Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Industrial Engineering

The Industrial Engineering PhD program prepares students for extensive research and careers in academia, industry and government while providing a broad knowledge of industrial engineering. The Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Engineering is intended for a student with a master?s degree in Industrial Engineering or a closely related discipline. The PhD program is designed to produce highly skilled researchers with both broad knowledge of industrial engineering and in-depth knowledge of specialty fields for careers in academia, industry, and government. The program allows a candidate to thoroughly study some aspect of industrial engineering through faculty expertise in research areas such as management systems, systems simulation and modeling, operations research, quality systems engineering, interactive simulation and training systems, systems engineering, and human systems engineering, human-computer interaction, and ergonomics. The Industrial Engineering program is structured to support the emergence of Central Florida as a national center of high technology as well as supporting the diverse service industries in the region and throughout the nation. Human Systems Engineering/Ergonomics: As technology has become more sophisticated, the need to design for the human user has become more difficult, yet even more important. Human engineering and ergonomics assist in ensuring that as technology advances, the abilities, limitations, and needs of humans are considered in the system design. This not only supports the needs of the user, it also optimizes the efficiency and usability of the system designed. Traditionally, ergonomics has been associated with biomechanical issues and work measurement and performance issues in physical system design, as well as occupational and industrial safety. The broader focus of human engineering encompasses those issues as well as incorporating the reaction and effectiveness of human interaction with systems, both physical systems and virtual systems such as computer-based models. Research in the Human Systems Engineering and Ergonomics area provides students with the necessary knowledge in human engineering and ergonomics to effectively design tasks, industrial systems, and work environments that maximize human performance, safety, and overall productivity.