The Iowa State University College of Engineering is proud to present the fall 2024 outstanding seniors.
Category: Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering
Kara Albrecht: Outstanding senior in industrial engineering
Kara Albrecht, industrial engineering, has been named a fall 2024 Iowa State University College of Engineering outstanding senior.
Sales Engineering minor bridge to a sales career
Macie VanNurden’s (B.S. ’22, industrial engineering) first stop in her journey from Wisconsin to Los Angeles was at Iowa State University majoring in industrial engineering with a sales engineering minor.
This past July, VanNurden officially completed the program and rolled off as an outside sales engineer in Los Angeles, a place she’s always wanted to live and with a job that is much more customer-facing and dynamic.
“I have direct ownership of customer relationships and personal brand—it is almost entrepreneurial in that sense. I look forward to further developing my sales style and strategy while continuing to learn and serve in everything I do,” says VanNurden.
Melissa Boom: IE Alum Receives 2024 Women MAKE Award
For Boom it is important to spend time on being a positive role model for female employees. She mentors several female leaders at Winnebago Industries and is committed to the success of STEM programming for young students in high school.
Senior Capstone Project Leads to Dream Job
Elizabeth (Belling) Krigbaum (B.S. ’22, industrial engineering) knew she wanted to transfer to study industrial engineering (IE) at Iowa State after attending Des Moines Area Community College.
“When the industrial engineering major was presented, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. To me, it was and has been the perfect fit for my interests and skills,” says Krigbaum, “My time at ISU was hands down my favorite years of school.”
Michael Dorneich named Morrill Professor
Michael Dorneich, Joseph Walkup Professor of Engineering and professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering has been named Morrill Professor.
The Morrill Professorship is a university award recognizing faculty members for their national and international reputation of demonstrated outstanding success in teaching and learning in undergraduate, graduate and/or extension/outreach programs.
Trusting the robot in the workplace
Jundi Liu, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, graduate student Mobina Amrollahi, and undergraduate research assistant Rindirisia Wangira are actively conducting AGV/human trust laboratory studies using a virtual reality apparatus for human-robot interaction research.
Modern manufacturing is seeing rapid changes in the workplace. One change is integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated technologies like Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) into operational processes.
Allie (Harris) Millikan: From Cyclone Nation to Magic Kingdom
For Allie (Harris) Millikan (B.S. ’19 industrial engineering, concurrent MBA ’19), the industrial engineering (IE) road led from Cyclone Nation to Magic Kingdom.
“I have such incredible memories from our family Disney trips growing up. I couldn’t imagine a more magical place to work,” she says.
Vanessa Calderon: There is always a better way
Finding ways to improve and positively impact the lives of patients, healthcare professionals, and the day-to-day experience of her colleagues is fulfilling for Vanessa Calderon (B.S. ’09, industrial engineering).
Calderon became interested in working in healthcare through her IE senior design capstone experience at the UnityPoint Health – Des Moines where she was later employed and became a Process Improvement Engineer.
A.J. Perron: Worldwide podcast connections power sustainability initiatives
For industrial engineering student, A.J. Perron, the goal is to make a difference through sustainability initiatives by making connections through his podcast, Universe-ity.
The podcast has successfully reached audiences world-wide by building curiosity around and exploring “all things science”.
Blake Clark: Advancing the energy transition is exciting work
In Blake Clark’s world, everything revolves around improvement. But he also values impact. “It’s important to me that my work also provides a ‘good’ in society,” he says.
As Clark sees it, his role in the energy industry enables him to work towards providing affordable, reliable and cleaner energy for everyone.
Experimental class connects business and engineering students
In the MKT458X: New Product Marketing course, marketing and industrial engineering students work across disciplines on product concepts, research planning and execution, branding development, and launch planning. Through collaborative work sessions, marketing students learn what is important to the engineers and how to support their efforts, while the engineers do the same for the marketers.
Daniel Kaye: Outstanding senior in industrial engineering
“Iowa State affords student the ability to pursue a myriad of different things alongside their education as an engineering student.”
Engineering quality for healthier hearts
Emma Wolf, industrial engineering, had no idea when she arrived at Iowa State University as an undeclared engineering major she would end up landing a job in quality control for medical devices.
Building in progress: Career comes full-circle for industrial engineering alum Danelda Allen
For Danelda Allen (IE ’88), being assigned construction manager of the Therkildsen Industrial Engineering Building project on campus is a full-circle engineering moment.