Program Objective

A master's degree with thesis option is recommended for students wishing to specialize in any area other than Engineering Management and for students planning to enter a doctoral program.

The objective of the program is to provide the student with a sound fundamental knowledge of Industrial Engineering while allowing some degree of specialization. Broad areas of specialization in the thesis option are Human Factors/Ergonomics, Production and Manufacturing, and Systems and Modeling Analysis.

Sample Theses

Thesis research topics are vast and include such topics as aging, cognitive performance, data mining, engineering education, information technology, machine learning, manufacturing metrology and tribology, logistics, quality, supply chain management, simulation, and transportation.

Sample theses written by our master's degree graduates since 2003:

Human Factors/Ergonomics

Saha, C. (2004). Package Opening: An Evaluation of Opening Tools for the Elderly Population. Chaired by Randa Shehab.

Chandrasekaran, P. (2004). PC Implementation and Validation of the Shepard and Metzler Test of Mental Rotation. Chaired by Robert Schlegel.

Ashford, T. S. (2003). A Comparison among Dimensions of Learning Style Assessments. Chaired by Randa Shehab.

Ng, K. L. (2003). Influence of Computer-Based Instruction on Learning as Assessed with Concept Maps. Chaired by Randa Shehab.

Production and Manufacturing

Trichy, M. (2004). Fractal Characterization of Cutting Tool Wear in Machining. Chaired by Shivakumar Raman.

Aguirre Cruz, J. A. (2003). Inspection of Torus Forms Using Coordinate Metrology. Chaired by Shivakumar Raman.

Robinson, K. (2003). Effect of Granularity of Planning on Estimates of Resource Availablity. Chaired by Scott Moses.

Systems and Modeling Analysis

Barker, K. (2004). Learning From Student Data. Chaired by Teri Reed Rhoads.

Soundarapandyan, D. (2004). Use of Embedded Simulation in Order Promising. Chaired by Hank Grant.

Lewis, S. D. (2003). A Stochastic Programming Approach for Solving Yarn Production Planning Problem Under Uncertainty. Chaired by Suleyman Karabuk.

McDowell, M. (2003). A Workload Analysis and Resource Allocation Study of Faculty at a Medium-sized University. Chaired by Simin Pulat.

---