The Future of Industrial Engineering As An Academic Discipline

Industrial engineering as an academic discipline appears to have reached a crisis. While the typical industrial engineering curriculum based on the Roy report results in graduate engineers who are valued by many employers, it has proved to have some adverse implications. Industrial engineering departments have not been able to maintain cohesiveness and a common view of their discipline and the engineering content has been at too low a level to put industrial engineers at the forefront of technological development. The problems and some possible solutions are described; however, this paper is primarily intended to identify some of the key issues that need to be discussed.