Great Lakes Regional Conference
Date: TBA
Ohio State University
IIE Annual Conference and Expo 2012
May 19-23, 2012
Orlando, Florida
Engineering Lean & Six Sigma Confer-
ence
September 12-14, 2011
Atlanta, Georgia
Applied Ergonomics Conference 2012
March 26-29, 2012
Nashville, Tennessee
You can find more on these events
on the IIE website:
http://www.iienet.org/conferences
IIE Upcoming Events
IIE Regional News
Positions are available for
the Region.
Please help out!
More information on page 2
Institute of Industrial EngineersInstitute of Industrial Engineers
Spring 2011
Great Lakes RegionGreat Lakes Region
IIE Great Lakes Region
Chapters:
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland State University
Columbus, OH
Dayton, OH
Detroit, MI
Kettering University
Ohio State University
Ohio University
Purdue University
Toledo, OH
University of Cincinnati
University of Dayton
University of Louisville
University of Michigan
University of Toledo
Wayne State University
Western Michigan University
Wright State University
Youngstown State University
Volume 2 Issue 2
Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, OhioIndiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio
NEWSLETTER
Inside this issue:
RVP Update 2
Open Region Positions 2
Lean Pathology Tour 3
Chapter Events and News 4
Regional Statistics 12
Region Contact Information 12
The Greater Detroit Profes-
sional Chapter takes a Lean
Pathology Tour.
More information on page 2
Great Lakes Region
Page 2
Dear IIE Great Lakes Region Members,
My name is Vanda Ametlli and I will be
serving as the Great Lakes Region Vice
President for the next three years. I am a
r e c e n t g r a d u a t e o f W a y n e
State University's Industrial & Systems
Engineering (BSIE '10 MSIE '11). I have
been involved with IIE-Wayne State since
2006 and am currently serving on the
Greater Detroit Chapter. As an IIE member
and leader, it has been a pleasure attending
conferences and symposiums and meeting
industrial engineers from many industries
and locations. I look forward to meeting
many more of you over the next three
years and collaborating together to in-
crease the visibility of our profession and
enhance member benefits.
To support regional operations, a strong
leadership team is a must! I would like to
personally thank our past regional team for
their dedication throughout the last 3+
years. Gary Altman (Former RVP), Dr.
Tycho Fredericks (ARVPSD) and Lindsey
Thomas (Newsletter Editor).
To continue serving our members with
programs and supporting regional chapter
operations, volunteers are needed to serve
on the Regional Leadership Team (RLT)
The following positions are available:
Assistant Regional Vice President of Stu-
dent Development (ARVPSD)
Regional Program Director
Regional Communications Director
Regional Webmaster
(See newsletter article for detailed descrip-
tion of positions)
Please, take a few minutes to read our
regional newsletter to stay posted on
the outstanding work of our professional
and student chapters. Again, I look for-
ward to serving all of you as RVP. Feel
free to contact me for any questions, con-
cerns or ideas you might have.
Have a great summer!
Region Vice President Update
Assistant Vice President of Student De-
velopment
The AVPSD is responsible for tactical/day
-to-day operations of the student chapters.
In this role, the AVPSD will work directly
with student chapter leaders across the
region to understand the basic needs and
goals of each chapter and work to help
meet those needs. The AVPSD will also
work with the student chapter leaders to
ensure that all required documents (tax
forms, CAR [chapter activity reports], etc.)
are completely properly on time. AVSDP
will work to solicit membership satisfac-
tion feedback from students and work with
Young Professional Chair to support transi-
tion from student to professional member.
Regional Program Director
The program director is responsible for
planning regional programs such as webi-
nars. The program director will work with
the Regional Leadership Team to solicit
webinar speakers. Program director is ex-
pected to host at least 3 webinars per year.
The director will support planning of any
additional virtual or face-to-face seminars.
Regional Communications Director
The communications director is responsible
for promoting regional events and upcoming
deadlines through social networking web-
sites such as LinkedIn, IIE Blogs, Face-
book and Twitter. The communications
director is responsible for acknowledging
outstanding member achievement through
social networking. The communications
director will work with Newsletter Editor
to include outstanding member recognition
in regional newsletter. Communications
director will seek regional members to
contribute to newsletter and IIE Blogs.
...Continued on the next page
About the Available Region Positions
Great Lakes Region
Page 3
Lean Pathology Lab Tour—Greater Detroit Chapter
age and shortened its turnaround time for
laboratory tests. Most importantly, all of
the lab employees are involved in the ef-
fort. The leadership has instilled owner-
ship and pride in its workforce. This is
evident in the positive results of employee
surveys and the low turnover within the
department. The IIE group was able to
meet the team members in the labs and
hear the pride in their voices earned
through their efforts. HFHS‟s success is
so remarkable that a chapter has been dedi-
cated to their journey in Liker and Franz‟s
recently published book, The Toyota Way
to Continuous Improvement: Linking Strat-
egy and Operational Excellence to Achieve
The IIE Greater Detroit Chapter was
honored to be hosted by the Henry Ford
Health System (HFHS) Pathology De-
partment on a tour of their processes and
to participate in a candid discussion on
their lean journey. HFHS‟s leadership,
Dr. Richard Zarbo (Senior Vice-President
and Chair of Pathology and Laboratory
Medicine) and Rita D‟Angelo (Quality
Manager in the Department of Pathology
and Laboratory Medicine) talked to the
chapter about the remarkable improve-
ments made in their hospital by employ-
ing the principles of lean into their every-
day work. The hospital‟s department has
dramatically reduced its defect percent-
Superior Performance. Visit http://
www.henryford.com/pathology to learn
more about the lean efforts in the HFHS
Pathology Department.
The attendees to the event generously do-
nated a total of $200 to Forgotten Harvest
(http://www.forgottenharvest.org/), a local
“lean” charity. The charity‟s mission is to
relieve hunger in the Detroit metropolitan
community by rescuing surplus, prepared
and perishable food and donating it to
emergency food providers. The IIE chap-
ter toured Forgotten Harvest in 2009 and
was impressed by their efficiency in rescu-
ing food for the hungry.
Dr. Zarbo openly speaks to the IIE Chapter on importance
of engaging and empowering employees.
About the Available Region Positions continued...
Regional Webmaster
Webmaster is responsible for constructing
and updating regional website to include
key contacts, regional calendar of events
and much more. Webmaster will be re-
sponsible for uploading documents and job
postings within the region taken from the
IIE job board or members.
These positions will vary from 1-3. It is
recommended to serve at least a 2-year
term. Members of the RLT are not restricted
from serving a leadership role in their local
chapter; however, any anticipated conflicts
should be reviewed with the RVP immedi-
ately. The Regional Leadership Team
(RLT) will have a monthly conference call.
All other communication will be performed
electronically. No face-to-face meetings
required. All young professionals, acade-
mia or industry leaders are encouraged to
be part of the RLT Team. If you are inter-
ested in being a part of the regional team
p l e a s e e m a i l V a n d a A m e t l l i
([email protected]) by July 10th with
your first and second choice of positions.
Great Lakes Region
Page 4
Chapter Updates
Columbus Professional Chapter
President
Lynne Waldron
Contact Information:
Website: www.iiecolumbus.org
Vice President/Jobs Coordinator
Mike Devenney
The Columbus Crew score board at their event.
This past fall, the Columbus chapter
showed strong attendance at the "All Ohio
Event" which was held at the Der Dutch-
man restaurant. After dining on delicious
Amish cuisine, Roman Hlutkowsky spoke
on the topic of "IE Opportunities Outside
Manufacturing". With ten senior members
in attendance, we were able to network
with many other chapters from across the
state. With more and more IEs entering the
service industry, it was a good opportunity
to take a glimpse into what the future may
look like.
Following up the "All Ohio Event", we
held a schmooze and recruiting event in
conjunction with the student chapter. The
event was held the week prior to the OSU-
Michigan football game and helped allow
the student chapter enlist 30 new members!
We provided the food, and the student chap-
ter did a great job bringing the students.
In addition to these events, we have recently
completely recreated our chapter website
and , as a result, have been
recognized as the IIE Chapter
Website of the month for
February.
In the coming months, we
hope to get member participa-
tion in several workshops as
well as hold our annual Co-
lumbus Crew event with the
student chapter in late July.
We hope to build off of last
year's event and get even
greater participation from both the senior
and student chapters. It was a great time,
and we hope to see another Crew victory!
Adam Faris—cornhole at Columbus recruiting event. Shannon Smith, Lynne Waldron at Columbus recruiting event.
Great Lakes Region
Page 5
The Greater Detroit Chapter has had a great
year thus far with some fun events, with
more planned throughout the remainder of
the year. In January, Wayne State Univer-
sity (WSU) hosted our annual technical
paper competition. Norman Dotson won
the competition with his presentation on
reducing the wastes found in the majors
declaration process at WSU. In February,
the board attended the Engineering Society
of Detroit‟s Gold Award banquet and pre-
sented Gary Altman an award recognizing
him for his years of service and leadership
to the IIE local and national organiza-
tions. In March, we organized a tour of
Uni-Solar‟s state-of-art solar panel facility
in Auburn Hills. During the tour, the group
learned how Uni-Solar applies industrial
engineering methods to create value for
their customers and investors. The re-
nowned Henry Ford Health System
(HFHS) Pathology Lab was generous
enough to host the IIE chapter in April.
HFHS‟s leadership showed the chapter the
remarkable improvements made in their
hospital by employing the principles of
lean into their everyday work.
Over the remainder of 2011, the IIE
Greater Detroit Chapter plans to host more
educational and networking events. Our
vice president, Alex Bohn, will be attend-
ing the annual conference in Reno. He
will be presenting his educational series
that includes a simulation optimization
experience on program management. Dur-
ing the second weekend of June, the chap-
ter will be taking part in our annual Com-
munity Service Day that helps to beautify
the inner city of Detroit. In July, we will be
having our annual summer fun event. In the
fall, we will have our well attended Harbour
Report presentation as well an Executive
Round Table. Each event will give local
members an opportunity to gain insight on
industry expertise that has in the past proven
valuable to our career journeys.
Greater Detroit Professional Chapter
President
John Preston
Contact Information:
Website: www.iiedetroit.org
Executive Vice President
Lanie Dixon
Greater Detroit Chapter at the Henry Ford Health System Pathology Lab tour.
Great Lakes Region
Page 6
Dayton Professional Chapter
It has been a busy first of the year for the
Dayton, Ohio chapter. Events started off in
February with the 10th annual Tech Fest
Science and Engineering Fair hosted by
Sinclair Community College. This is a
special two day event to help children
grades K through 12 learn about many
aspects of the science and engineering
disciplines. It was an overwhelming event
with over 2000 students participating and
more than 3500 attendees. The IIE Dayton
chapter booth was manned with Wright
State and University of Dayton students as
well as a host of senior members.
Children participated in a game about how
to sequence your actions to get ready for
school. Pictured are two WSU students
wearing their IIE logo caps.
The student chapters of the local Universi-
ties held their annual design project pres-
entations for the members of the senior
chapter. Their work was quite amazing in
the depth and detail of the information in
their work. The senior chapter gives a
monetary award to each school‟s best stu-
dent and the first year‟s membership to IIE.
In May, the Dayton chapter along with the
local ASQ chapter, co-hosted a special lec-
ture at the University of Dayton for the
members. Dr. Dave Sturrock from Simio,
LLC gave a presentation on “Tips for Suc-
cessful Practice of Simulation”. Simio is an
object oriented 2D/3D modeling software
package for PC‟s that has very flexible de-
sign options. The talk was quite informative
on how to structure a simulation exercise to
be successful.
A special thanks is to be given to Dr. Ad-
edeji Badiru from AFIT (Air Force Institute
of Technology) for forming an informative
website and member organization called
A M I E h t t p : / / w w w . a m i e n e t . o r g /
postings.html. AMIE (Association of Mili-
tary Industrial Engineers) is dedicated to
those IE‟s working in the military. Please
take a tour of the website.
Congratulations are in order for Julie Duffy
and everyone who contributed time and hard
work to making this chapter a success! The
Dayton Senior Chapter has qualified for the
Bronze Award. To further her understanding,
Julie attended 2011 Work Standards Confer-
ence that IIE held in Chicago in March.
Upcoming events:
September – Dayton Computer Societies Join
Meeting
October - All Ohio Student Chapter IIE Meet-
ing
Secretary
Rick Duncan
Contact Information:
Wright State University students wearing their IIE logo hats.
Great Lakes Region
Page 7
Kettering University– Section B Student Chapter
Recently, we held an event at the school
called Young Inventor‟s Fair. This day al-
lowed children from the area Elementary
Schools to come in, and not only show off
their inventions they have been working on,
but also attend activities within our school
with students and professors. With IIE and
the other Industrial engineering students, the
students worked in groups with the IE stu-
dents to build Lego Airplanes in an assem-
bly line the fastest, using already given out
standardized instructions to each „line
worker‟. After completing this task, as a real
assembly line for 5 minutes, to build the
most airplanes, the students were then given
the task of acting as IE‟s and reinventing the
airplane assembly line, to build more planes
faster. Working with the students and pro-
fessors present, it allowed the students to
see how important the jobs of IE‟s are to
keep the plant the most efficient. During
this time a short presentation on IE and a
tour of the new Ergonomics lab was given.
An upcoming activity, will take place on
May 26th, 2011, at the Michigan Brewing
company in Webberville, MI. The B-
section IIE chapter at Kettering will be
teaming up with the Chemical Engineering
Club to host an event which allows stu-
dents, alumni and professors to tour, taste
test, and experience the brewery. The idea
is to allow IE‟s to see a different type of
facility than that of automobiles, where
many students do their co-ops, and see
how line set-up and plant layouts work in a
different industry. This event we also
hope, will network more alumni and stu-
dents to expand their knowledge and con-
nections.
This past term a $30,000 grant was given
to the IE department at our school to up-
date and renovate the Ergonomics lab at
Kettering University. This money was put
to use buying new computers and software,
such as UM3DSSPP, to be used as teach-
ing tools. Also many items such as an an-
thropometer and Biopac equipment.
President
Monica Williams
Contact Information:
Section B– Kettering University Young Inventors Fair.
Great Lakes Region
Page 8
This year has been an exciting year for
Ohio State IIE. We have had so many ex-
citing events happen and many more yet to
come. We were fortunate enough to send
34 students to the regional conference held
at Ohio University! Additionally, Ohio
State IIE, with support from the Rob and
Susan Savage Foundation, is sending 18
students to National Conference this year.
With networking, professional exposure,
and our own faculty presenting, this year‟s
conference is sure to be a great success!
We continued our programs for the year
with presentations from Wal-mart, Cater-
pillar, Stryker, and Nestle. Plant Tours at
Whirlpool, The OSU Medical Center, and
Victoria‟s Secret online DC provided stu-
dents a firsthand look into current IE op-
erations. We have also invited students
from the department to share their summer
internship experiences with younger stu-
dents.
IIE at Ohio State is gaining momentum on
campus. Our social events are gathering in
over 160 students and we are still growing.
Our membership has flown to over 100
student members within the last year and
our department is getting stronger and
bigger with each upcoming year. We are
in deep in plans to host the regional con-
ference next year and are very excited
about all the opportunities we are bringing
to the table!
While working in our studies and with IIE,
we are still actively involved in volunteer
opportunities and school intramurals
sports. Our basketball team made it far in
the tournament play and all of our softball
players are enjoying their current season.
We are currently in the midst of a website
revamping! You can visit our current site
www.ohiostateiie.org, but be on the look
out for our new and improved IIE website
and Regional conference website for next
year.
We are proud to have two teams compete
in the national conference arena competi-
tion and one of our members submit a
technical paper to the construction divi-
sion. We wish them all the best of luck!
President Bob Smyth
Ohio State University Student Chapter
Contact Information:
Executive Vice President
Elizabeth Schwiezer
The lucky Ohio State University IIE students that were sent
to the regional conference at Ohio University.
A mix of Ohio State University alumni, incoming, and outgo-
ing officers at the officer turnover meeting.
Great Lakes Region
Page 9
The University of Michigan‟s IIE chapter
is excited to kick off another school year
with some of our favorite professional and
social networking opportunities. Our IOE
Back-to-School Barbeque, hosted by IIE
and Alpha Pi Mu, the Industrial Engineer-
ing Honors Fraternity, and IOE Meet n‟
Greet hosted at a campus restaurant pro-
vide students, graduate instructors, profes-
sors, and other members of the department
an opportunity to meet and discuss excit-
ing professional and extracurricular oppor-
tunities. We also look forward to holding
information sessions for companies look-
ing to recruit Industrial Engineers by pro-
viding them with a space to present, net-
work with students, collect resumes, and
enjoy refreshments. Finally, our chapter is
looking forward to hosting some of our
popular social events such as Bowling
Night, which is held in collaboration with
another professional society on campus,
and our bar nights for upperclassmen.
In addition to repeating
these successful events,
we are looking forward
to adding some more
diverse activities to our
programming. We hope
to include community service or outreach
events, professional etiquette presentation
before Fall Career Fair, and more opportu-
nities for general body members including
officer subcommittees. We are also plan-
ning to send a delegation of students to this
year‟s National Conference.
President Gavrilla Abramson
University of Michigan Student Chapter
Contact Information:
Vice President– Programs
Christopher Fowlkes
Vice President– Activities
Ophra Shiffeldrim
University of Michigan Officers at IIE meet and greet.
University of Michigan IOE Students at the 2011 bar crawl.
University of Michigan Students at an event.
IIE Great Lakes Region
In February of 2011, Wayne State‟s IIE chap-
ter traveled to Ohio University for the Great
Lakes Regional Conference with 25+ under-
graduate and graduate students. The confer-
ence was not only used as a tool to enlighten
and exposure our students to a professional
conference experience, but also serve as tool
to generate interest in not only the Depart-
ment of Industrial Engineering, but in Wayne
State's IIE organization. In May of 2011,
Wayne State‟s IIE chapter sent 5 undergradu-
ate students, as well as, 3 graduate students to
Reno, Nevada for the Annual IIE Confer-
ence. The conference gave the students new
sense of pride for their career choice, and the
experience was marked as once in a life time
opportunity for the students. This year‟s Irv
Otis Scholarship was awarded to an IIE
member from Wayne State University.
Aishwarya Sankar was awarded this year‟s
scholarship by Greater Detroit Chapter for
superior leadership in both her academic
program and in the IIE chapter. On June 3,
2011, several students from University Pre-
paratory High school visited WSU‟s Indus-
trial and Systems Engineering department.
The students had an opportunity to visit sev-
eral labs on campus, as well as, learn about
Industrial Engineering at WSU and IE future
job prospects. Several school visits such as
these are planned for the Fall and Winter
semester of this year, as this is a great way
to recruit High School students to WSU. IIE
Greater Detroit chapter is hosting a Com-
munity Service Day on June 11, 2011, in
which WSU IIE chapter officers and mem-
bers are participating to serve and give back
to the community. IE Students at WSU will
be attending next year‟s regional conference
at Ohio State University, as well as next
year‟s national conference at Orlando, Flor-
ida, to represent IIE-WSU chapter. Confer-
ences are a great way to network with other
peers and professionals in the department,
and IIE-WSU chapter has made it a priority
to set aside a good portion of our budget to
accommodate as many students as we can to
be benefitted from attending the conferences
every year. During the beginning of school
year in the fall of 2011, IIE Wayne State
Chapter will host the annual welcome back
event, in which all IE students and faculty
will be invited to come together and get to
know the peers. This event will
include food, raffles, games, and
prizes. During this event, the new
students entering the department
will be paired up with a “buddy”,
to get acquainted with the depart-
ment and to create an open and
friendly environment for the new students.
Meet and Greet Open House will be held in
the beginning of the Winter semester, in
which IE students come together to meet
old peers and get introduced to new peers
over some good food. IE Soccer Game: IIE
will be hosting a soccer game for IE stu-
dents during the fall semester to relax and
enjoy with other IE students over a good
game of soccer.
IIE Cedar-Point HalloWeekend Trip: Back
by popular demand, IIE-WSU will be host-
ing a Cedar Point trip during the Halloween
weekend, which will be open to all Engi-
neering Students, including travel, food,
and entry ticket.
IIE Game Night: IIE will be hosting a game
night, with different board games and video
games, along with some great food. This
event will be open to all engineering stu-
dents, who can enjoy some fun games with
their engineering peers.
Wayne State University Student Chapter
President
Norman Dotson
Contact Information:
Vice President—Programs
Aishwarya Sankar
Wayne State University IIE Students at the Regional
Conference at Ohio University in Athens, OH.
Page 10
Vice President—Membership
Pritchett Channing
Wayne State University IIE Officers donating $100 to the
department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
IIE Great Lakes Region
WMU IIE has been very active in the past
year. We recently organized and successfully
ran our annual fundraiser golf outing. This
was held at a local golf course and consisted
of 9 holes of golf, a late lunch, and drawing
for many prizes that were collected by mem-
bers of our chapter. The outing was very
well attended and as the planner, I was very
happy to see it succeed! Another event we
held this year was the Six Sigma Green Belt
certification course. We held this on two
different occasions, bringing in Mr. Larry Aft
of the Institute of Industrial Engineers to
teach the class. The class was well attended
by IIE members, various other students, as
well as local industry employees looking to
further their careers.
Another big past event our chapter took part
in was the annual conference at Ohio Uni-
versity. We found many of the speakers to
be very engaging and informative. The card
games were one our chapter‟s favorite times
of the conference as teams from Western
were less than a second away from winning
the team card sorting and a member won the
individual card sorting competition.
Our upcoming year‟s plans are very close to
the same as they were last year. We are
looking to get another Green Belt class of-
fered to Western students and will undoubt-
edly plan our annual golf fundraiser again
this year. As many of these are almost a
year away, we do not have any dates and the
Green Belt class is subject to when we can
get the instructor. Hopefully as the year
goes on, we can expand this list to help fill
the needs of our members.
The Great Lakes Regional Conference will
be held at The Ohio State University. As
of my knowledge, a date has not been set
but our chapter plans to send a delegation
to Columbus this next spring.
Three graduating IIE members were hon-
ored as both members of Tau Beta Pi and
Alpha Pi Mu: President Ryan Buurstra,
Vice President Carlee McClintic and Secre-
tary Kimberly Harms.
Western Michigan University Student Chapter
President
Christopher Reed
Contact Information:
Vice President
Elias Javier
40 WMU IIE graduate and undergraduate members, as well as faculty advisors, that attended
the Great Lakes Regional Conference in Athens, Ohio this past spring.
Page 11
IIE Great Lakes Region
Assistant Region Vice President for Student
Development (ARVPSD)
Tycho Fredericks, Ph. D.
Region Vice President
Vanda Ametlli
Region Newsletter Editor
Lindsey Thomas
Visit our Website! http://www.iienet2.org/Details.aspx?id=13564
Page 12
IIE Great Lakes Region Contact Information
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding the IIE
Great Lakes Region please feel free to contact one of the officers.
Find us on these Networks:
You can find the Great Lakes Region Mission and Strategic Plan for 2010-2011 on the Region Website!
Professional Members - 412
Student Members-384
Members at Large - 336
Total: 1132
Region Statistics