blu_g8orade

i've been reading about IE, and it's looking really appealing right now. but i need to know a little more.

what exactly do industrial engineers do in the real world?
what type of classes would you take for it in college (more math classes, or science classes, etc)?
how does it compare to mechanical engineering in terms difficulty?
what is the demand like for industrial engineers? how about typical starting pay?
say i wanted to get an MBA and enter business. which combines better with business, mechanical or industrial engineering?

thanks for anyone who can answer any of my questions.

redlineSI

I am not in this major yet but i will be this fall.
a.Industrial engineers figure out ways to work efficiently, plan, and design in the transportation, production and manufacturing. The director of Industrial Engineer in the University i am going to told me basically IE do everything and anything. We even design a job to be compatible with human and vice versa. IE plan time etc and a lot more interesting things. We basically engineer people, unlike other engineering fields, they do technical stuff.

b. I have not taken any classes of IE yet but they look interesting. Some courses are Digital Simulation, Introduction to Operation Research, Facilities Design, Planning for production, Ergonomics, Decision Analysis ,Human factors and machinery.and a lot more.

c. Some people say IE is a easy major and it is a stupid major but thats the way people are. They look down on other people to feel better.

d. The demand for Industrial Engineering is high according to Engineering Technicians
The starting salary for IE is 51-55k a year in the NY region.
As for the last question, i would like a solid answer myself.

Hope this helps

Marines920

Hey - I'm a current Industrial Engineering student, or an imaginary engineer as many of the users here would label me :-p.


what exactly do industrial engineers do in the real world?

In the real world - Industrial Engineers (IE's) can fulfill a variety of roles. Traditional industrial engineering is focused on manufacturing. A traditional job would entail analyzing system processes and improving net efficiency/quality/productivity. These days, possibilities are very broad for IE's. Some of my friends are getting jobs in finance, and others are doing project management and consulting. Hell - I'm currently working in information technology! Unlike most other engineering disciplines, IE will give you a solid knowledge base in both business and engineering, expanding opportunities. Now while this is good, it also has harm. Because Industrial engineering is not as technical as the other engineering disciplines, you'll have a MUCH harder time getting an R&D position with a firm (where mechanical or electrical is preferred).


What type of classes would you take for it in college (more math classes, or science classes, etc)?

Well for me, I took 2 years of "core engineering," consisting of statics, a ton of calc courses, chemistry, physics 1 and 2, C-programming, computer aided design, and a ton of engineering electives ranging from mechanics to materials science.
After these 2 agonizing years, you take your industrial engineering courses, including Quality Control and Operations Research, and the ones mentioned by blu above. These courses are statistics and sometimes programming heavy. Industrial engineering courses also cover a lot of business material, such as accounting and finance principles.


how does it compare to mechanical engineering in terms difficulty?
what is the demand like for industrial engineers? how about typical starting pay?
say i wanted to get an MBA and enter business. which combines better with business, mechanical or industrial engineering?

Industrial engineering is definitely easier than mechanical engineering. However, unlike what many people would say here, it CERTAINLY is NOT A CAKE WALK! I put in about 6-7 hours studying every day at the library this past week (not a typical week, as I had 3 big exams, but it's still damned intensive at times). One of my good friends here is a mechie, and the poor guy is always stressed out of his mind with thermal fluids work and other boring courses.

Starting pay for industrial engineers (at my school at least) is higher than for mechanical engineers, but the gap isn't really that big. I advise you to not look at salaries. Both start you off decently - take the path that interests you most. If you want to do technical stuff, do mechanical. If you want an analytical engineering background, but you don't really want to do traditional engineering work, look more into industrial engineering.

As I mentioned previously, Industrial Engineering gives you a much better base of business knowledge than other engineering disciplines. It really doesn't matter for getting an MBA though, as equal proportions of mechies and IE's seek MBA's down the road.



Good Luck with your decision! If you have any other IE questions, feel free to PM me.

cb21

Great post Marines920! That helps me a lot!

BoelterHall

Do you think IEs are better suited or prepared for MBAs over MEs due to their quasi-business undergraduate background ?
Which top unviersity programs would you recommend for IEs?

JP_Omnipotence

US News ranking of undergrad engineering specialties:

"Undergraduate engineering specialties:
Industrial / Manufacturing
(At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)
Methodology
1 Georgia Institute of Technology *
2 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor *
3 Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)*
4 Pennsylvania State U.–University Park *
5 University of California–Berkeley *
6 Stanford University (CA)
7 Northwestern University (IL)
8 Texas A&M Univ.–College Station *
9 Virginia Tech *
10 Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison *
11 Cornell University (NY)
12 Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
12 U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign *
14 Ohio State University–Columbus *
14 Univ. of Southern California
16 University of Florida *
16 University of Pittsburgh *
18 Columbia University (NY)
18 North Carolina State U.–Raleigh *"

cdroyer

can you post the undergrad rank where the highest is a masters please =)

JP_Omnipotence

Unfortunately, I do not have the complete list (i lifted the previous one off a thread in the engineering forum).

However, I can give you the top 3:

1 Kettering University (MI)
2 Cal Poly–San Luis Obispo *
3 Bradley University (IL)

Kumara

Awesome thread--exactly the same questions were in my mind..
Now I'm pretty darn sure that I would enjoy Industrial Engineering..

jai6638

Hey there

I am currently a freshman industrial engineering student and everything that has been discussed here makes me think that strategically, IE is definitely the major for me since I want to go into the business side of things. However, I've heard from peers and read on this thread too that IE is programming heavy.. Is this true? My C++ skills are average since I'm not great at logic so while I can do basic programs, anything complicated with multiple nested loops,etc really have me stumped! Will this pose as an obstacle on my path to becoming successful as an IE?

Thanks

redbeard

I work in the field of operations research -- similar to IE and often in the same department. I don't do much programming, and neither to the OR analysts who work for me. They might write SQL queries or other simple data mining things. But, in reality, you can find many career arcs in the IE or OR field that do not involve being a code lackey.

redlineSI

Cool thanks for clearing that up redbeard.

jai6638

Thanks for that redbeard..

My flight instructor was a military pilot was an Industrial Engineering major from Michigan who went on to get his graduate degree in Aviation Management. He told me in brief that he applied his degree in analyzing "dogfights" and trying to come up with better strategies or ways... so I guess this major is truly broad in that sense.

aquamarinee

I have a somewhat related question. So would double majoring in CS and IE be much easier to achieve than one in CS and economics? My ultimate goal is to work in business/finance, so I want a quant. background as well as a business background. IE and economics are similar in how they teach you to think for business careers. Not sure which option is better?