Wayne State to offer minor in industrial engineering beginning in fall 2022 semester
The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Wayne State University will begin offering a minor in industrial engineering (IE) to all Wayne State University STEM students, regardless of major, starting this fall. The IE minor is designed to give aspiring engineers and scientists additional tools in lean operations, project management, Six Sigma, systems thinking and data analytics so that they may develop unique approaches to complex industrial and societal challenges, irrespective of the domain.
“We are routinely approached by students from a variety of disciplines asking for permission to take some of these highly sought skills by industry. We have decided to formalize these offerings and allow STEM students from across our campus to tap into this unique IE minor program,” said Evrim Dalkiran, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering.
Students in engineering and other programs who use these courses as electives may be incentivized to pursue the IE minor in order to both earn elective credit for their major and complete the minor.
The mission of this program is to enhance students’ career prospects in such fields as services, manufacturing, supply chain management and logistics, health care, banking and finance, and information management. A broad systems, data-driven perspective can augment the skills students acquire in other disciplines to prepare them for leadership and executive roles in most industries.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Michigan has the highest concentration of jobs in industrial engineering, with more than 25,000 positions. Detroit and its neighboring cities, including Warren and Dearborn, constitute the highest-ranked metropolitan area in terms of industrial engineering employment.
“We think of this IE minor as a program that can give students an ‘x-factor’ to boost their credentials by giving them highly valued skills, improving their immediate marketability and preparing them for longer-term career growth,” said Ratna Chinnam, professor and department chair.
Wayne State requires students to complete a minimum of 18 credits in course work for the IE minor. Flexibility in course selection allows students to specialize in particular areas of industrial engineering, including analytics and data science, operations research, quality and statistics, supply chain engineering, and manufacturing systems.