While studying systems engineering through Engineering Online Learning, Carl Kirpes knew an opportunity to apply his coursework onsite at his job might crop up from time to time.
What he didn’t know was that it would earn him third place in the Society for Engineering and Management Systems Student Paper Competition and a chance to present his research at the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) Annual Conference & Expo 2013.
Kirpes (BSME’12, BSIMSE’12) is working on his master’s degree while also serving as the vice president of operations for GENESYS Systems Integrator, a company that specializes in engineering, design-build, and construction.
His paper “Systems engineering application in an engineering design-build firm,” looks at the inner-workings of GENESYS from a systematic approach, identifying how departments interact, the boundaries between the units, and the process flow throughout the organization.
“Since the paper was written, we have been using systems engineering approaches to implement processes at GENESYS that allow us to identify the risk relative to the reward on a job, and we developed a system to show how a job will affect the load on resources across departments,” Kirpes said.
He adds that the company has also transformed its structure to be more project-staff oriented to help facilitate the different levels of work that occur at the company.
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, Kirpes says being able to study via distance education has been a great way to keep learning and advancing his career.
“Iowa State has added a lot of value to my professional development, and I’m glad I can continue that process through the online learning program,” he said. “Taking the knowledge I am gaining and applying it in real-time every single day has been rewarding and beneficial.”
Kirpes will travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from May 18-22 to participate in the IIE conference.