Practicing Engineer:
Mrs. Anne Deisinger.
College Of Education: University of Wisconsin,
Madison.
Main Task: Project Management
Reasons for choosing Industrial Engineering:
· 1. Wanted a broader environment
· 2. Did not like a lot of
laboratory work that chemical engineers do
· 3. Was much interested in
business as much as was in Engineering
Dr. Ann
Herrmann chose industrial engineering because of the large scope, dynamism and
flexibility industrial engineering has to offer. She wasn’t interested in the
large volumes of work chemical engineers and mechanical engineers do which are
predictable and constant. She also liked business as a profession. Doing
industrial engineering offered her the choice to combine engineering and
business.
Daily duties:
· 1. Project management-
overseeing different projects given by the mechanical department
· 2. Safety management
· 3. Lab renovation
Length of service with MSOE:
5
years
Career Path:
Application
engineer – Application manager (10 years) – Project management (5 years) –
Marketing – Project management
She
started working as an application engineer at the Square D Company which supply automation products. She was then
promoted to the position of the Application manager at the company later on. She
stayed with Square D Company for a
period of 10 years. She left the Square D
Company for Rockwell Automation
Company. She worked as a project manager in the Rockwell Automation company for a period of five years. She then
went on to work in the field of marketing and later moved back to project
management where she currently is with MSOE.
Her
career movements highlights the broadness of the industrial engineering field
and the dynamism that goes with it.
Personality strengths:
· 1. Communication
· 2. Leadership
· 3. Teamwork
She
highlighted communication skills as a very important factor in becoming a
successful industrial engineer. Industrial engineers are like the bridge to
branches of engineering in the sense that they connect the other branches of
engineering. Communication is key in doing this.
She also highlighted Leadership as another important
factor in becoming a successful industrial engineer. Most industrial engineers
often find themselves in managerial positions so an industrial engineer must be
able to lead. Teamwork was one of her very strong personalities as she loved to
work as a team with people which is a regular activity for industrial
engineers.
Method of choosing company:
· 1. Those that attended career
fairs
· 2. Location of the company
· 3. Reputation of the company
· 4. Flexibility
· 5.Personal needs
She mentioned the above
methods as a way she used to choose various companies that she worked for. Just like MSOE, the University of Wisconsin,
Madison also held career fairs in which she attended. This served as a way of
choosing her companies. Another way she chose companies to work for was
considering their locations. She said this was a great factor as she was
looking for something close to her residence. She also said that the reputation
of some of the companies also caught her eye. She wanted to work for companies with
notable reputation and this was a factor in choosing her companies.
Finally, she considered
herself in the sense that she thought of what was best for her in terms of her
personal needs. One of these needs was flexibility which was one of the major
factors in her choice of company. She looked at the company’s relationship with
flexibility and that helped her choose her company.
Recommendations for career related activities:
· 1. Internships
· 2. Shadowing people- in the
sense that you try to do their jobs by filling in for them sometimes even if you’re not getting paid.
She highlighted internships
as an activity that helped her greatly in her course as an industrial engineer.
Internships is a great way of acquiring more knowledge and skills in your field
of work and also adds to your experience. This is important as experience is a
great teacher as the saying goes “experience is the best teacher.” It gives you
the understanding of work environments and formality apart from knowledge
related to your course work.
She mentioned shadowing
people. This helps to add to your understanding of the work environments,
coursework and formality.
Recommendations for
extra-curricular activities:
· 1. Student organizations
· 2. Attending conferences
Industrial engineering requires
a lot of communication skills. She recommended joining student organizations as
this would help build communication skills and team work. She also recommended
attending conferences related to industrial engineering. This is important
because successful industrial engineers come to talk about their careers and
how they made it. This would help to define your career path.
Most helpful course-work in this career:
· 1. Ergonomics
· 2. Quality courses
· 3. Project management
· 4. Safety courses
· 5. Manufacturing processes
She highlighted project
management as one of the most important courses she had taken in the past. It
has helped her for the most part of her career since she spent most her career
in project management. She also highlighted the quality courses in the
industrial engineering department as very important since an industrial
engineer is looking for quality and efficiency. She also said that Ergonomics
and Manufacturing processes has helped her a lot in the sense that it has given
her a lot of options in terms of diversity.
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