About Dr. Yuehwern Yih

• Tompkins Professor of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University
• Director of USAID LASER PULSE
• Director of Smart Operations and Systems (SOS) Laboratory

Being an Industrial Engineer (IE), I was given amazing opportunities, space and flexibility in my research to be creative, to be an entrepreneur, and to make changes in people's lives. My core research is system modeling and decision making for complex system/operation design, monitoring, and evaluation. By analyzing the dynamics of system behaviors and dependencies among individual agents within the systems, we may develop a policy (evidence-based practice) to manage such system and mitigate its risks. Applications of this concept include manufacturing, warehouses, supply chains, water treatment system for mission to Mars, riot prediction, humanitarian aids, healthcare engineering, as well as addressing global challenges in developing countries.

In healthcare, I was able to make direct impacts in clinic operations, saving lives and improving the care quality that patients receive. I believe in building strong leaders to help healthcare institutions infuse system thinking to their operations to provide better and safer care with equity and affordability, ultimately, to build a healthier community. Examples of healthcare engineering research projects include quality assurance in clinical laboratories, preventive care for colorectal cancer, open access for outpatient clinics, care transition between hospitals and long-term care facilities, usability of EMR and information technology, telemedicine impact on older adults' health, surgical scheduling, workflow redesign for check-in process, process improvement in ER and admission to ICU, discharge strategies, visual cues to improve drug limit library updates on infusion pumps, etc.

In addition to my role as a Professor of Industrial Engineering, I am also the Academic Director of LASER PULSE (Long-term Assistance and Services for Research, Partners for University-Led Solutions Engine) Consortium, and the Associate Director of Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering at the Discovery Park. I am an Institute for Industrial & Systems Engineers (IISE) Fellow, and an Executive Leadership in Academic Technology and Engineering (ELATE) Fellow. I received the inaugural Faculty Engagement Fellow Award based on designs for an integrated nutrition information system and food distribution system for HIV patients, and their implementation in Western Kenya. This integrated solution was deployed in 2005 and provided food for over 38,000 HIV patients and their families each year. This work was featured in the cover article of the January 2014 issue of Industrial Engineer magazine. 

Among many current projects, I am investigating the disparate cancer treatment experiences of Indianapolis women with funding  from NIH/CTSI, collaborating on saving the lives of premature babies in Malawi by redesigning the layout and furniture for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to facilitate Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) with funding from Save the Children, and using systems engineering to improve Ugandan healthcare procedures for pregnancy and delivery to save lives at child births with funding from a 2017 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenge award. It's an exciting time to be in healthcare engineering and to "Rethink IE" in the Purdue University School of Industrial Engineering!

Are you interested in using industrial engineering to improve healthcare and save lives? Please email me at yih@purdue.edu.

Education

PhD, Industrial Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

BS, Industrial Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, ROC

Selected Awards

• 1992    General Electric Foundation Junior Faculty Fellow, Schools of Engineering, Purdue University.
• 1992    Best Paper Award, 1992 International Conference of Pacific Region Management.
• 1992    Yih, Y. and Yin, N-C, "Crane Scheduling in a Flexible Electroplating Line: A Tolerance-Based Approach,” Proceedings of the 1992 Conference of Pacific Region Management, Washington DC, August 7-9, 1992, 220-227.
• 1993    NEC Corporation Faculty Fellow, Schools of Engineering, Purdue University.
• 1993    National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award.
• 1994    Who’s Who Among Asian Americans, First Edition, Gale Research Inc.
• 1994    International Directory of Distinguished Leadership, Fifth Edition, American Biographical Institute, Inc.
• 1998    SME 1998 Dell K. Allen Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award.
• 2000-2001       Pritsker Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
• 2002-2003       Pritsker Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
• 2003    Nominee of Defense Security Study Group (Two nominees per institution; Purdue University nominated one faculty from Schools of Science and one faculty from Schools of Engineering.)
• 2005    Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering Faculty Scholar.
• 2006    College of Engineering Team Award, Purdue University (with Professors Jan Allebach(ECE), Charles Bouman (ECE), George Chiu (ME), Mark Lehto (IE), Zygmunt Pizlo (Psychology and ECE)).
• 2008    IIE Transactions on Operations Engineering Best Application Paper Award.
  • Qiao, J., Jeong, D., Lawley, M., Richard, JP, Abraham, D. M., and Yih, Y. “Allocating security resources to a water supply network,” IIE Transactions Special Issue on Homeland Security, 39, 2007, 95-109.
• 2008-2009       Pritsker Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
• 2009    Inyong Ham Distinguished Engineering Lectureship, Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, College Station, PA.
• 2009    IIE Fellow. (After 2016, IISE – Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers)
• 2009    IIE Research Conference 2009 Best Track Paper – Health & Service Systems.
• 2009    Min, D. and Yih, Y. “Dynamic Programming Approach to Surgery Schedule Considering Patient Priority,” Industrial Engineering Research Conference, Miami, FL, May 30- June 2, 2009.
• 2009    Faculty Advisor Appreciation Award for Student Organizations, Purdue University.
• 2012-2013       Pritsker Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
• 2013    Inaugural Faculty Engagement Fellow Award.
• 2015    Executive Leadership in Academic Technology and Engineering (ELATE) Fellow
• 2016    Pritsker Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
• 2018    Outstanding Engineering Teachers for Spring 2018, College of Engineering
• 2018    Faculty Entrepreneurial Fellowship
• 2019    Outstanding Engineering Teachers for Spring 2019, College of Engineering
• 2020    Most Impactful Faculty Inventors of 2020, Purdue College of Engineering
• 2021    Pritsker Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
• 2021    Engineering Entrepreneurial Ambassador
• 2021    Most Impactful Faculty Inventors of 2021, Purdue College of Engineering
• 2021    Outstanding Engineering Teachers for Fall 2021, College of Engineering

Selected Student Awards

• Kerh, R. First Place, Global Good Award, I2D Expo, Purdue University, March 30, 2018
• Hsu, K-Y Second Place, Prevention and Wellness category, The Health and Disease: Science, Technology, Culture and Policy Graduate Student Poster Competition, Purdue University, March 1, 2018
• Bahalkeh, E., Ma, S., Yuan, P-E, Liu, Q. and Wongso, E., Third Place, Indiana Medicaid Data Challenge, Indianapolis, IN, October, 22, 2017
• Hsu, K-Y First Place, Purdue Industrial Engineering Research Symposium, April 27, 2017
• Hsu, K-Y Other Category, First Place, Health and Disease: Science, Technology, Culture and Policy Research Poster Session, Purdue University, March 23, 2017
• S. Xie, Obesity Category, Third Place, Health and Disease: Science, Technology, Culture and Policy Research Poster Session, Purdue University, March 23, 2017
• H. Jin, Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) Scholarship Award, 2016
• S. Xie, Outstanding Graduate Service Award, College of Engineering, Purdue University, 2016
• B. Vaziri, Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching, College of Engineering, Purdue University, 2016
• B. Vaziri, Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching, College of Engineering, Purdue University, 2015
• J. Eun, Magoon Award for excellence in teaching, College of Engineering, Purdue University, 2016
• B. Vaziri, Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching, College of Engineering, Purdue University, 2015
• J. Eun, Magoon Award for excellence in teaching, College of Engineering, Purdue University, 2015
• B. Vaziri, Recipient of Purdue Research Foundation (PRF) Summer Research Grant, 2015
• J. Eun, Purdue Research Foundation Grant, Purdue University, 2015
• B. Vaziri, 1st Place Prize, Purdue Industrial Engineering Research Symposium, 2015
• B. Vaziri, Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching, College of Engineering, Purdue University, 2014
• B. Vaziri, 1st Place Prize, Purdue Industrial Engineering Research Symposium, 2014
• J. Eun, Magoon Award for excellence in teaching, College of Engineering, Purdue University, 2013
• V. Ramamohan, Finalist, Best Paper Award, Modeling & Simulation track, ISERC Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, USA, 2012
• V. Ramamohan, Second place, Process Industries Division Student Paper Competition, Institute of Industrial Engineers, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2012
• V. Ramamohan, Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, Purdue University, 2012
• V. Ramamohan, College of Engineering Travel Grant, Purdue University, 2012
• V. Ramamohan, Industrial Engineering Graduate Student Organization Travel Grant, Purdue University, 2011