Want to join the engineering profession which is "people oriented"? Then by all means, become an industrial engineer at SIUE! What sets industrial engineering apart from other engineering disciplines is its broader scope. Industrial Engineering is a broad professional discipline concerned with the design of effective systems that combine human and physical resources in organizations to achieve specific objectives. It is a field that is concerned with performance measures and standards, research of new products and product applications, ways to improve use of scarce resources and many other problem-solving adventures.

In order to relate to the total picture of productivity improvement, an IE looks at the "big picture" of what makes society or systems perform best - the right combination of human resources, natural resoucres and man-made structures and equipment. An IE bridges the gap between management and operations, dealing with and motivating people as well as determining what tools should be used and how they should be used. Consequently, an industrial engineer draws upon knowledge of mathematics, physical and engineering sciences, and management and behavioral sciences to function as a problem-solver, innovator, coordinator, and change agent. Industrial engineers practice in all phases of manufacturing industries, service industries, and government agencies in such areas as system design, policy analysis, production management, plant layout and design, and materials handling.