Push boundaries. Create knowledge. Lead the future of industrial and manufacturing engineering.
At the UWM College of Engineering & Applied Science, the PhD in Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering is built for scholars who want to drive discovery, influence industry, and solve complex, system-level challenges.
Your PhD is more than a dissertation—it’s a platform for meaningful innovation. Work alongside faculty on cutting-edge research in:
Advanced optimization and decision science
Smart, sustainable manufacturing and Industry 4.0
Supply chain resilience and global logistics
Energy, water, and interconnected resource systems
Data-driven modeling, simulation, and predictive analytics
If you’re ready to ask bigger questions and create lasting solutions, UWM is where your work begins.
Assistantship decisions are made by the academic departments only after an applicant has been accepted to the program.
Industrial & Manufacturing Research Labs
The Advanced Manufacturing & Design Lab, led by Ilya Avdeev, conducts research leading to better design of complex multi-physics systems ranging from CT scanners to EV batteries.
The Connected Systems Institute (CSI), led by Joe Hamann, accelerates innovation by bringing together industry and academic researcher to facilitate digital transformation for small and medium-sized manufacturers, ultimately developing an educational curriculum to better prepare the workforce of the future.
The Industrial Training and Assessment Center (ITAC), led by Ryo Amano, is a Department of Energy program dedicated to helping small and medium-sized manufacturers and wastewater treatment plants minimize their energy costs through efficient use of resources
As an R1 research institution, research is integral to our work at UWM and to the experience of students pursuing graduate degrees. Our college has a wide range of faculty-led labs that perform cutting edge research. Full list of our college’s research labs, centers, and institutes
Poster Competition & Three Minute Thesis
The annual Poster Competition & Three Minute Thesis is a signature event for our college. Students gain valuable communication experience sharing their research and out-of-classroom experiences with faculty and industry judges, who provide feedback.
Three Minute Thesis is an international research communication competition that challenges PhD students to explain their research thesis and its significance to a general audience in three minutes, using a single PowerPoint slide as a reference.
Student Organizations
Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE)
IISE is an international, nonprofit association that provides leadership for the application, education, training, research, and development of industrial and systems engineering.
For full descriptions and contact information of all engineering and Industrial Engineering related student organizations and clubs, click here.
Industrial Engineering Doctoral student Fahimeh Mohebbi (left) and Professor Rina Ghose, industrial & manufacturing engineering, will conduct a study to uncover information about the AI workforce across the state.
