The IISE Western Regional Conference was hosted at the USC University Park Campus.
Students, faculty and leaders in the field of industrial and systems engineering converged on USC in February as the student chapter of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) hosted the organization’s 2020 Western Regional Conference from February 28 – March 1.
The conference featured 120 attendees from 12 universities, offering students the opportunity to network with key industry figures and to discuss industry trends. The event took place on the USC University Park campus, with a schedule that included a technical paper competition, keynote speakers, expert panels, plant tours, a visit to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and other activities.
The conference included a tour of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Also featured were a number of attendees from sponsoring companies including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Accenture, KPMG, EY, PwC, and Protiviti. Lockheed Martin also coordinated an ISE-themed escape room challenge activity for participants.
The banquet and awards ceremony on Saturday February 29 featured keynote speaker Bill Jia, VP of Infrastructure at Facebook, who discussed how Facebook is leveraging new technology to improve its business. Jia has been responsible for defining overall Facebook software product performance strategy, and optimizing and planning infrastructure for the company. Prior to this role, Jia was in charge of improving and optimizing online services at Microsoft. He obtained his PhD degree in operations research from USC in 2007.
Conference Director for USC’s IISE chapter, Joe Lappin said the event provided a great opportunity for industrial engineering students and professionals to come together, share ideas, and celebrate their achievements in the field.
“Industrial engineering is a small field with a multitude of different applications, so it is truly invaluable as a student to be exposed to industry professionals, as well as students from other Universities, to see how their ISE education is being put to use,” Lappin said.
More images from the conference are available here.
Published on April 9th, 2020
Last updated on April 8th, 2021
