INCOSE Student Division IIE Western Regional Conference

I visited the University of Arizona (UoA) in Tucson, Arizona late in 2103; I was overcome by the exuberance and enthusiasm of the students engaged in their new student division. I was quickly educated on the formation of the UoA student division, beginning with membership in the International Industrial Engineers (IIE) student program. These student members and department executives presented their program, organization, marketing, and the IIE awards program. I requested these students to present their program at the INCOSE International Workshop (IW). The students attended the Academic Council meeting and the Student Division workshop where the students made me aware that the Western Regional Conference was being held at the California State Polytechnic University Pomona (CPP) in 2014. 

Although my purpose was to attend the Western Regional Conference (IIEWRC) for evaluation purposes from a student’s perspective, I also attended the Society of Women Engineers ‘Acceptance’ symposium where I became a panelist for the day.

While on the CPP campus I met with Dr. Massoud Moussavi, PHD.,P.E. , Professor Harder, and Assistant Professor Saeideh Fallen-Fini who is the advisor to the CPP INCOSE Student Division. I was a guest reviewer at a local preliminary design review for the students developing a concrete boat for competition. 

The IIEWRC began on Friday night with a research paper competition. Three papers were selected from the six universities in attendance with each primary author presenting the information and answering questions from the three judges representing assorted professions related to IIE. The presenters are shown in the photo above. This was followed by an informal dinner where the students socialized the remainder of the night.

On Saturday, the main conference included introduction of the IIE Student Chapter followed by a student icebreaker to encourage the students to participate in the conference.

Presentations were made by an assortment of presenters from Disney, the LA Department of Transportation, a medical company, and professors.

The students also were given the task to create something from a ‘kit’ of provided parts, which were then described to the audience to the amusement of all.  The students networked together throughout the conference. The conference concluded with a semi-formal dinner including a guest speaker who illustrated the power of education and the use of engineering tools applied to solve complex problems. 

By David Mason, CSEP
INCOSE SFBAC Board Member
INCOSE Assistant Student Division Director
David Mason's Bio