Industrial Engineering Faculty Featured for COVID Response

Several University of Arkansas faculty members were featured on a podcast from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers for their work during the fall and spring to adapt to COVID-19.

The Coronavirus Pandemic caused significant changes to the way students and faculty accessed classes in the spring of 2020. Things happened quickly and created challenges for universities world-wide. Faculty, staff and students had to make the modifications rapidly, effectively, keeping students and faculty members engaged and yet remote.

The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers podcast Problem Solved, sat down with leaders from the Industrial Engineering profession including: Kim LaScola Needy, dean of the Graduate School and International Education and a professor of industrial engineering; Manuel Rossetti, professor and director of the interdisciplinary Data Science Program; and Eileen Van Aken, professor and head of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Ed Pohl, head of the Department of Industrial Engineering, said working through uncertainty is a skillset industrial engineers use daily.

"These obstacles presented challenges for the problem-solving skills of industrial engineers but they found innovative ways to teach, learn and stay connected," he said. "They are uniquely situated to assist with the transition and they thrive on making things better. Creating new and innovative processes to meet the challenges faced by organizations of all types is what we do."

Faculty members discussed how instructors and students adjusted to remote learning challenges during the pandemic shutdown last spring, along with the innovative lessons they are applying to the start of the fall semester.