College hosts international conference on industrial engineering

A large group of people wearing florescent yellow vest inside a warehouse with a giant construction vehicle in the background. One person is sitting on the wheel.
The conference offered participants tours at Rockwell Automation, Komatsu Mining and Case New Holland. Here, the group shows the scale of a vehicle at CNH.

The Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering recently hosted an international conference of the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Society (IEOM) on campus with Associate Professor Wilkistar Otieno serving as the Conference Chair. The June event drew hundreds of participants from 35 countries who gathered to provide insights into the latest advancements in these fields.

UWM faculty members presenting included Wilkistar Otieno (Women in Industry and Academia), Matthew Petering (Supply Chain Management), Iftekharuddin Khan (Continuous Improvement), and several students who gave research presentations.

Alumnus Ahad Ali (PhD ’03) launched the organization in 2009. Since then, the IEOM Society has become a global organization for academics, researchers, and industry scientists, to exchange ideas. IEOM has more than 49,000 members from 151 countries.

A woman speaking at a podium. She has brown hair and is wearing a dark suit jacket. A college banner is behind her.
Canan Bilen-Green, UWM Associate Provost, Academic Affairs, gives the opening remarks.
Two men in suits standing side by side looking at the camera. Man on the left has a gray beard. Man on the right is wearing a cream-colored jacket.
UWM teaching faculty Iftekharuddin Khan (left) poses with Ahad Ali (PhD ’03), who launched the IEOM Society in 2009. He also is associate professor at Lawrence Technological University.
A group shot of four - two women and two men displaying a plaque. One woman is wearing a red dress and the other has a headscarf. One man is dark-skinned and wearing a tan suit. The other is white in a dark suit jacket.
Graduate student Sajede Farahani (second from right) was one of the UWM students who made a research presentation at the event. Others pictured are (from left) UWM Associate Professor Wilkistar Otieno (conference chair and mentor to Farahani), Ahad Ali and Don Reimer, founder and CEO, respectively, of the IEOM Society.
A large crowd of people, all looking at the camera.
A portion of the conference attendees met at the new Chemistry building. Next year’s North American IEOM conference will be hosted by Northeastern University in Boston.
Three men and a woman (in the middle) display a plaque. The woman is wearing a red dress and black jacket. The man on the left is in a tan suit, the man next to him is in a gray suit and has glasses on. The man on the right is in a dark suit.
Associate Professor Wilkistar Otieno was given a teaching and curriculum development award by Paul Perkins (just left of Otieno) of Amatrol, a manufacturer or technical learning systems for her contributions to curriculum development in connected systems. Otieno also was named an IEOM Fellow at the event. Ahad Ali (far left) and Don Reimer, founder and CEO, respectively, of the IEOM Society were present.

Opening remarks or keynotes by UWM faculty over the four-day event included:

  • Canan Bilen-Green, UWM Associate Provost, Academic Affairs
  • Ethan Munson, UWM professor emerit, computer science
  • Chia Vang, UWM Vice Chancellor, Community Empowerment and Institutional Inclusivity
  • Associate Dean Prasenjit Guptasarma, Associate Dean, Engineering & Applied Science (keynote)
     

Three members of the IME department’s industry advisory members also presented:
Michael Cook (Rockwell Automation), Jeffrey Wood (Generac Power Systems), and Girish Gopalakrishnan (Case New Holland).

Many awards were presented, including some to UWM faculty, staff, and a student. Amatrol, a manufacturer or technical learning systems, recognized Otieno’s work with industry partners to develop the Connected Systems course which later led into the establishment of the UWM’s MS program in Connected Systems Engineering.

Others:

  • Iftekharuddin Khan – Lifetime Engineering Education Award
  • Matthew Petering – Outstanding Researcher Award
  • Satya Aditya Akundi – Outstanding teaching award in Project Management
  • Joe Hamman – Distinguished Industry Practitioner Award
  • UWM master’s student Faria H Bhuiya (Ilya Avdeev, advisor): first place in poster competition
  • Chia Youyee Vang: Distinguished Woman in Industry and Academia Award

Students from the college presenting posters included:

  • Sajede Farahani (Wilkistar Otieno, advisor)
  • Reza Jazemi (Jaejin Jang, advisor)
  • Faria Bhuyia (Ilya Avdeev, advisor)
  • Nayan Banik (Habib Rahman, advisor)