Ben-Tzion Karsh, Ph.D., an engineer at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, uses industrial and human factors with engineering design principles to reduce medical errors.

Karsh is a key investigator for the Developmental Center for Evaluation and Research in Patient Safety at UW-Madison. He is also the principle investigator of three funded studies where human factors engineering methods are being used to solve health care problems and improve patient safety. The results of these studies are leading to new ways of designing work systems for health care and better methods of analyzing health care systems. Dr. Karsh has also continued his research in non-health care settings, focusing on occupational safety and health issues related to work-related musculoskeletal disorders and acute occupational injuries. 

Jairo de Jesus is Industrial Engineer Planning Manager at Elite Logistics, Inc. in Kansas City, Kansas. 

He oversees all distribution centers for Elite Logistics, a third-party logistics supplier providing expertise in warehousing, distribution and transportation. De Jesus is installing a voice recognition picking solution and has begun a process to evaluate warehouse management system software.

Emily Osier, an engineer at IR-Club Car in Indio, California, develops the systems and flow for all shipping, receiving, and storage activities for an inventory of 1,500 golf cars. 

Osier’s inventory system uses barcodes and scanners to inventory all golf cars received into and leaving the facility, improving inventory accuracy. She established an assembly line to remanufacture used golf cars improving product flow from five cars a week to 50 cars a week. Osier also monitors and troubleshoots issues on the manufacturing floor. 

Mindy Smith, an engineer at Anteon Corporation in Raleigh, North Carolina, is helping develop a Navy-wide ergonomics program from the ground up.

Smith’s responsibilities include developing policy, conducting research, and designing and delivering training. She also performs industrial workstation evaluations across the eastern U.S. to identify ergonomic problem areas, design workplace interventions, and reduce ergonomic stressors. 

Andy Chow, an engineer at Rockwell Automation in Flowery Branch, Georgia, has been part of a team that has transformed Rockwell’s old-fashioned “push” system into a lean (i.e., production flow is driven by customer demand) manufacturing environment.

Chow’s work has led to decreased inventory, improved throughput, decreased lead-time, and has virtually eliminated late orders. He is currently a co-manager/manufacturing engineer focusing on ensuring on-time customer delivery and continuous improvement. Chow is also part of Rockwell’s Power Lean Class, an elite group of 28 employees who are learning and applying knowledge through kaizen events at several sister plants. 

Katherine Johnson, an engineer at TRW Occupant Safety Systems in Queen Creek, Arizona, was made a cell leader for a struggling assembly line, where she performed improvements that increased output by 25 percent.

Johnson was also the leader of an ergonomic team that identified risks to driver operators and reduced those risks by 75 percent. Currently, her work involves interfacing directly with original equipment manufacturers regarding the appearance and performance of driver air bags. 

Cindy Fjeldahl, an engineer at Alegent Health in Omaha, Nebraska, installed a robot that fills in-patient medication doses for four metro-area hospitals.

The robot installation required an assessment of all prior activities in the hospitals including time studies and volume data collection. Fjeldahl has also performed an audit of physical therapy clinics that were not meeting productivity standards and made recommendations that would cut costs and increase productivity. She is currently on a team that is installing diagnostic centers at each hospital. 

Andres Carrano, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester New York. He is developing a program to help disseminate knowledge and technology on manufacturing engineering throughout developing countries.

In addition to his regular teaching duties, Carrano’s program to help disseminate manufacturing engineering knowledge to developing countries will help diversify the economic sectors of those countries. Their economies typically rely on one or two primary industries.

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