Impulse Newsletter: Issue 1

Industrial and Management Systems Engineering

Issue 1 — April 2013

Better Heart Beats Through Engineering

Message from the IMSE Chair Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Alumni of IMSE, On behalf of the students, staff, and faculty of IMSE, I offer you our warmest Florida spring greetings. An update on the rankings might be in order. University of South Florida, one of only 40 public U.S. universities (among 1075 ranked) with Carnegie Foundation’s designation of “Tier 1 Very High Research Activity and Community Engagement,” continues to move forward with student success as its major academic focus. In the most recent U.S. News and World Report 2014 ranking of graduate programs, our program ranked in the top 48th percentile (42 out of 88 programs). The university generated more than $411 million in research funding in 2012 and in 2011 was ranked 50th in the nation for research expenditure by the National Science Foundation. Recently USF was ranked 9th among universities in a listing of top 300 organizations that granted U.S. patents in 2010. USF was also ranked 27th among U.S. public institutions in the 2011 edition of Top American Research Universities.

IMSE department continues to attract diverse and high quality faculty and students. In recent years we have seen many of our doctoral students complete their studies and make important career progression to academia including Drs. Laila Cure and Diana Prieto (Assistant Professors of Industrial Engineering at Western Michigan University), and Drs. Vishnu Nanduri and Wilkistar Otieno (Assistant Professors at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee). Our current students continue to remain professionally active by winning the top awards: Summa-Cum-Laude designation for the INFORMS chapter and Gold award for IIE chapter.

We have completed a comprehensive update of our BSIE curriculum with a major focus on improving our graduates’ knowledge of big data analytics. We now have a new four (4) course analytics sequence focused on programming, database management, and prescriptive and predictive modeling. The new curriculum goes into effect from Fall 2013. We have launched in Summer 2012 a new industry consortium (icIMSE) through which we continue to build stronger collaboration with industry in and around Tampa Bay and bring opportunities for class projects, research, internships, professional growth, and jobs for our students.

We are beginning to see fruits of our comprehensive undergraduate mentoring strategy that helps students to develop a holistic portfolio of accomplishments including leadership, community engagement, mental and physical health, language competency, global exposure, undergraduate research, university/state/national scholarships, and life skills.

Our Alumni continue to excel in their professions and we thank them for their support and feedback for improving our academic programs. Our IMSE Advisory Board is among the most active of its kind and continues to guide us in our efforts to further student success.

We have launched a brand new website imse.eng.usf.edu. Please visit our website and consider giving IMSE a share of your charitable dollars.

Most sincerely,

To donate to the IMSE Annual Fund, please go to the following website address: http://imse.eng.usf.edu/about/donate.asp

Tapas K. Das

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Editor

Liz Conrad

Writers

Tom Edrington Tapas Das Patricia Zarate Susana Lai-Yuen

Photography

Ryan Wakefield Liz Conrad

Ryan Wakefield

Designed by

Protecting the Grid - Thinking Like the Bad Guys

By Tom Edrington

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ssistant professor Bo Zeng has a core belief when it comes to research.

“A good research project should solve a real world problem. Otherwise, it stays on the shelf with little impact,” is the first thing he will tell you when the discussion turns to relevant research.

Dr. Zeng is involved in research that can have a huge impact, especially in today’s climate of potential hightech cyber terrorism and the threat it presents to basically every critical infrastructure or major company in the United States and the rest of the world. Dr. Zeng wants to make sure that nothing happens to our power companies, and that the massive grids, which supply electricity to hundreds of millions of citizens nationwide every day, are well-protected.

You could say that he is playing a serious game of chess. He is trying to anticipate attacks on power companies and he is working on advanced algorithms to identify the protection targets and block potential attacks.

headlines. “It is critical for him to provide a solution that functions as fast as possible,” Das reiterated. “These are problems that are nationally and internationally critical.”

And that point made by Das, reinforces how important Zeng’s research is in today’s global environment. It is all about security, especially cyber-physical security.

Zeng’s research isn’t limited to that important task. He is also working on a National Science Foundation-funded project with Tampa Electric to redesign fuel supplies that will minimize the costs with reduced sulfur and chlorine emissions.

He has also crossed into the medical field as well. His work is “You have to think like an attacker involved in Type l diabetes studies to come up with the proper where he looks to computing defense,” Zeng said. Several algorithms that will identify risk algorithms have been developed factors. With better identification Assistant Professor Bo Zeng by him that can derive the most and understanding of those risk destructive attacks and provide factors, doctors can use Zeng’s the best protection plans. “It’s a procedure to arrive at improved methods to work towards enhanced prevention a solution, some are slow. The challenge is to solve real and possible cures. large-scale systems faster,” Zeng commented.

Zeng, who earned his PhD. at Purdue, has settled nicely His work has gained a lot of attention and industrial into the department. department chairman, Dr. Tapas Das, has kept an interested eye on Zeng’s work.

“We are proud to have faculty like him,” Das said of Zeng. “And it is important for us to keep them “How do you counter a potential attack?” Das queried, motivated and energized.” the same question everyone in the nation might ask themselves these days when they read the daily

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Incentives and Emissions in SMART Electricity Grids

By Tom Edrington

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esearch is the engine that drives every major university in the United States, and Dr. Tapas Das has an eye on the present and the future for the Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Department within the University of South Florida’s College of Engineering.

As chairman of the department, Das has already successfully led an effort to revamp his department’s undergraduate curriculum and with his full schedule, you might wonder where he finds the time to set the tone for relevant research in his department and serve as major professor for four PhD students.

“Some do, some don’t,” Das said, when asked how many department chairs at universities around the country delve directly into individual research.

Count Das as one of the department chairs who does.

He has less time than most in his faculty to focus on research but he is not the least bit willing to give up that portion of his academic career.

These days you will find him researching and writing about the merits and future possibilities of smart-grid design for use in the field of electric power generation.

The world is full of C02 emission problems and smart grid design can help solve some of those problems for future generations.

“It is important to focus current research on understanding and developing incentive strategies that will make smart-grid feasible,” Das pointed out.

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He said it will be important to come up with the kind of incentives that will make people and companies willing to participate in the future technology. “That’s the trick there,” Das said.

He went on to show that in the future, under the right circumstances, most consumers will also become generators of power.

“We can talk about smart grid, but until we can build a model and analyze it, we don’t know how and where this can be feasible,” he said. “It’s not easy. There are many facets to the model and people all over the world are working on this.”

One of the challenges to smart grid is the possible conversion of existing grids into smart grids.

“The reliability of the grid is essential,” Das emphasized, when he talked of the future of the movement. “It HAS to be reliable.” Another problem he’s trying to help solve is the fact that demand and supply must match exactly. An unbalanced situation could put the grids in jeopardy, creating a need for constant monitoring.

Das went on to say that the job of engineers will be to build mathematical models to examine various stages that impact the development of the smart grid technology.

“Energy prices, consumer behavior, network reliability, network demand distribution, and impact on carbon emissions are all at work here,” Das said. How far into the future is he looking?

“Ten years, maybe,” he added “Smart grid now is all experimental. In order to move it along, it’s going to take a large investment, perhaps by a combination of private and public partnerships.”

Right now, today, power companies are taking the path of least resistance but it is the carbon emissions and its debilitating impact on society that are making countries look for solutions and Das’ work with smart grid technology along with others across the globe is beginning to generate some momentum in the research world. If there is going to be a cleaner world in 10 years, then there will have to be a smarter one when it comes to energy.

Congratulations to IMSE Faculty!

“It will become important to utilize green energy and right now, that is what the solar and wind industries are all about,” Das pointed out.

Dr. Alex Savachkin

But the movement will have to go well beyond conversion technologies.

There will have to be more work on strategies, incentives, analysis of data, big data.

Winner of IIE 2013 Annual Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Operations Research AND

There will have to be stronger models, as Das points out.

There is a huge amount of work that remains in the areas of smart grid.

USF 2012 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award

And Das is making sure that his department will contribute.

Green buildings

Wind Energy

Electric vehicles

Dr. Grisselle Centeno Smart appliances

Solar Energy

2013 Women in Leadership & Philanthropy Faculty Research Award SMART GRID

Fossil fuel energy generator

Winner of

Information flow in the grid

The USF WLP Faculty Research Award was developed to recognize distinguished faculty members in the USF System whose research and creative efforts focus on women, women’s issues and women’s initiatives.

Micro-grids

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Better Heart Beats Through Engineering

By Tom Edrington

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ssistant professor Hui Yang puts his heart into his research.

He also has other hearts in mind as he works diligently to help conquer the deadliest disease that kills more Americans than any other - heart disease.

“I have seen the suffering,” he said recently, recalling the heart surgeries he has witnessed and the irregular waves on monitors he has viewed, as patients at the Veterans Administration Hospital and the nearby Florida Hospital battle heart problems.

“Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death,” Yang said emphatically. “I have a strong motivation to do this.

I have seen the patients suffering and there is an urgent need to provide better, more effective health care for those cardiac patients.”

In order to improve that health care, Yang points out that it starts with better understanding of the cardiovascular system. “The system is very challenging, very complex.

The human machine is complex.

If we can better understand the systems we then can use simple nonlinear equations to report very complex phenomena.”

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Yang says it all begins with sensory signals. “We use sensors, both internal and external. It helps us explore complex systems and that is what the heart is. The sensor is the media that helps us learn about the system. The data from the sensors helps us get to know the systems and once we know more about the mechanics, we can work on better modeling,” Yang said.

Yang collects data from those sensors and then works on his objectives.

“We then put together sensor-based modeling and analysis of complex systems to achieve the objectives,” he continued.

“The objectives are process monitoring, process control, system

diagnostics and system prognostics.

I do simulation modeling, the difference in my modeling is I do it based on non-linear differential equations,” he added.

Yang’s improved modeling solves a long-standing problem. “We can’t experiment on a human heart,” he pointed out. “We have to do it with computer experiments. We can simulate disease progression through better modeling and when we have that, it will help attack the disease before it progresses,” Yang said.

“It is important that we come up with ways to better investigate how the disease progresses. By the time someone has to see a doctor, the disease has already set in,” Yang continued.

Yang is part of a team tackling this societal medical problem. “I work with doctors, physiologists, statisticians and other engineers,” he said. “I have been working on this for seven years.”

Yang earned his PhD. from Oklahoma State University, then made the USF campus and the Industrial Engineering Department his new home.

He is a solid example of the new talent in the department and the meaningful research that goes on every day.

Parallel Computing Simulation of Electrical Excitation and Conduction in the 3D Human Heart

“Our mission is to get those irregular electrical waves we see in heart activity back to normal and make a heart as healthy as it can be,” Yang proposed.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to our IMSE students and their outstanding leadership for winning the following awards:

Assistant Professor Hui Yang analyzes cardiac electrical activity data

He has gained plenty of recognition outside USF. He had the IREC’s best paper in 2009 and again in 2010.

He was one of the invitees to present his work at the American Heart Association’s 2011 scientific session and he delivered a keynote speech at the Fifth International Symposium on Recurrence plots in this last summer.

of a deadly disease, how it progresses, how to stop that progression. He will continue his path to better modeling, improved algorithms to produce those models and an improved pathway to understanding.

INFORMS Student Chapter 2012 Summa Cum Laude Award IIE Student Chapter 2012 Gold National Award USF Expo Best Student Organization Award for 2012

If you had to come up with a mission statement Dr. Hui Yang, it just might be: “Better heart beats through engineering.”

Yang’s mission is ongoing. It is all about better understanding

Recurrence Structures of Cardiac Electrical Activity

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Multi - Modality Analytics in Curing Alzheimer’s and Diabetes

By Tom Edrington

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huai Huang is a newcomer to the University of South Florida’s industrial engineering department and he is already making his mark in the world of biomedical research by developing engineering analytics methodologies.

Huang earned his Ph.D. in August of 2012 at Arizona State University and when USF jumped on his career radar, he accepted a position as an assistant professor.

Today you find him embedded firmly into the world of engineering-related medical research.

High on his list of tasks is his work that explores a multi-modality of

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measurements such as neuroimaging, proteomics and cognitive data that can help solve the heartbreaking disease - Alzheimer’s.

“We are looking at how the disease disrupts the brain and we want to build better classification models,” Huang explained. “Better modeling can enable early diagnosis of the disease and help find ways to prevent or delay the onset.”

We all live in the world of big data and it is this massive data that will enable him and other researchers to extract patterns that will provide insights into the underlying unknown disease mechanism and process, revealing opportunities previously

Assistant Professor Shuai Huang

unknown to us to prevent the disease and maintain the quality of life.

“Better prediction models are needed,’’ Huang pointed out and coming up with those improved models has him focusing on larger areas of the brain and a broad spectrum of measurement modalities so that a more complete picture can emerge.

He works closely with Neuroscientists such as Dr. Dave Morgan, the CEO of USF Health’s Byrd Alzheimer’s Center.

Huang employs high-level computational power and that machine-based learning can

intelligently analyze highdimensional datasets from proteomics, genomics and imaging data.

Huang’s long-term goal is to have a positive impact in this much-needed area of health care. The disease is a mysterious one but Huang is coming up with the models and the data to find possible solutions to the mystery.

Dr. Huang’s research also tackles another disease that is disrupting the health of millions. Type I diabetes is a disease with far-reaching implications as far as the future goes. And he is developing novel statistical models

BSIE Residents?

for better design of clinical trials with significant improvement of costeffectiveness.

“It is about gathering a multimodality of clinical, genetic, metabolic and environmental data and using it to recognize the process that leads to diabetes,” Huang explained. “Then, a model must be created, an improved model to identify the process and what may lead to the development of the disease. Better modeling can help to reveal the intermediate points and surrogate endpoints that will be essential in the prevention of diabetes,” Huang said.

He spends time at USF Health’s Diabetes Center, working with director Dr. Jeffrey Krischer’s staff.

He meets regularly with the center’s doctors as the task of tackling diabetes is a team effort.

Huang is also a key player on the industrial engineering department’s team of young, up­and-coming researchers. His research tackles health problems that are high profile in today’s society and his research is spot on when it comes to relevant work with high standards and goals.

Dr. Susana Lai-Yuen

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rofessor Susana Lai-Yuen, as part of her undergraduate Manufacturing Processes class, guides students to work on projects to design medical devices in collaboration with (L-R) BSIE students Kevin D’Angelo, Jose Suarez-Montanez, Erik Esinhart, and Adam Lytle are with Dr. Stuart Hart in the operating room at Tampa Dr. Stuart Hart, practicing surgeon and Assistant General Hospital prior to the start of the laparoscopic surgery observation.

Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at USF. Last year, the project involved the design of a device to the device while integrating concepts of manufacturing safely remove tissue during laparoscopic surgeries. This device aims to reduce surgery time and surgeon’s fatigue. processes. They also develop a physical prototype of their device design using rapid prototyping equipment Students have the opportunity to go into the operating available at the IMSE teaching lab. room to observe Dr. Hart perform surgeries to better understand the problem and constraints. Then, students work on generating design ideas and 3D models for

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Healthcare and IE’s – a Natural Fit! IMSE Alum Helps Improve Productivity by Increasing Efficiency

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By Tom Edrington

ayme Chancellor sits in her office at Rocky Point, the sparkling waters of Old Tampa Bay are an impressive backdrop from her fourth floor office at Hospital Corporation of America - West Florida Division.

walks into the emergency room to the time they are greeted by a provider. Our outstanding performance in this area is one contributor to our double-digit growth in our emergency rooms.”

She is meeting the everyday challenge as Director of Management Engineering for the hospital giant, a major player in the world of modern health care with 180 hospitals.

Her interest in the health care industry got its start when she worked on her honors college thesis as an undergrad. Dr. Jose Zayas-Castro pointed her toward the Moffitt Cancer Institute where her project involved a study of specimen flows in the hematology laboratories.

She is in her eighth year with the company and is the fresh face of modern industrial engineers who are shaping the future.

“Industrial engineers are more in demand than ever before in the health-care industry,” Chancellor pointed out. “There is a growing need to better the management of patient flow and the need to manage costs is critical.”

“Dr. Z got me involved and that was my introduction to the world of health care,” Chancellor recalled.

The changing world of health care has opened the doors for more industrial engineers in the all-important field.

The importance of big data in healthcare decision making has increased tremendously. Hence, the new undergraduate industrial engineering (BSIE) curriculum at USF incorporating a required sequence of four courses in analytics, will prepare students well for healthcare, as well as other industries.

When she graduated with Jayme Chancellor, Director of Management her degree in industrial Engineering for HCA-West Florida Division engineering from the University of South Florida in 2005, she was Jayme Price. She added a name in March when she married Trae Chancellor, another engineer. She met him at “All of the data is geared toward increased efficiency and Honeywell during an internship. Jayme added to her resume money savings in the health care system,” Chancellor said. in 2012 when she received her MBA from the University of Tampa.

Her job is demanding and challenging and there is plenty of upward mobility in these companies for industrial engineering At HCA’s West Florida Division, she is overseeing a staff of four grads. and her region is responsible for 16 major hospitals.

“I hope one day to be a chief operating officer of one of our “In 2012, the West Florida Division had 175,700 hospital hospitals,” she said with her eyes on the future. admissions and 618,511 emergency room visits,” she said. It is her job to oversee the patient flow and staffing associated with That future is bright and the field is waiting for more graduates those patients and one of her real-world responsibilities that like Jayme. “I would encourage undergrads to look at health everyone can relate to is emergency room waiting times. care,” she advised. The challenges are there and so are the jobs.

It used to be that an emergency room wait could last an hour, or more.

And that is good news for the next generation of industrial engineering grads.

“Our goal was 25 minutes and right now we are around 20 minutes,” she said, “and that’s from the time the patient

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MS in Engineering Management — A First in the Region

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he Master of Science in Engineering Management (MSEM) program at USF was established in 1982 to offer engineering professionals a graduate program to develop leadership competencies for management positions, including technical management, process optimization, quality and continuous improvement, safety, entrepreneurship, and engineering analytics. MSEM prepares today's engineers to become tomorrow's managers, leaders, and entrepreneurs.

Our MSEM program has been a pioneer in distance education in the Southeast. We offered our first distance learning courses in January 1985 through the Florida Engineering Education Delivery System (FEEDS). In the early days, courses were offered on campus and on-site at different companies in Florida. Today, the MSEM degree can be pursued completely online. Classes are offered simultaneously on campus and online, and distance learning students may either connect in real-time or access the recorded lecture later. We are very proud that our MSEM program is one of USF’s College of Engineering programs that ranked #22 among the best online engineering programs in 2013 by US News & World Report.

The MSEM program has been successful for over 30 years as an outreach program, and over 70% of our students are

employed full-time when they enroll in the program. We maintain high academic standards and we continuously review our curriculum to meet the needs of industry and standards of SACS accreditation board. Our Accelerated Graduate Program is an option in which high achieving engineering students at USF may pursue the MSEM degree while completing their undergraduate studies. Graduate engineering students at USF may also pursue the MSEM degree in the Dual Graduate Degree program. MSEM students can also seek graduate certificates in Technology Management, Total Quality Management, Regulatory Affairs - Medical Devices, and Systems Engineering.

MSEM students often start by enrolling in these certificate programs.

The MSEM program has over 800 graduates who are employed in a variety of organizations across the world.

Some of the employers in Florida include Tampa Electric, Florida Power & Light, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Disney, Universal Studios, Publix, Sweetbay, Baxter, and Conmed Linvatec.

To learn more about the MSEM program, graduate certificates, and how to apply for admission visit our website at http://imse.eng.usf.edu/academics/msem.asp.

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Industrial and Management Systems Engineering University of South Florida 4202 East Fowler Avenue, ENB 118 Tampa, FL 33620

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