The department emphasizes developing the student's ability to analyze operational and business systems and to design business processes that systematically integrate customer needs, technology, and economic and social factors for industrial, service, and governmental organizations. The mission is to produce top-ranked industrial engineers, highly sought after by industry, equipped with the basic knowledge of science, mathematics, and engineering and practical technical and managerial skills necessary to plan, design, implement, and manage productive and quality integrated manufacturing and service delivery systems in a professional manner. Kettering's IE graduates will be expected to be able to work and grow in their profession throughout their lives with a capacity to adapt, flourish and succeed in a continually-evolving workplace. Industrial Engineering is a discipline known for its breadth of scope and application. The preparation received in Industrial Engineering studies is valuable in virtually all industrial, commercial and governmental activities which are engaged in the manufacture of a product or the provision of a service.
Graduates typically are responsible for the design of integrated systems at one of two levels.
The utilization of computers and the development of the associated software are integral parts of both levels of systems design. Industrial engineers are generally concerned with the integration of people, as well as things, into the system design. The Industrial Engineering curriculum develops both the engineering theory and the practical background and people skills necessary to design the optimal productive work and management control systems for an organization. The curriculum features the breadth of coverage characteristic of Industrial Engineering while providing the flexibility for specialization within the discipline in the areas of Computer Systems Integration, Human Factors and Work Design, Quality Assurance and Reliability, Production Control Systems, and Manufacturing Systems Design. The Industrial Engineering curriculum is designed to provide the student with a sound theoretical background while being oriented toward applied problem-solving.