IE2 - THE IE CURRICULUM REVISITED - DEVELOPING A NEW UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM AT TEXAS A-AND-M UNIVERSITY

In 1994, the Engineering Deans' Council (EDC) formally called for a re design of engineering curricula nationally. Industry leaders supported the deans' position by pledging to actively recruit graduates trained in the resulting new curricula. Even before this occurred, a variety of sources had begun sending the message to the IE academic community that its students were not adequately prepared and that the industrial engineering discipline was entering a decline, despite the fact that the job market was good for IE graduates. Both industry and our engine ering peers in other disciplines have repeatedly questioned the conten t of the industrial engineering curriculum in recent years on the grou nds that it lacks both technical rigor and relevance to contemporary i ndustry.