To enable enterprises in all industries, including manufacturing and service organizations in the private and public sectors, to be competitive while assuring quality, shortening response times, and reducing costs. The Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) profession deals with planning and improving organizational systems comprising people, materials, equipment, and information.

2. What do Industrial and Management Engineers do?

In all their roles, industrial and management engineers are charged with analyzing and improving the systems and processes in the organization while persistently enhancing the tools at their disposal. As such, they have to become professional leaders and role models, showing others in the organization how to adopt similar thinking and methods.

3. What type of jobs and roles can IEM graduates expect to be offered?

The IEM Department prepares its graduates for a wide range of roles, such as: production systems manager, organization and methods engineer, quality engineer, acquisition and logistics manager, project controller, cost accountant, industrial economist, systems analyst, decision-making support specialist, information systems manager, chief information officer, human-resource manager, research and development team member, management consultant, and a variety of other management positions.

4. What is the knowledge base of industrial and management engineers?

The IEM knowledge base includes basic mathematics, physics, and engineering studies combined with selected topics in the social science, computer science, economics, and management science. On this wide knowledge foundation, the IEM curriculum gradually builds the integrated knowledge necessary for industrial and management engineers in fields such as operations research, statistics, information systems, engineering planning, decision making and systems engineering.

5. How is the IEM knowledge base leveraged?

The IEM curriculum is oriented towards harnessing the systems approach and exploiting theoretical knowledge to systematically solve practical problems.

6. What practical experience do IEM graduates acquire?

Over the course of their studies, IEM students can gain practical experience working part-time in leading organizations (e.g., Intel) and participating in actual projects in industry and in a variety of teaching and research laboratories in the areas of work study, man-machine systems, simulation, production, automation, robotics, computerized integrated manufacturing, computer applications, industrial-engineering applications, transportation research, multimedia technology, intelligent systems, human-computer interaction research, and more.

7. What personal qualifications make a successful industrial and management engineers?

The personal qualifications of successful industrial and management engineers include: the planning capacity and an engineering understanding for developing control systems and for improving processes; systems-based thinking, for imposing order and logic in complex systems; interpersonal skills that promote effective listening and the persuasive power needed to make changes; and organizational and management capabilities, for initiating change and completing projects within pre-defined time schedules and budgets.

8. What differentiates Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in educating industrial and management engineers?

The undergraduate program at the IEM Department is unique in its emphasis on a comprehensive engineering education that accentuates building a robust scientific foundation, providing a wide exposure to technology, and combining theory and practice.

9. What distinguishes the IEM's academic staff?

Members of the diverse academic staff of the IEM Department conduct varied research activities, develop advanced research and teaching laboratories, and combine theoretical and interdisciplinary practical research, insuring intensive cooperation between researchers, industry, and research institutions in Israel and abroad.

10. What majors are available in the IEM curriculum?

The IEM Department offers two majors: (1) information systems and (2) production management, unless students choose not to major in either.

11. What are the requirements for admission into the study program of either major?

In light of the high demand, the default major is information systems. Courses specific to either major are taught during the third and fourth years of studies. After their second year, students are asked whether they prefer continuing with the information systems major, switching to the production management major, or completing their studies without focusing on a specific major.

12. What courses are included in the information systems major?

Some fundamental IS courses are included in the IEM curriculum (e.g., information systems in manufacturing and service organizations, programming, data structures and algorithms, object-oriented software development, databases, and systems analysis). To meet the current requirements for an IS curriculum according to the Joint ACM/AIS Undergraduate Curriculum Revision Task Force, the IS major includes, in addition, courses such as: information technologies (hardware and software), communications networks, organizational applications for information technology (ERP), building internet-based computerized systems, and management of information technologies and systems.

13. What is the difference between information systems in IEM and the program offered by the department of information systems engineering?

A graduate of both departments can find work as a systems analyst, database administrator, data security manager, chief information officer (CIO), and more. The IEM curriculum is designed to maximize the degrees of freedom upon graduation. Thus, upon entering the job market, as well as over the course of their careers, IEM graduates who major in information systems have more employment opportunities open to them, not just in the information systems area.

14. What courses are included in the production management major?

The production management major delves intensively into the tools necessary for the analysis of computerized production systems, quality and reliability engineering of manufacturing and service processes, planning and evaluation of operational and organizational solutions, project management and control, and application and operations of manufacturing and service systems, including courses such as computer aided production systems, quality and safety engineering, experiment planning, and factory location planning.

15. Does the IEM Department offer a special program to top mathematically-inclined students?

Within the undergraduate curriculum, the IEM Department offers a double-degree program in IEM plus Mathematics, allowing outstanding mathematically-inclined students to take an extra 42 credit points during their four years of study, based on a curriculum coordinated between the two departments, and earn B.Sc. degrees in both professions.

16. Why study in a double-degree program and how does it add value in terms of future employment?

The double-degree program is especially challenging. Its graduates are sought after for research endeavors and analytical tasks. The program provides an excellent foundation in research programs toward Master and doctoral degrees.

17. Does an IEM degree foster employment opportunities in service organizations?

An IEM degree is relevant to employment in service organizations (e.g., education system, banking) as well as in manufacturing organizations (e.g., defense and chemical industries), both in the private and public sectors, since management teams in all kinds of organizations acknowledge the importance of the IEM profession and the capacity of industrial and management engineers to enhance organizational performance and management.

18. What advantage do industrial and management engineers have over engineers with MBA (Master in Business Administration)?

Industrial and management engineers dedicate themselves, from the outset, to the design and management of business processes in all types of organizations. After accumulating several years of practical work experience, many continue to study toward an MBA. In contrast, after completing MBA studies, other engineers (e.g., electrical, machine, and chemical engineers) are limited to an organization in their respective disciplines.

19. What is Ben-Gurion University's international standing in the IEM discipline?

An international evaluation commission rated the IEM Department at Ben-Gurion University as among the leading IEM departments internationally, praising the students, faculty, curricula, advanced teaching and research laboratories, and productive collaboration with leading research institutions worldwide.

20. How does one study toward a research degree in the IEM Department?

Through scholarships and employment, the IEM Department encourages the most outstanding students to join fast-track studies toward Master and doctoral degrees.

21. What routes are open to someone who does not meet IEM admission requirements?

Candidates who do not meet the admission requirements can try to improve their psychometric and/or matriculation (bagrut) scores, try applying to Sapir College (first-year engineering studies), or check whether completing preparatory studies (mechinot) at this or at any other university can help.

22. Are students who completed first-year engineering studies at Sapir College accepted into the first or second year?

Students who successfully completed first-year engineering studies at Sapir College and who meet the IEM admission criteria are accepted to the second year.

23. Is a marketing major available in the IEM curriculum?

No.

24. How can someone who does not understand food products like chocolate or pasta manage a project in the food industry?

While working, industrial and management engineers learn the essence of the organizations employing them and become capable of analyzing and improving the systems and processes of which they are in charge, and of planning, operating and improving organizational systems, which combine people, materials, equipment, and information, to augment their organization's competitiveness in the market. They work alongside engineers and managers who understand the specific field (e.g., food engineers).

25. What is the demand for industrial and management engineers in the job market and who can guarantee that I will find work upon graduation?

Even though there is no guarantee that there will be work, IEM graduates are in high demand by reputable employers while they are students and upon graduation. The best graduates either reach senior positions, including CEO and CIO positions, in all sectors, especially in high-tech, or continue studying toward Master and doctoral degrees, toward a career track that leads to research in the universities and at research institutions.

26. Why study IEM at Ben-Gurion University and not someplace else?

The high demand for IEM at BGU attests to the clear preference that students have for the IEM Department both because of the quality of its curriculum and because of Ben-Gurion University’s reputation as a student-friendly institution of higher education where it is fun to study.

27. What early knowledge and preparation are necessary toward IEM studies?

Prospective IEM students are expected to have basic computer skills: Word, PowerPoint, Excel, at the level taught in high school. Those students without significant programming backgrounds are advised to take a preparatory C programming course (offered in the mechinot), preferably over the summer before the first year or during the first year. Those without a physics matriculation (bagrut) must complete introduction to physics-1 and introduction to physics-2 (offered in the mechinot) as a prerequisite to taking the physics courses within the IEM curriculum.

28. Can students combine work or other activities with their studies?

Yes, as long as their academic standing is not jeopardized, the IEM department encourages work within the IEM discipline or community work.

29. Are people with humanities and science backgrounds equally suited to study IEM?

Students with a mathematical inclination will be the most successful in IEM studies.

30. What percent of the IEM curriculum are programming courses?

Knowledge of programming is required throughout the IEM curriculum, with courses devoted mainly to programming comprising about 10%.

31. Is the degree in industrial engineering and management internationally recognized?

Yes. The IEM degree is recognized worldwide.

32. What part of the program is devoted to management?

Management is covered in many courses throughout the IEM curriculum, with courses devoted mainly to management comprisinge about 25%.

33. Can candidates with a B.A. in the social sciences be admitted for the Masters program in industrial engineering (ergonomics)?

Yes, if the B.A. degree is in Psychology, with an average grade of at least 90 and two positive recommendations from academic staff members.

34. Can studies be condensed into one to two days a week?

Not in the undergraduate program. In the Industrial Management Masters track, classes are condensed into Thursdays and Fridays.

Frequently asked questions for students

Answers to all questions, especially other useful information regarding policies, tests, student requests (vacation, study breaks), can be found at the following sites:

· IEM Department site (http://cmsprod.bgu.ac.il/eng/engn/ie)

· Engineering Faculty site (http://www.bgu.ac.il/engn/)

· Ben-Gurion University information kiosk (http://cmsprod.bgu.ac.il/units/kiosk)

Update Date: 26/07/2009