<p>a) What is it that separates IE from a business/management major?
and what is it that makes them similar?</p>
<p>b) and does any one work in the IE field or a related field like OR or something else?
if so, how is the demand in the field?</p>
<p>c) is the decline in manufacturing going to decline the demand in IE?</p>
<p>D is doubling in IE and Econ with hopes of homeland security position. Seems to me there would be great growth there...</p>
<p>oh, well thanks for the info.</p>
<p>Answers:</p>
<p>a) I presume that you are talking about an operations-focused business program (as obviously a business program that concentrates in, say, marketing or strategy, has nothing to do with IE). They do tend to overlap at the edges, so the border between them is rather fuzzy. But in general, I would say that IE emphasizes more of the technical aspects of operations, whereas the operations focused business program has greater emphasis on soft skills, i.e. communications, managerial psychology, leadership, etc.</p>
<p>b) Yes, plenty of people work in that field. IE's are the 3rd largest engineering field according to the BLS. However, I think it should be said that electrical, electronics, and computer hardware engineering are all basically the same category, so that 'super-category' should be the real #1 category, therefore pushing IE down to #4 (which is still quite good). </p>
<p><a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#emply%5B/url%5D">http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#emply</a></p>
<p>The BLS says that industrial engineering jobs will increase 'as fast as the average'. Hence, the growth is not great, but it's not bad either.</p>
<p>* Industrial engineers are expected to have employment growth about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2014. As firms seek to reduce costs and increase productivity, they increasingly will turn to industrial engineers to develop more efficient processes to reduce costs, delays, and waste. Because their work is similar to that done in management occupations, many industrial engineers leave the occupation to become managers. Many openings will be created by the need to replace industrial engineers who transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force. *</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#outlook%5B/url%5D">http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#outlook</a></p>
<p>c) Yes it will. But it will be offset by the need for more logistics as outsourcing grows. Remember that at the end of the day, you still have to get products in the hands of the customers. If you are going to manufacture in China, that means you have to figure out a way to transport and distribute those goods in the US. IE's do a lot of distribution and transportation work. For example, Amazon hires a lot of IE's to optimize its warehouses.</p>
<p>thanks sakky.</p>
<p>and are you in the IE field?</p>
<p>''Because their work is similar to that done in management occupations, many industrial engineers leave the occupation to become managers.''</p>
<p>I hear this a lot. IE's move into the management side.
why?</p>
<p>(more $$ I assume)</p>
<p>I am not an IE. However, one could say that I have ties to the 'management' part of IE.</p>
<p>As far as why IE's move into management, it's probably for the same reason that other people move into management - more money and more power. The difference with IE's is that a lot of what they do is management-related anyway, hence making their transition smoother.</p>
<p>thanks again.</p>
<p>So, I guess, its a good idea to get a MBA after a B.S. in IE.</p>
<p>is there anyone here in CC who is in IEOR?</p>