The UWindsor student chapter of industrial engineers has been recognized for its leadership and engagement in local and national industrial engineering initiatives.

The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), the world’s largest industrial engineering professional society, presented the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) Windsor Student Chapter with a bronze award for its progress and overall achievements in 2015-2016.

“We take great pride in our award-winning chapters,” Pam Patterson, the IISE membership administrator wrote in a letter to the Windsor chapter. “We would like to express our sincerest ‘thank you’ for all of the chapter members’ hard work and dedication to the profession.”

In the last year, the IIE Windsor chapter has ramped up its outreach and engagement. Members organized such activities as a Six Sigma training session to introduce students to a set of techniques and tools used to eliminate defects in a variety of processes, and a facility tour of Cimpress, a global leader in mass customization and web-to-print.

With the chapter’s help, a team of industrial engineering students competed in Toronto at Ryerson University’s 2016 inaugural Industrial Engineering Case Competition and returned home with a second-place finish for devising a plan that can improve the efficiency of hospital porter services and enhance front-line care challenges.

IISE, known until recently as the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), is considered one of the most reputable academic and professional bodies in North America, said professor Azab Ahmed, the faculty member leading the chapter.

“This award is the fruition of the collective work by both the past and current chapter executive board,” Dr. Ahmed said. “They have been doing a great job administering the chapter, attending to every commitment on a local and provincial scale. I have seen how our past executives have grown professionally over the years as a result of leading the chapter.”

Earlier this year, the chapter sent 22 students—a record number for IIE Windsor—to participate in the Canadian Student IIE Conference in Waterloo thanks to a sponsorship from CenterLine (Windsor) Limited. The group competed in the conference case study and software simulation competitions in addition to networking with students from Canadian colleges and universities.

Windsor is set to host the 2017 IIE student conference for approximately 400 students from all over Canada in January.

“IIE is a group that helps students develop leadership skills and increase their confidence,” said Amy McCrindle, president of IIE Windsor. “It also provides professional networking opportunities all while interacting with fellow industrial engineering students.”

McCrindle, a fourth-year student, said the chapter has helped her build stronger relationships with UWindsor faculty and a network that she believes will be invaluable throughout her career. She said the chapter is planning to add events focused on uniting all engineering disciplines to the chapter’s 2016-2017 initiatives.