Arkansas Academy of Industrial Engineering Inducts New Members, Announces Faculty, Staff Awards

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Back row, from left: Douglas Mettenburg, David Storms and Marco Barker. Front: Cristin Groce, Ilyas Iyoob, Carol Wolf and Roger Ha.

The Arkansas Academy of Industrial Engineers, faculty, staff, family and friends joined together for the first time since the pandemic on the evening of April 8 to celebrate the induction of seven new members. A postponed event was held virtually in the fall to induct the 2020 and 2021 classes, so this event represented a return to pre-pandemic routines.

2022 inductees

• Marco Barker, B.S.I.E.'00

• Cristin Glover Groce, B.S.I.E.'05

• Roger Ha, B.S.I.E.'05

• Ilyas Iyoob, B.S.I.E.'03, M.S.I.E.'04

• Douglas Mettenburg, M.S.I.E.'07

• David Storms, B.S.I.E.'97

• Carol Choi Wolf, B.S.I.E.'03

The academy also gives faculty and staff awards for outstanding performance. This year, the academy's Faculty Member of the Year was professor Chase Rainwater. Along with being a recent inductee of the academy, Rainwater serves as associate department head of industrial engineering. Students often commend him for his teaching style, approachability and for being a great resource for them throughout their academic career.

In 2021, along with professor Manuel Rossetti, Rainwater was recognized at the annual Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers conference with the Innovations in Education Award. The award was presented for their work in designing, developing and implementing a required two-semester course sequence in computing for students pursuing the B.S.I.E. degree.

The two staff awardees were: Administrative Staff Member of the Year Carol Altom and Support Staff Member of the Year Jarvis Roberts. Altom serves as assistant director for students for the Master of Science in Operations Management and Master of Science in Engineering Management programs and their affiliated certificates. She is responsible for academic program administration, applicant review and admission, supervision of four advisers/site coordinators and student recruitment. She leads the advisory team that has maintained high enrollments in the past year. She also provided exceptional support to our successful program review. Altom will be retiring in November after 20 years of outstanding service to the university.

Jarvis Roberts has been with the Industrial Engineering Department since January 2020. He works within the information technology team as a scientific research technologist. Prior to joining I.E., he worked in the university's Central IT department for over 10 years. Despite starting in the department right before the pandemic began, Roberts has proven himself as a pivotal member of the team, especially during the university's work-from-home days. More recently, Roberts played a vital role in this year's implementation of cybersecurity improvements for the department and college.

Meet the new inductees.

About the Arkansas Academy of Industrial Engineering: Since 1986, the Arkansas Academy of Industrial Engineering has been recognizing the achievements of University of Arkansas Department of Industrial Engineering students, faculty and staff. By aiding in areas of equipment acquisition, faculty recruiting, student placement and curriculum review. The academy provides annual scholarships to industrial engineering students totaling more than $175,000. It also supports an advisory committee that meets yearly with the faculty and students interchanging ideas to assist with continuous improvement.