Troy, N.Y. — Sunderesh Heragu, professor of decision sciences and engineering systems at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was selected to receive the Institute of Industrial Engineering (IIE) Fellow Award, according to IIE’s announcement of 15 new fellow award winners. Heragu was honored at the annual Industrial Engineering Solutions 2004 Conference in Houston, Texas, this week.

IIE Fellow Awards recognize distinguished service and leadership qualities in their field, according to the society. Heragu's research interests have included the design, analysis, and modeling of intelligent and traditional manufacturing systems.

“Professor Heragu’s research combines advanced data analysis and system modeling to improve manufacturing facility design, equipment selection, process planning, and material handling,” said G. P. "Bud" Peterson, Rensselaer provost. “His work is extremely important and innovative and is designed to improve facility operations and manufacturing efficiency leading to reduced cost, reduced time-to-market, and improved quality for products.”

Heragu joined the Rensselaer faculty in 1991. He was awarded three National Science Foundation grants in 1999 to research intelligent and traditional manufacturing systems. Heragu has received several honors including the IIE Gold Award of Excellence for leadership in facilities planning and design in 1998 and 1999, the IIE Transactions on Design and Manufacturing Award in 1998, and the IIE Transactions Award for Best Paper published in "Feature Applications" in 1998. He also wrote the book Facilities Design.

Heragu earned a doctorate in industrial engineering from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, a master’s in business administration from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Malnad College of Engineering in Hassan, India.

About IIE
IIE is an international professional society dedicated to advancing the technical and managerial excellence of industrial engineering professionals. By providing periodicals, books, seminars, conferences and other services, IIE supports and encourages the exchange of ideas among the industrial engineering enterprise and corporate management. IIE serves 15,000 members and 273 chapters worldwide. Members work in a variety of fields, including manufacturing, service, healthcare, transportation, communications, government, and education.

Contact: Mary Cimo
Phone: (518) 687-7174
E-mail: cimom@rpi.edu