From the Chair

Welcome to Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. I joined the Department in the Summer of 2006 because I was excited about the educational and research programs. The students and faculty are of the highest caliber, and it shows in the work they produce.

Take a look at our undergraduate program and I think you will agree that it is very unique. While nearly all B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering programs in the country can boast strong analytical programs with application areas in manufacturing, logistics, and supply chain management, our program deeply integrates decision support systems and the soft skills (presentation, teaming, business skills) acquired through project courses, senior project, the sales minor, and the business minor. Essentially, our students learn to recognize and understand a problem, develop a solution algorithm, implement it through the appropriate decision-support system, and “sell” it to the client. It is a great combination of skills that is in demand by countless companies in numerous industries.

Our M.S. programs are healthier than ever, with students from all over the world pursing degrees that cover operations research, manufacturing systems, logistics, and engineering management. The Outreach Engineering Management (OEM) program, under the guidance of Joseph Geunes, Patsy Messinger, and Tammi Gibson, is enjoying record enrollments with students from across Florida and the nation.

Our Ph.D. program has grown steadily over the years, coinciding with strong growth in research. The Department enjoys a strong reputation in applied optimization (led by the Center for Applied Optimization (CAO) and director Panos Pardolos), whether the application is in telecommunications, military, or medicine; supply chain and logistics (led by the Supply Chain and Logistics Engineering (SCaLE) Center and co-directors Ravi Ahuja and Joseph Geunes); transportation (led by partnerships with Civil Engineer’s Center for Multimodal Solutions for Congestion Mitigation and Toi Lawphongpanich); financial engineering (led by the Risk Management and Financial Engineering (RMFE) Lab and director Stan Uryasev); and energy management (led by the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) and director Diane Schaub).

In addition to further building on these strengths, we are exploring new in healthcare. Panos Pardalos has worked with Epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease detection, Ravi Ahuja, Cole Smith and J.P. Richard have worked on radiation therapy treatment, and Elif Akcali has worked on hospital capacity planning – but we have only scratched the surface in this area. This is truly an area where engineers can make an impact and help the common good.

So come and explore ISE at Florida. We are proud of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and all of their accomplishments. If you are a potential student or interested collaborator, please do not hesitate to contact us for more information. If you are an alumnus, drop in and say hello on your next visit or drop a line to let us know what you are doing. My door is always open, as is the email dropbox (hartman@ise.ufl.edu).

Sincerely,

Joseph C. Hartman
Professor and Chair