LSU CMIE: About the Department

The mission of the Department of Construction Management and Industrial Engineering at LSU is to improve the total quality and cost effectiveness of the nation's construction industry for the purpose of providing a competitive advantage. The department graduates professionals who:

have a solid foundation in the technical and managerial principles upon which they can build to become industry leaders.
have a fundamental knowledge of project planning, implementation, and control systems, as well as upper-management skills.
are taught in the ethical and professional standards necessary for career advancement.

Construction is essential to the economic growth and progress of the nation. Practically every aspect of civilized life requires some kind of construction for growth and development. In addition, the construction industry is the nation's largest single production activity. In recent years it has accounted for approximately 15% of the total employment in the US.

The departments graduates have enjoyed a near 100% employment record over the past 15 years. Career opportunities are worldwide and as varied as the field of construction.

Industrial Engineering is an exciting and challenging profession with career opportunities in various types of organizations including manufacturing facilities, hospital agencies, consulting firms, sales, government, and transportation, and virtually all industries. It is the most versatile engineering discipline. Any productive organization requires competitive planning, scheduling, control, management decision-making, and the use of computer information systems. All of these areas require the skills and creativity of the industrial engineer.

As opposed to other specialization areas of the engineering profession that deal mostly with actual products and processes, industrial engineers focus on optimizing entire production systems. In order to accomplish this goal, they must apply business organization knowledge along with technical expertise and management skills to everyday operations. Through the wide range of job responsibilities, they provide a bridge between management objectives and operational performance.

Simply put, industrial engineering is the application of engineering methods and the principles of scientific management to the design, improvement, and installation, of integrated systems of equipment, materials, energy, information, and people.

Because these systems encompass the entire organization, industrial engineers must collaborate with many departments. Involvement with segments such as purchasing, planning, and human resources allows the development of management and interpersonal skills, along with a more comprehensive view of the company. For that reason, many industrial engineers move into management positions.

As stated in the Virtual Library for Industrial Engineering, major areas of specialization include the following:

Engineering economics and decision analysis
Human factors
Human-machine/computer interaction
Optimization
Production, distribution, and material handling
Statistics
Stochastic systems

From sales to manufacturing to even consulting, industrial engineers can assume positions in various industries, each providing different job responsibilities and specialization areas. So for a rewarding career that offers the ability for engineers to apply technical knowledge and have the opportunity obtain top management positions, choose industrial engineering!