
Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society
See the UB Student Association.
Complementary Programs and Courses
Majors that Complement Industrial Engineering
- Business Administration
- Mechanical Engineering
- Economics
Minors that Complement Industrial Engineering
- Mathematics
Courses outside Industrial Engineering that could improve employment opportunities or can serve as technical electives:
- Behavioral sciences (e.g., psychology)
- Business administration
- Computer science
- Electrical and computer engineering
- Management sciences
- Mathematics
- Mechanical and aerospace engineering
Advising Information
Interested students are encouraged to seek advice on course registration from the engineering advisors in Bonner Hall, or from the IE Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Ann Bisantz (bisantz@buffalo.edu). Once admitted to the IE major, all students are assigned a faculty advisor.
Career Information
Career Choices:
- Ergonomist
- Facilities designer
- Manufacturing or operations supervisor
- Manufacturing systems engineer
- Operations analyst
- Process engineer
- Quality control specialist/engineer
- Safety engineer
- Space planner
Work settings include:
Banking/finance, manufacturing, health, transportation, social services, construction, facilities design, government, military, libraries and educational systems.
What percentage of graduates goes on to find related employment?
The majority of our graduates find industrial engineering-related jobs or pursue related graduate degrees.
Salary Information
Industrial engineering graduates command high salaries. The Institute of Industrial Engineers cites a 1999 salary survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which showed that bachelor’s degree candidates in industrial engineering received starting offers averaging about $43,100 a year; while master’s degree candidates received offers of $49,900. Also, in 1998, the median annual earnings of industrial engineers were $52,610, while the miulle 50% of salaries were between $42,690 and $73,870 (U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook). Finally, according to the IIE 2000 Salary Survey, IIE members reported that they bring home an average total annual compensation of $76,000, up from 1998's average of $71,000 (cited in http://www.iienet.org).
Post-undergraduate Opportunities
Students who receive a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering have opportunities for graduate-level work in areas such as human factors, operations research, production and manufacturing systems, production management, and systems engineering. Students may choose to pursue non-engineering degrees such as an M.B.A.
The IE department at UB offers several five- and six-year programs, including the Combined B.S./M.B.A., the M.Eng. in Production Management, and the M.S. in Industrial Engineering (all five-year programs); as well as the M.S. with specializations in operations research, human factors, or production systems (six-year program).