Conference Recap

The 2021 Great Lakes Regional Conference for the Institute for Industrial and Systems Engineers was hosted by the Purdue IISE chapter from February 5-6. The conference was organized by Sophie Fanok and conducted entirely online with students from countless universities. The theme of the conference was Hidden Systems are Everywhere.

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Participating students had the opportunity to attend multiple panel events along with a trivia session to meet with peers. 

The session breakouts were as follows

Session 1:

• Uncovering Hidden Systems

• Retail as an IE

• IEs at Disney

• Exploring Data Science

Panel Hour:

• Consulting 

• Early Career

• Women in Engineering

Session 2:

• Case Study Workshop

• Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace and Beyond

• TechnologIE

• Healthcare Engineering

Session 3:

• Global Engineering

• Engineering at Conagra

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Along with the opportunity to attend panel sessions, attendees listened to a welcome from Dr. Abhi Deshmukh, the James J. Solberg Head and Tompkins Chair of Systems in the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University, Tamara Markey, and Andre Hughes. 

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Overall, 2021 Conference was a great experience for all who attended for networking, professional skills, and expanding perception of typical roles that Industrial Engineers can pursue. A special thanks to the Conference board for putting the weekend together, guest speakers for giving their time and sharing their knowledge, and all attendees for participating!