Erica M. Mentone
Industrial engineers can be employed in any number of careers because of its broad base of applications. In hospitals, industrial engineers may design complex systems for admitting patients in an organized and efficient way. Industrial engineers in a medical device company may design and monitor quality control tests to be sure the products are safe, effective, and meet the needs of the consumers. An industrial engineer, who works for an amusement park, may design or improve the park layout so that people can move quickly through lines. (2) Industrial engineers are flexible. One industrial engineer's day-to-day job tasks may look extremely different from another's, but the one thing they all have in common is creating efficiency in industry.
There are many different paths that an industrial engineer can embark on in his or her career. An industrial engineer may choose one of two career tracks, the technical track or the managerial track. The technical track includes careers in which an engineer applies his or her expertise from an engineering background. The other tract utilizes more interpersonal management skills as they relate to engineering. (2)
Jobs on the technical track include research and development (R&D), production, and technical professional services. Research and development is a career that is important in our society because it keeps our country's corporations and universities competitive. Industrial engineers in research and development solve problems and create new products. (2) In industry, production engineers are involved in every aspect of taking a product from concept to launch. Technical and professional service engineers do consulting and are often project managers. (2) Jobs on the technical track will be addressed in this unit, through research, development, and optimization of the cookie making process.
On the management track, engineers can work in marketing and sales, information systems processing, account financing, and administration. Although knowledge of engineering is necessary on this track, engineering skills need to be balanced with a sense of business and interpersonal managerial skills. Jobs on the management track will be addressed in this unit through the culminating project, which is to run a mock business in cookie sales.
In industry, many of Gardner's intelligences are utilized. Engineers must be able to plan and have a vision of the finished product, or effective process. This taps into the logical mathematical intelligence. The logical mathematical intelligence is "The capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically." 1 Depending on the product, or process, an engineer may need to use his or her spatial intelligence to mentally plan out a physical design before drafting and creating it. The spatial intelligence is "The potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas." 1 This may be the case in city planning, or offices designed for efficiency. Manufacturing personnel rely heavily on their bodily kinesthetic intelligence to work with their hands and create a product. The bodily kinesthetic intelligence is, "The potential of using one's whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements." 1 Engineers on the managerial track also need a strong interpersonal intelligence to be able to manage people effectively. This intelligence is defined as "The capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people." (1)
