ABSTRACT

This talk will share insights on how industrial engineering is evolving with the help of AI and how it is helping us balance efficiency and sustainability. Industrial engineering is at the forefront of process optimization and system efficiency. But with rising global challenges such as climate change and resource limitations, the role of industrial engineers is expanding. AI has become a crucial tool in tackling these challenges, helping industries become more sustainable while improving their operational efficiency. The talk will begin with discussing how industrial engineering can evolve to meet today’s challenges. Then it will detail how innovation is driving new efficiencies and how sustainability is becoming a major focus. The next part will dive into how AI is applied to industrial engineering. We’ll explore specific ways AI is improving both efficiency and sustainability, using real-world examples from leading industries. Finally, it will detail the emerging roles industrial engineers are taking on in this AI-driven landscape with a focus on how industrial engineers can bridge the gap between technology and operations.

 

BIO

Bopaya Bidanda is currently the Ernest E. Roth Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He also serves as the Director of the Center for Industry Studies. He returned to the faculty in 2021 after 21+ years as Department Chair. He also serves as Director of the Manufacturing Assistance Center Initiative that helps underserved communities develop manufacturing skills. His most recent book includes the Maynard Industrial & Systems Engineering Handbook, Sixth Edition that serves as the definitive body of knowledge for industrial engineering. His research focuses on different dimensions of manufacturing from reverse engineering to manufacturing modernization. He is also the Past President of the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers (IISE), the largest and oldest professional society representing the discipline. Dr. Bidanda has also served on the ABET Board (of Delegates) and is an active accreditation visitor for the past 20+ years and has led ABET teams to many countries. Dr. Bidanda has received many international awards - last year, he received the Frank & Lillian Gilbreth Award by IISE and also the Lillian Gilbreth award by the Indian Institution of Industrial Engineering. Bidanda is also a dual Fulbrighter, first appointed in 2004, as Fulbright Senior Specialist to Uruguay, and more recently as a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Scholar to India, by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the U.S. Department of State. Over the past decade, he has delivered keynote and plenary addresses at conferences in Brazil, Israel, Spain, Portugal, China, Korea, Turkey, and India.