WMU Chapter Wins Awards at Regional IIE Conference

The WMU chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers [IIE] won several awards last month at the 2007 IIE Region IV Conference held at Ohio State University, in Columbus, OH.

IME professors and IIE advisors Dr. Steven Butt, current IIE Region IV vice president, and Dr. Tycho Fredericks, current IIE Region IV assistant vice president for student development, accompanied 19 WMU students to the event.

Four WMU students won first and third place honors for two papers presented in the technical paper contest.

Seniors John Knapp, Michael Kruse, and Lawrence Pitcher took the top prize for a paper based on their senior design project. "Analysis of Forecasted Capacity Utilization Through a Simulated Environment of an Outpatient Pharmacy."

The paper explores a Southwestern Michigan hospital's outpatient pharmacy and uses work design and a simulated environment to develop models, analyses, and recommendations to improve the workflow and customer wait time.

To complete the project, the students used several exploratory tools to uncover the items that were adversely affecting productivity, efficiency, and customer wait time. The seniors will compete on May 20, 2007, at the national conference in Nashville.

Attending 2007 IIE Region IV Conference, left to right, front row: Benjamin Smith, Ella Lambrix, Alisha Hankins, Aarti Valsadia, and Krisana Gutierrez; second row: John Knapp, Robert Cookingham, Ashley Bazzana, Larry Pitcher, Dr. Steven Butt, Melanie Zaleski, Shannon Bowerson, and Michael Kruse; third row: Dimas Insani, Anthony Moguel, Matthew Pridgeon, Dr. Tycho Fredericks, Bryan Dopkins, Eric Drzewicki, and Jason Saksewski.

Senior Jason R. Saksewski won third place with “Process Design and Improvement: Primary and Finish Broaching Operations,” a paper based on his experiences as an intern.

The WMU group also won awards for having more students in attendance than any other travelling chapter and for travelling farther than any other chapter. “We are very excited about how the conference turned out,” said Shannon Bowerson, president of WMU IIE chapter.

Winning awards in the technical paper contest at the 2007 IIE conference are (left to right) Larry Pitcher, John Knapp, and Michael Kruse, who won first place and the right to compete at the national conference in Nashville in May, and Jason Saksewski, who won third.

Other IIE Region IV universities include Dayton University, Kettering University, Ohio University, Purdue University, University of Louisville, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Michigan – Dearborn, University of Toledo, Wayne State University, Wright State University, and Youngstown State University.

This year’s regional conference, with its “Think Global” theme, included social networking, team-building events, a panel discussion on post-graduation opportunities, and several prominent speakers including Dr. Deborah J. Nightingale (MIT – Lean Aerospace Initiative), Dr. Scott Sink (VP, MTS Corp.), Dr. Seth Bonder (CEO, VRI), and Ms. Darlene Martin (GM, GE-Aviation) .

First IME Night Offers Information and Fun

The IME department held its first IME Night to showcase IME’s four undergraduate programs: industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering technology, engineering management technology, and engineering graphics and design technology.

Reviewing IME program material are industrial engineering students (left to right) Shannon Bowerson, IE undergrad; Supreeta Amin, IE Ph.D.; Ilgin Acar, IE Ph.D.; and Mike Hoonhorst, IE master’s.

Even though the three-hour event was set for one of the most blustery winter evenings this month, more than 40 IME students and faculty set up tables to showcase IME programs, products, and organizations and to answer questions.

In addition, many Parkview Campus engineering labs were open for guided tours. Participants could also view a computerized image of the pressure points they exert on a chair when they sit down, which is part of ongoing chair research.

Supreeta Amin, IE Ph.D. student, reviews a computer image of the pressure points that Al Reyes Rivera has created in the special chair in which he is sitting. The chair is part of ongoing research by Drs. Tycho Fredericks and Steven Butt.

All undecided engineering majors were invited to meet and discuss careers, school, and anything else with present IME students and faculty and to eat pizza, play games, and win prizes.

Discussing casting products and potential careers are (seated) Jason Klein (baseball cap) and John (J. D.) Steinmetz, IME manufacturing engineering technology seniors.

According to Dr. Steven Butt, an associate professor in the IME department who helped to coordinate the event with the IME department student chapters, several students requested more information about IME programs. “In spite of the weather, it was a very good night,” he said. “The interaction between the students and faculty within the department was great!”

IME professors Joe Petro and Kailash Bafna were two of many IME professors who attended IME Night to meet, greet, and discuss IME programs. Petro is an advisor in IME’s Manufacturing Engineering Technology and Engineering Management Technology programs.

Also pleased with the event was Dr. Paul Engelmann, IME chair. “This was clearly a positive event for our current students, and I, for one, had a good time,” he said.

Plans are in the works to offer IME Night in subsequent semesters.

FEF Conference Offers Students Opportunity to Network in Metal Casting Industry

Six IME students attended the 2006 Foundry Educational Foundation College Industry Conference (FEF CIC) held last November with Dr. Sam Ramrattan, a specialist in material and process and the WMU FEF Key Professor, and Dr. Tim Greene, dean of WMU’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The 59-year-old conference is held annually in Chicago. The current FEF President is Bill Barrett, president and CEO of Neenah Foundry Co , who was inducted into the CEAS Alumni Excellence Academy in 2006.

The WMU student delegates were Adam Bell (ME), Kyle Manduch (EGR), Ryan Miller (MFT), Charles Ponscheck (MFT), Matthew Rutledge (EGR), and Scott Seckel (MFT).

Ramrattan described the conference as “an exciting event” that actively reaches out to engineering colleges and universities in North America. WMU is one of only 25 in the world to be accredited by this foundation.

Seckel said the conference gave student delegates the opportunity to interact with representatives of companies in the metal casting industry. “There were as many as six delegates from numerous colleges from across the country,” he said. “The information section is structured to connect students to potential employers.”

According to Manduch, an EGR senior, the group spent the first night meeting representatives from a number of companies. “It was a great opportunity not only to meet companies, but to network with others in the metal casting industry,” he said.  “It was a fun night, where we [he and Miller] went out and about in downtown Chicago. We ended up at the Signature Room on the top of the Hancock Center, where we enjoyed the beautiful night lights of Chicago while networking with Honda representatives.” 
A special feature of this year’s event was a fund-raising silent auction held at the awards banquet in which industry leaders competed to purchase Super Bowl XL football tickets. Proceeds from the auction will benefit students in metal casting programs.

Students attend the conference for the opportunity to win scholarships and to network with representatives from industry. “Companies attend this conference to help promote their names and to look at students who could potentially become part of their teams,” Seckel said.

Representing WMU at the 2006 FEF CIC: front row (l-r) Scott Seckel, Dr. Sam Ramrattan, and Adam Bell and back row (l-r) Charles Ponscheck, Ryan Miller, Kyle Manduch, Matt Rutledge, and Dr. Tim Greene

The conference presentations included an update of current work being done by a recent engineering graduate, a review of changes in the industry from an engineer who has spent his life in the metal casting field, and an overview of positions presently available to graduates in the metal casting field. “The last discussion was primarily about the new wave of technology and the future of casting technology,” Manduch said. “After the conferences, we were able to tour the night life of Chicago.”

Manduch described the conference experience as a “very beneficial” one that seemed like a “family reunion” and offered lifelong learning experiences the students would be unable to get in a class.  “It was like a giant metal-casting family,” he said. “Everyone knew everyone else, and I learned stuff I will take with me for the rest of my life.” 

Describing his conference experience as “very valuable,” Seckel said he had his first “very tasty” dinner interview, which led to a second interview and a job offer that he accepted as the Casting Engineering Manager at Blackhawk Foundry in Davenport, IA. “The opportunities presented to students like me are the result of attending industry conferences like this,” he said.