Women in Industrial and Systems Engineering

Book excerpt: This book presents a diversity of innovative and impactful research in the field of industrial and systems engineering (ISE) led by women investigators. After a Foreword by Margaret L. Brandeau, an eminent woman scholar in the field, the book is divided into the following sections: Analytics, Education, Health, Logistics, and Production. Also included is a comprehensive biography on the historic luminary of industrial engineering, Lillian Moeller Gilbreth. Each chapter presents an opportunity to learn about the impact of the field of industrial and systems engineering and women’s important contributions to it. Topics range from big data analysis, to improving cancer treatment, to sustainability in product design, to teamwork in engineering education. A total of 24 topics touch on many of the challenges facing the world today and these solutions by women researchers are valuable for their technical innovation and excellence and their non-traditional perspective. Found within each author’s biography are their motivations for entering the field and how they view their contributions, providing inspiration and guidance to those entering industrial engineering.