the CHAIR

Introducing Engineering Enterprise


by William B. Rouse

Change is at hand. With this issue, the ISyE newsletter — IE Connections — is becoming the ISyE magazine — Engineering Enterprise. The key word here is "enterprise." Education, research, and service in ISyE are not just focused on "industry." Our domain is the enterprise as a whole — from the shop floor to the Board Room; from businesses to government to non-profits. ISyE concepts, principles, methods, and tools apply broadly to issues ranging from operational management to enterprise strategy.

Early in my tenure as Chair of ISyE — all of 18 months ago — a group of freshmen asked me to explain IE. Thinking quickly, I told them that if they majored in EE, they would devote their attention to voltage and current; if they went to ME, they would worry about velocity and acceleration; in CE, they would deal with stress and strain; in CS, they would concern themselves with bits and bytes. In IE, in contrast, the focus is people and money.

But ISyE is not just IE — it is industrial and systems engineering. Thus, we are focused on wholes more than parts. The whole system typically is the enterprise, for example the company or government agency. Actually, the system is the enterprise acting in markets and amidst constituencies. ISyE students are being prepared to lead such enterprises.

The data on our alumni support this conclusion. More than 25 percent of ISyE's alumni have senior leadership positions in a wide range of enterprises. Among our alumni, it is easier to find an investment banker than a chief manufacturing engineer; easier to find a software entrepreneur than a process analyst. Many of these people have told me that their ISyE educations — their Georgia Tech educations — have enabled them to gain these leadership positions.

Our new ISyE magazine — Engineering Enterprise — is dedicated to informing, supporting, and connecting ISyE leaders in all their endeavors. This magazine, in conjunction with the online Georgia Tech Business Network, will assure that your affiliation with and support of ISyE are key elements in gaining the knowledge, skills, and relationships central to the success you seek.

How does this work if you do not envision yourself to be the leader of an enterprise? My experience is that not all leaders in an enterprise are the leader. ISyE alums in business, government, and non-profits play strong intellectual roles because of their tremendous analytical skills, and because they often are the only technically oriented participants who feel comfortable addressing people and money issues.

Thus, there are a variety of types of enterprises and a variety of kinds of leaders. ISyE alums and friends cover the spectrum. This magazine is devoted to supporting these varieties with the best available knowledge of leading-edge concepts, principles, methods, and tools. We hope to become the best source in these areas. Please let us know how we are doing. William B. Rouse is the H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart Chair and Professor of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology.

William B. Rouse is the H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart Chair and Professor of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology.



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