Faculty
The key to any program is its faculty and staff. Western Michigan University's Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering has 25 full-time faculty members and several part-time faculty and adjunct professors. These faculty members are committed to providing the finest undergraduate programs, and the teaching and student support that defines these programs, in the Midwest.
They are also actively engaged in research that keeps them current with developments in their fields. Most faculty members have industrial work experience and appreciate both the applied and theoretical aspects of education.
Many of our faculty also teach at the Grand Rapids Graduate Center-Beltline facility, including Dr. Aller, Dr. Gupta, Dr. Houshyar, Dr. Lyth, Dr. Mallak, and Dr. White.
Steven Butt, Professor and Interim Department Chair |
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Office: E-227 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3356
E-mail: steven.butt@wmich.edu
Specializations: Operations Research, Routing & Scheduling, Engineering Statistics
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Betsy Aller, Associate Professor |
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Office: F-227 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3354
E-mail: betsy.aller@wmich.edu
Specializations: Capstone design, First-year STEM Education, Manufacturing for/Managing Sustainability
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Kailash Bafna, Professor |
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Office: E-212 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3355
E-mail: kailash.bafna@wmich.edu
Specializations: Engineering Cost Analysis, Facilities Design, Quality Control, Material Handling
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Alamgir Choudhury, Associate Professor |
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Office: F-222 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3357
E-mail: alamgir.choudhury@wmich.edu
Specializations: Mechanical Design, Mechanics, Computer Aided Engineering, Fluid Power, Instrumentation and Process Control
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Laila Cure, Assistant Professor |
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Office: E-208 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3371
E-mail: laila.cure@wmich.edu
Specializations: Healthcare Engineering, Healthcare Risk Management, Patient Safety
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Paul Engelmann, Professor |
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Office: F-214 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3348
E-mail: paul.engelmann@wmich.edu
Specializations: Student Success in STEM Education, Injection Molding, Plastics Tooling
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Jerry Fiala, Faculty Specialist |
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Office: F-225 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3359
E-mail: jerrie.fiala@wmich.edu
Specializations: Technical Communication, Team / Small-Group Communication, Science News Writing and Journalism, Editing, and Photography
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Tycho Fredericks, Professor |
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Office: E-223 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3360
E-mail: tycho.fredericks@wmich.edu
Specializations: Industrial Ergonomics, Work Measurement and Design, Product Design and Development
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Office: E-220 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3361
E-mail: tarun.gupta@wmich.edu
Specializations: Robotics, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Computer Simulation
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Office: E-219 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3363
E-mail: azim.houshyar@wmich.edu
Specializations:Facilities Design, Operations Research, Reliability Engineering, Simulation Methodology
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Pavel Ikonomov, Associate Professor |
Mithel Keil, Associate Professor |
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Office: F-221 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3365
E-mail: mitchel.keil@wmich.edu
Specializations: Design for Manufacturability, Machine Design, Vehicle Simulation, Automatic Routing of Flexible Elements, Reverse Engineering
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Leonard Lamberson, Professor |
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Office: E-222 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3368
E-mail: david.lyth@wmich.edu
Specializations: Quality Management, Healthcare Engineering, Production/Operations Management, Service Management
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Office: E-228 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3369
E-mail: larry.mallak@wmich.edu
Specializations: Healthcare Systems Engineering, Engineering Management, Organizational Culture Assessment and Change
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David Meade, Associate Professor |
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Office: 221 S. Quarterline Rd., Muskegon, MI, 49442
Phone: 231-777-0593
E-mail: david.meade@wmich.edu
Specializations: Manufacturing Operations Management, Lean Manufacturing, Facility Planning
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Office: C-245 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3246
E-mail: john.patten@wmich.edu
Specializations: Manufacturing, Precision Engineering, Machining Simulations, Metrology, Materials (semiconductors and ceramics)
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Joseph Petro, Master Faculty Specialist |
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Office: F-229 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3370
E-mail: joseph.petro_jr@wmich.edu
Specializations: Production/Operations Management, Productivity, Continuous Improvement
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Troy Place, Faculty Specialist II |
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Office: F-220 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3366
E-mail: troy.place@wmich.edu
Specializations: Technical Communications, Report Preparation
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Diana Prieto, Assistant Professor |
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Office: F-213 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3342
E-mail: diana.prieto@wmich.edu
Specializations: Disease Modeling and Surveillance, Agent-Based Simulation, Applied Statistical Analysis
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Office: F-218 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3373
E-mail: sam.ramrattan@wmich.edu
Specializations: Metal Casting, Process Control, Industrial Materials and Processes
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Jorge Rodriguez, Associate Professor |
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Office: E-224 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3374
E-mail: jorge.rodriguez@wmich.edu
Specializations: Computer-Aided Design/Engineering, Finite Element Analysis, CAE-Optimization
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Office: F-231 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3375 or 276-3261
E-mail: fred.sitkins@wmich.edu
Specializations: Quality Assurance, Metrology, Motion Control in Manufacturing Processes, ISO 9000/QS 9000 Assessment and Preparation
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Thomas Swartz, Master Faculty Specialist |
Slobodan Urdarevik, Master Faculty Specialist |
James VanDePolder, Associate Professor |
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Office: F-230 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3378
E-mail: james.vandepolder@wmich.edu
Specializations: Engine Testing, Emission and Air Pollution Control, Automotive Fault Analysis
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Office: E-216 Parkview Campus
Phone: 269-276-3379
E-mail: bob.white@wmich.edu
Specializations: Engineering Economy/Cost Analysis, Production and Operations Management
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