<p>I'm currently majoring in engineering and I would like to stick with it, but I'm having some second thoughts. I could honestly care less how things work and why they work and I hate physics. The reason I decided on engineering was because it seemed interesting, the degree itself is versatile, it pays well and it's something I would be good at. I learned that I wasn't too interested in any of the technical specialties like electrical or mechanical so I decided I'd go with Industrial because it seemed like something I would like. I'm good at math, problem solving, computers etc. so it's not like it's something I would struggle with, but it would be a long 2-3 more years if I'm going to hate every minute of it.</p>
<p>What I want to know is what are the industrial engineering major courses like? I'm a sophomore in general engineering right now. I've taken all the chemistry, physics, and math courses that I'll need. What are some engineering classes I will have to take as an Industrial engineering major and what do they involve? I liked Calculus/DiffEQ, and all my other classes, but every second I was in physics I felt like just waking out, so I'm worried a lot of the engineering classes are going to be just like physics.</p>
<p>Industrial Engineering is closer to applied mathematics and Statistics than it is to Physics, imo. You’d probably still have to slog your way through some Physics-type core Engineering courses like Statics, Dynamics, etc, though. IE is a highly varied degree, differing from school to school, though.</p>
<p>Regardless of the program, most of the upper division classes will involve a lot of math and analysis.</p>
<p>Well Industrial Engineers take the same general engineering required classes as all the other engineering majors. I think people say it’s easier because you can probably get away with a degree without taking some of the difficult major courses required for other disciplines. So it’s possible that an IE degrees easiest path is easier than other engineering degrees, but it can be harder than others if you take the more difficult route.</p>
<p>I would actually take that farther. The Optimization sequence, especially Stochastic Optimization, is the most difficult coursework in all of engineering. But most schools shield their undergraduates from that area and just teach applied linear opt.</p>
<p>IE is considered “imaginary engineering” because IE’s do not physically make anything. It’s easy to point to a chemical plant for ChemE’s, airplanes and rockets for AE’s, cars (and a wide variety of other things) for ME’s, etc. but there’s nothing you can point at for IE’s. IE’s engineer business and manufacturing processes, which are intangible.</p>
<p>IE’s also lose respect because really anyone can do their job and in industry; random majors from mechanical engineers to art history majors perform IE work in practice. The thing is, without an IE background, you can’t do it properly. Ask a non-IE how many bottles of Coke to have on a store shelf, and they’ll throw out a guess based on sales last week. Ask an IE, and the IE will build a demand forecasting model, cost model, then derive the optimum EOQ or (max,min) order quantity from those two things. The non-IE will say “that’s complete overkill”. Then the IE will take that policy, apply it to thousands of products in that store and in hundreds of stores in that chain and save $100 million per year in inventory costs. Then the non-IE loses their job. There are multi-billion dollar consulting firms that do nothing other than 1. Hire IE’s, 2. Find companies with IE’s doing non-IE work, 3. Bring in the consulting IE’s to fix it.</p>
<p>It’s the same issue in business and management. “Anyone can do it. It’s so obvious.” Then the company goes bankrupt and no one can figure out why. The problem is that people think it’s easy because they don’t know what they don’t know.</p>
<p>If my school doesn’t offer IE as undergrad do you think economics and statistics double major and then a professional IE masters would be the optimal route? Or is there something better I’m missing? </p>
<p>I really want to work in the systems optimization, O.R. subfields. Another question, I absolutely love statistics and analytical problem solving. Is that enough to pursue a career in IE or not?</p>
<p>If you want to work in Optimization or O.R. subfields, look at the courses in the Math, Applied Math, Statistics, Operations Research and even Computer Science departments. The thing about Operations Research/Optimization is that area’s “home” depends on the school. That means that in order to take the same courses at a school that does not have IE you may have to “make your own” concentration using other departments.</p>
<p>Personally, I would…</p>
<p>1) Look at the catalog of a school that has a well-defined Operations Research/Optimization program or specialization.</p>
<p>2) Then comb through your school’s CS, Math/Stats and Engineering departments for similar courses.</p>
<p>Oh, one more thing…a school can have a IE program and STILL have some Operations Research/Optimization courses ONLY in the Math/Stats department.</p>
<p>If you cannot transfer to a school with a good IE program, I think an Economics and Statistics double major followed by an MS is a good idea. Just make sure you do well on the GRE and keep your GPA up and you shouldn’t have a problem getting in an MS program. </p>
<p>If you are very firm on an OR career, you might want to look into an Economics and Math double major instead of statistics. The analysis classes in a Math major would be very helpful.</p>
<p>Both an Econ/Stats and an Econ/Math double major would be fine for admission and would prepare you for an MS program, however I think the Econ/Math double major would make your MS courses a little easier</p>
<p>I have an IE degree, is it the easiest of all engineering majors. I don’t know, maybe? It depends on what you’re good at. I’d reccomend getting a BS IE and an MBA, you will have plenty of job opportunities. An IE degree is really a technical business degree anyway, basically what BanjoHitter said. It gives you the background to analyse and improve processes; business, manufacturing, etc. In my experience an MBA will get you farther than an MS IE. </p>
<p>If you are interested in software or databases, becoming a consultant on ERP systems can be a good job, i.e. SAP, Oracle. It’s not my thing, I hate software.</p>
<p>I’m sure the curriculum has changed a lot in the 25 years or so since I got my degree. But most of the classes were not like physics at all. Once you get past the core engineering courses, almost none of the upper division IE classes were math intensive for me. Your school may be different. The only ones I can think of were some statistics classes. I’m sure it varies greatly from school to school.</p>