Message From the Department Head

Dear friends,

What an unusual and overwhelmingly difficult year this has been for all of us. I wish the very best for you and yours and, most importantly, hope you are well. I imagine you are meeting the challenges head on and succeeding in every way possible.

Thanks to the hard work, dedication and perseverance of SIE students, faculty, staff and alumni, the department has much good news to report. We have had an exceptional year, despite the pressures of the pandemic. I am especially proud of everyone who is contributing to outreach and research addressing COVID-19 challenges.

Faculty Bolster Research Strengths

Three more faculty members joined UA Systems and Industrial Engineering in 2020. Welcome, Hannah Budinoff, Afrooz Jalilzadeh and Erfan Yazdandoost Hamedani. Hannah is an expert in design for additive manufacturing, Afrooz in stochastic and simulation optimization, and Erfan in distributed optimization and machine learning. Two more hires are planned for 2021.

University honors, professional awards and research grants are stacking up, too. Three SIE faculty members – Jianqiang Cheng, Ricardo Valerdi and Qiang Zhou – received prestigious NSF awards totaling more than $2.7 million. Three new NSF awards in a year would have been big news, but all three in just one month is amazing! Ricardo also received a university Distinguished Outreach Faculty Award. Additionally, we salute Larry Head and Roberto Furfaro. Larry served as the interim vice provost for Arizona Online from January to June 2020, and Roberto is leading the university’s research activities in Space Situational Awareness.

Enrollment Steady, Alumni Support Abundant

On the student front, the department awarded 143 bachelor’s, 53 master’s and two PhD degrees in 2020. Congratulations to Jose Luis Ruiz Duarte and all the new SIE alumni. Jose recently was hired as an assistant professor of marketing and business analytics at San Jose State University. With enrollment at 398 undergraduates and 190 graduate students, the department continues to attract and retain outstanding students.

We are ever grateful to the many alumni who inspire, support and help guide the department and our students. Ann Wilkey received SIE’s 2020 Alumna of the Year Award. Thank you, Ann, for all of your contributions to SIE’s success. Congratulations to Lewis Ntaimo, who became head of the Wm Michael Barnes ’64 Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University. We also applaud Mary E. Kurz, who received the Class of ’39 Award for Excellence from Clemson University, and Yiheng Feng, now an assistant professor at Purdue University.

Please take a few minutes to read more about 2020 faculty accomplishments, student successes and alumni contributions.

Virtual Homecoming Events Fast Approaching

We miss you! Homecoming normally means family, football and fun – on campus. While COVID-19 is preventing us from gathering in person this year, we won’t be forgoing the fun. Please join us on Friday, Nov. 13, after the college’s annual Engineers Breakfast for a day chock-full of Homecoming gatherings and presentations. We look forward to seeing you next year at the SIE BBQ in the Courtyard. Go Cats!

Kindest regards,