Author: Ann Hoang

Guest Post: Nadia Martinez, IMSE Doctoral Student

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My name is Nadia Martinez and I am an international student at the University of Texas at Arlington. I came to the United States on January 2007 to enrich my education by accomplishing a master’s degree and pursuing a doctorate degree program. I obtained my master’s degree in fall 2008 and am currently working on my Ph.D. at the Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Department.

I belong to the Center On Stochastic, Modeling, Optimization, and Statistics (COSMOS) where the main objective is to design and model complex real-world systems. My research is focused on developing a deterministic global optimization method based on mixed integer linear programming to solve a piecewise linear function generated by a flexible statistical model subject to constraints that include both linear regression models and piecewise linear models. One of the main applications of this method is on the safety system design of automotive vehicles, with a special interest in crash-worthiness. This type of systems is considered computationally complex. I have also worked as a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) at TMAC, which is a research center of the College of Engineering at UTA, where I have participated in different projects related to my Industrial Engineering career. The opportunity I have had of being a GRA has definitely increased my vision about how to deal with real-life problems.

Through my experiences at UTA, I have learned and realized that I was not only fulfilling a dream but I was also becoming part of a big and great family. Although being away from your beloved ones is not an easy thing, being around with such an amazing people like students, professors, co-workers and friends have made of this experience an amazing journey. Sharing cultures, beliefs and ways of life is an incredible opportunity to mature and expand your horizons.

Written By Nadia Martinez, IMSE Doctoral Student
Email: nadia.martinezcepeda@mavs.uta.edu
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nadia-martinez/4a/243/670

Fall 2012 Graduates

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On Sunday, December 16, 2012, the College of Engineering conducted its commencement ceremony at UTA’s College Park Center to recognize students who had completed their degrees during the Fall and Summer semesters. The Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Department graduated eleven undergraduate, twenty-eight master’s, and six doctoral students. We want to take a moment to congratulate all our graduates on their achievement. Below is the list of our Fall 2012 Graduates, as listed in UTA’s student newspaper, The Shorthorn:

Ph.D. Industrial Engineering:

Bancha Ariyajunya, Dissertation Title: Solving Approximate Dynamic Programming Problems With High-Dimensional Multicollinear State Spaces

Sree Bhupathiraju, Dissertation Title: The Art of Micro-Channel Manufacturing in Glass

Poovich Phaladiganon, Dissertation Title: Data Mining Based Threshold Development for Novelty Detection

[Below had degrees confirmed Summer 2012]

Vasileios M. Drakonakis, Dissertation Title: Featherweight Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Design and Manufacturing – Interlayer Enabling Systems Focusing on Lighter CFRP Structures with Higher-Strength Utilizing Nanotechnology

Andrea Graham, Dissertation Title: Using AHP and ANP Models for Freight Transport Networks Selection

Pin Kung, Dissertation Title: Multivariate Modeling for a Multiple Stage, Multiple Objective Green Building Framework

M.E. Industrial Engineering:

Mohammad Saiful Islam

M.S. Engineering Management: 

Thomas W. Hawkins

Kelly Murillo

Jirachaya Namboonmee

Kehinde F. Osiyoye

Jaime Cardona [Degree conferred Summer 212]

M.S. Industrial Engineering:

Salman Ahmad

Majid Ahmadi

Chinmay M. Aney

Md Mejbauddin Chowdhury

Riddham Maheshbhai Desai

Hamid Ghoraishi

William Karashin

Harshad Khonalkar

Aditya Krishnan Narasimham

Wei-Te Niou

Rahul Ravi

Krunal Nikhilbhai Shah

Bharat Venugopal

Ahmad Nahhas [Degree conferred Summer 2012]

Kalyn Taylor Panizo [Degree conferred Summer 2012]

M.S. Logistics:

Yu Xiang

Songhee Hong Gardner [Degree conferred Summer 2012]

Jiahong Ma [Degree conferred Summer 2012]

Danielle Wilson [Degree conferred Summer 2012]

M.S. Systems Engineering:

Trevor Jay Bakker

Russell Elliot

Cynthia Mounce

Congratulations to all our graduates!

Video and Photos of the College of Engineering commencement ceremony can be found at: https://www.uta.edu/commencement/photos-videos/index.php.

 

A COSMOS Ph.D. Dissertation Defense

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On November 16th, COSMOS Ph.D. student Bancha Ariyajunya successfully defended his dissertation, entitled “Adaptive Dynamic Programming for High-Dimensional, Multicollinear State Spaces.” His dissertation committee included COSMOS faculty Dr. Victoria Chen, Dr. Jay Rosenberger, and Dr. Li Zeng. His dissertation addressed the problem of correlated variables in a dynamic programming state space. His methodology was originally motivated by airport deicing activities and was tested on an ozone pollution control optimization. In airport deicing, the state of the system considers the environmental impact of deicing, and the environmental variables are highly correlated. In ozone pollution, the state of the system considers ozone concentrations in the air, and these are highly correlated over time and space. Bancha’s research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. His current research interest is in the area of statistical modeling and data mining.

Featured Student: Misagh Faezipour, Ph.D. Industrial Engineering Candidate With a Focus in Systems Engineering

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The IMSE Department at UT Arlington offers degrees in Industrial Engineering at the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. levels plus Masters degrees in Logistics, Engineering Management, and Systems Engineering. Since we only offer a doctoral degree in Industrial Engineering, students can focus their degree in areas of expertise such as Systems Engineering. In this blog, I’ll be focusing on one of those students and how she plans to apply her research to real-world needs.

Misagh Faezipour is a Ph.D. candidate at the Industrial Engineering department with a focus in Systems Engineering. She is also affiliated with the System Engineering Research Center (SERC). She has worked as a graduate research assistant on multiple projects in the SERC and is currently a graduate teaching assistant at the IE department. Her research interests lie in the areas of engineering complex systems, healthcare, sustainability, simulation, systems thinking & systems dynamics. The focus of her current research is in Systems Engineering with an emphasis on sustainability related to Systems Engineering and applied to the healthcare domain. Her dissertation is related to addressing water sustainability in hospitals. System dynamics is applied as a modeling approach to provide a better understanding of the water sustainability considerations & model key factors and interrelationships involved in hospitals. A simulator is being developed that simulates the interactions of the key factors from the model. The simulator will help decision makers realize the impacts of their decisions made related to some key factors and also help then make informed decisions. The hospitals are the main stakeholder in this research, and the goal is to help them with their water management process and support them to make informed decisions.

Job Opportunities in Industrial Engineering

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The University of Texas at Arlington provides active on-campus recruiting opportunities for corporations. As a result, our Industrial and Manufacturing Systems graduates are employed in a variety of industries and businesses such as TXU, Bell Helicopter, Raytheon, General Motors, and Frito Lay. Being in the heart of the DFW Metroplex offers a great advantage to our students because of the relationships that the university and the department maintains with local industries. Alumni, local industry leaders, and job recruiters often contact the department about job openings and internships at their workplaces, such as the opening we just posted on the IMSE website for a student position as PressCut Industries. You can view details about the job opening here. Want to know when we receive job announcements? Then be sure to follow us on Twitter (@utaIMSE) and Facebook (facebook.com/utaIMSE) and we’ll let you know!

Jop Opportunities in Industrial Engineering

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The University of Texas at Arlington provides active on-campus recruiting opportunities for corporations. As a result, our Industrial and Manufacturing Systems graduates are employed in a variety of industries and businesses such as TXU, Bell Helicopter, Raytheon, General Motors, and Frito Lay. Being in the heart of the DFW Metroplex offers a great advantage to our students because of the relationships that the university and the department maintains with local industries. Alumni, local industry leaders, and job recruiters often contact the department about job openings and internships at their workplaces, such as the opening we just posted on the IMSE website for a student position as PressCut Industries. You can view details about the job opening here.

Want to know when we receive job announcements? Then be sure to follow us on Twitter (@utaIMSE) and Facebook (facebook.com/utaIMSE) and we’ll let you know!

Time for Dissertation Defenses!

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On October 18, COSMOS Ph.D. student Poovich Phaladiganon successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Data Mining Based Threshold Development for Novelty Detection.” His dissertation committee included COSMOS faculty Victoria Chen, Li Zeng, Bill Corley, and Korea University Professor Seoung Bum Kim, who made a special trip to UTA for Poovich’s defense. In addition to Poovich’s Ph.D., he has an M.S. degree also in Industrial Engineering from UTA and has worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. His current research interests are multivariate statistical process control and novelty detection. Upon defending his dissertation, Poovich said, “It is a great experience to be a part of the COSMOS society. I have learned about both academics and life along my road to a doctorate.”
Poovich with his Defense Committee

A Look at Industrial Engineering

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One of the toughest decisions you make in your college life will be to declare a major, which is the reason why many students enter college undecided. There are even some who might be interested in an area such as engineering but might not know which field to study. Are you one of these people?

If you’re looking for an engineering degree and want to make a difference in the lives of people, Industrial Engineering is what you’re looking for! Today in America recently filmed a segment about Industrial Engineering and the differences industrial engineers have made in the world. Hear from real industrial engineering professionals about their job and how much they enjoy doing something that makes a difference. Take a look here:

If you’re interested in industrial engineering or would like to know more about it, come by our office in 420 Woolf Hall and ask to speak to someone about your questions. You can even email us at IMSEinfo@uta.edu.

Contact us today to see if Industrial Engineering is the right career choice for you!

SERC News for October

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UT Arlington’s Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) focuses on addressing complex and multi-faceted challenges that are rapidly evolving at the frontiers at world needs.

Clement Smartt is pursuing a PhD at UTA, with a focus in systems engineering, and is contributing to this SERC research goal. Clement is a Research Scientist with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and was previously a Principal Systems Engineer with L-3 Communications. Clement is also a Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP). Clement Smartt has recently been selected to receive the 2012 INCOSE Foundation Stevens Doctoral Award. This important international award recognizes innovative doctoral research related to the field of Systems Engineering and is only given to one student per year. Criteria to be considered for this award includes an advancement of both the state-of-the knowledge as well as state-of-the-practice in systems engineering. Clement Smartt’s research seeks to determine an optimal use of systems engineering in proposal management by assessing the impact of systems engineering factors on contract award. The ability to capture contracts is key to survival for organizations that perform contract work. Systems engineering often plays a central role in proposal management by coordinating the technical effort. A decision support system (DSS) will be developed to generate empirically-based, quantitative recommendations that will help decision makers best allocate systems engineering resources on proposals.

As a result of this research, organizations that engineer systems will be able to more effectively use systems engineering in proposal management and provide better value to their customers.

Additional information about UTA’s SERC can be found at https://www.uta.edu/serc/.

Future blog entries will present more information about the SERC including research and researchers.

RAID Labs October News

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Here’s some exciting news that’s going on in our RFID lab!

The Radio Frequency and Auto Identification (RAID) Labs is currently training new researchers for the coming semester. The lab intends to train all new researchers and have everyone working in RAID Labs capable of performing RFID Feasibility Audits for outside companies. The RFID Feasibility Audits will determine the best RFID system an experimented company should implement to reduce inventory holding costs as well as improve efficiency in terms of ease of access of products and better maintenance of stock levels.

In addition to the aforementioned Feasibility Audits, RAID Labs has a newly established partnership with UT Southwestern. RAID Labs will use this unique opportunity to gain a better understanding of the uses of RFID and AID in a health care setting. RAID Labs is also looking to host an RFID Student Generated Conference in the coming months which will bring students, faculty, and professionals together to discuss findings in RFID and the direction RFID is heading as an up and coming technology.

You can find out more information about RAID Labs at https://www.uta.edu/rfid/