Mission & History

Mission Statement……

To pursue excellence and national prominence in the areas of operations research, information technology, manufacturing, and related fields of Industrial Engineering through innovative teaching, distinguished research and scholarship, and active professional leadership. Building on its unique strength and national reputation in undergraduate education and industrial research, the department strives for leadership in educational innovation, multidisciplinary research, and industrial partnership. Our ultimate mission is to produce leaders who have learned to think critically and analytically, have the skills and techniques to comprehend and create new knowledge, and are willing to serve and inspire others.

 

History………

       

1920’s

  • First undergraduate degrees in Industrial Engineering offered by Lehigh University (1927)
  • IE curriculum administered by Mechanical Engineering Department

1930’s

  • Graduate program begins with the awarding of first Master’s degree (1935) 

1950’s

  • Industrial Engineering Department was formed as a separate program (1950)
  • Thomas Holme designated as first department head (1950), with Arthur F. Gould taking over in 1952
  • Curriculum heavily oriented towards work measurement, motion analysis, incentives, and production methods - - important topics in industrial engineering at the time
  • Manufacturing Processes Laboratory established to provide a more experimental approach to instruction in production methods (1957)
  • First digital computer installed at Lehigh, and the IE department administered the university’s computer center

1960’s

  • Lehigh’s computer center becomes a university-managed operation (1968)
  • Coursework added to the curriculum to cover new concepts in the evolution of Industrial Engineering such as operations research, statistics, and data processing
  • Ph.D. program initiated, and first two Ph.D. degrees were awarded (October, 1969)
  • Research becomes a significant part of the department’s operations

1970’s

  • Field of Information Systems had become important part of department
  • Coursework in computer-aided manufacturing and automation were added
  • Three new laboratories began operations:  Computer-Aided Manufacturing Lab, Information Systems Lab, and Work Systems Lab
  • George E. Kane becomes department chair in 1974

1980’s

  • Department moves to Mohler Lab (1988)
  • Computer technology drives changes in curriculum, with courses in CAD/CAM, robotics and automation, and computer information systems a vital part of the program
  • Curriculum further expanded to include computer integration technology, artificial intelligence, expert systems, and neural network methods
  • Marlin U. Thomas becomes department chair in 1988

1990’s

  • Implementation of long-distance satellite-based degree program, M.S. in Quality Engineering
  • Department name changes from Industrial Engineering to Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering (1994)
  • Louis A. Martin-Vega becomes department chair in 1994, and S. David Wu succeeds him in 1998

2000's

  • Department name changes from Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering to Industrial and Systems Engineering
  • Information and Systems Engineering established as a new degree program in Fall 2002
  • Joseph C. Hartman becomes department chair in 2005