IE curriculum revisited : Developing a new undergraduate program at Texas A&M University

In 1994, the Engineering Dean's Council (EDC) formally called for a redesign 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 messages to the industrial engineering (IE) academic community that its students were not adequately prepared and that the IE discipline was entering a decline, despite the fact that the job market was good for IE graduates. Both industry and the engineering peers in other disciplines have repeatedly questioned the content of the IE curriculum in recent years on the grounds that it lack both technical rigor and relevance to contemporary industry.