Online Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering

No one needs to tell industrial leaders about the 2050 Challenge: for those competing on a global playing field, 2050 is now. With the rise of China, India, and a host of other industrial powers on the world stage, businesses must exploit every possible efficiency in order to survive, let alone thrive. And that means engaging engineers who can design and implement the tools, practices, and processes that determine if a given enterprise will ultimately succeed or fail in this hyper-competitive environment.

With a graduate degree or certificate in industrial engineering from Iowa State, you’ll be more than just a cog in the machine—you’ll help design the machine. EDE’s programs in industrial engineering offer education and research opportunities that address productivity, cost, quality, and lead time, all fundamental issues affecting the economic health of industry. So whether you specialize in engineering management, operations research, manufacturing, human factors, or enterprise computing, you’ll acquire the tools you need to lead—and succeed—in the 21st-century business world.

Enterprise computing focuses on the principles and practices of the engineering methods and information technology used to design, analyze, and implement scalable enterprise-wide systems. Courses are available in e-commerce systems, data mining and knowledge discovery, enterprise modeling and integration, and manufacturing information systems.

Manufacturing systems engineering addresses the development and application of tools and methods that support production, with particular emphasis on the design/manufacturing interface, manufacturing processes, and systems integration and design. Courses are available in rapid prototyping, CAD/CAM, concurrent engineering, automation, and quality control.

Applied operations research concentrates on the application of mathematical theory and modeling to quantitative problems, including the design and analysis of industrial, commercial, and governmental systems and operations. Specific research areas include mathematical optimization, stochastic processes queuing, simulation, inventory and scheduling, networks, artificial intelligence, and logistics.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION

Masters in Industrial Engineering

Online Engineering Distance Education Home Page

EDE and the 2050 Challenge: It's About Time

What is the 2050 Challenge?

Mention “distance education” and most people think of overcoming the limitations of space. From the earliest “correspondence courses” to the latest online offerings, distance education has been thought of generally in physical terms, affording learning opportunities to people for whom getting to campus can be a bit of a challenge.

Certainly, EDE at Iowa State is all about overcoming that kind of distance: whether you’re in Des Moines or New Delhi, we have the world-class teachers, training, and technology to bring you the best in engineering education. But for us, “distance education” goes far beyond mere distance in the physical sense to include time as well.

By the year 2050, there will be more than 9 billion people on this small spaceship Earth. With our numbers burgeoning, our planet warming, and our supplies of energy and other natural resources dwindling, what must we as engineers do today, tomorrow, and the next 15,000-odd tomorrows after that to ensure that by 2050 we have:

* Enough food and potable water for 9 billion people?
* Reliable communications for people worldwide?
* New medical technologies against emerging threats to health?
* Robust and secure transportation networks?
* Renewable, non-polluting sources of energy?

Because these are fundamentally engineering challenges, we as engineers are challenged as never before to see beyond the next five to ten years (here’s one instance where “2020 vision” is nearsighted!) to envision instead the breadth and length of our careers in the profession. For many of us, that means seeing all the way to 2050—and beyond.

And when you see further down that road—when you see what the world will need over the course of your working life—you can see what you must do not merely to keep your engineering skills and knowledge current, but beyond that to prepare yourself as an engineer for the challenges we’ll face together by 2050.

So let EDE help you close the distance not only between where you are right now and a state-of-the-art classroom at Iowa State University in Ames, but also between where your career is right now and where it needs to be tomorrow in order to meet the 2050 Challenge—and whatever other challenges you’ll meet in your professional life.
Because at EDE, it’s not just about distance. It’s about time.

Iowa State University Construction Engineering Education

Ames, Iowa – Iowa State University is a leader in construction engineering education and recently its graduate courses CE 594E: Project Controls and CE 594F: Computer Applications for Project ControlsProfessional Surveyor Magazine’s January 2008 issue on the evolution of land surveyor education.
were featured in

Two years ago when the courses were introduced, they were the first-of-their-kind in the country on 3D GPS automated grade control systems. And soon, distance education students will able to take the course as part of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering’s online master’s degree program in construction engineering and management.

Beginning in April 2008, the online courses will be presented in four-week sessions via state-of-the-art video streaming on a secure Web site so students can view the classes in “real time” or on demand. During the courses, students will hear from contractors, consulting engineers, designers, surveyors, and equipment dealers from leading companies such as McAninch, CAT/Ziegler, Snyder & Associates, and others about how each those individuals and businesses use the equipment. Students also will get an overview of GPS systems, stakeless grading, intelligent construction, and GPS theory, as well as address the challenge of converting CADD drawings to machine control files.
For the complete article in Professional Surveyor Magazine, see the magazine’s electronic version and scroll to page 16.

For information on enrolling in the courses, visit the Iowa State Engineering Distance Education Web site (www.ede.iastate.edu).

Chuck Jahren, professor of construction engineering, (515) 2974-3829