Department Welcome

Welcome to Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME) at Penn State. Founded in 1908 as the first industrial engineering program in the world, our department has a storied history of excellence in educating the next generation of industrial engineers and educators while providing new solutions for industry through innovative research, collaborative projects, and hands-on experience in our state-of-the-art facilities and labs.

With nearly 30 faculty members, 400 undergraduate students, and 200 graduate students, we are a diverse unit with research interests spanning from metalcasting and manufacturing processes to human factors, supply chain management, and healthcare systems engineering.

We offer the B.S. degree and graduate degrees (M.S. and Ph.D.) in industrial engineering as well as dual-graduate degrees in industrial engineering and operations research. Both our undergraduate and graduate programs consistently rank highly in the U.S. News & World Report surveys, thanks in large part to our evolving curricula and world-class faculty.

Our curriculums provide a broad-based education in human factors and ergonomics; manufacturing; operations research; and production, supply chain, and service engineering. We accomplish this through a base of mathematics, physical, and engineering sciences along with hands-on laboratory and industrial experiences that prepare students for their careers. The programs build a strong foundation for the development of a professionally competent and versatile industrial engineer.

The labs and research centers within IME help address some of the most pressing challenges facing society today as we focus on improving efficiencies and processes across all sectors of industry around the world.

We welcome you to explore our programs, faculty, facilities, and research areas. On behalf of the faculty and staff of the department, thank you for visiting our pages. We hope you will visit us in person, join us, or partner with us, as we are the change engine and the future of industrial and manufacturing engineering.