November 18, 2004 Meeting

Improving the Community Through Six Sigma in Engineering Education:  Preparing Engineers for the Future

Sandra Furterer, Ph.D.

Department of Industrial Engineering & Management Systems

University of Central Florida

Orlando, Florida 32816-2450

Six Sigma is a quality management philosophy, problem solving approach, and statistical measure that helps organizations improve processes, reduce variation, and eliminate waste.  Community organizations have begun to apply Quality Management principles and tools to help improve the services that they provide to their customers.  The Industrial Engineering and Management Systems (IEMS) Department at the University of Central Florida has incorporated service experiential learning opportunities into the curriculum within a Total Quality Improvement course that helps to tie the community to engineering education.  This course teaches the Six Sigma body of knowledge and provides hands-on Six Sigma project experience.  The course addresses several components of the Engineering 2020 VISION of the Future, a report published by the National Academy of Engineering, focusing on enabling students to improve their critical thinking abilities, teamwork, and communication skills, as well as enhance their understanding of how engineering tools can impact community organizations and public policy.  QUESST (Quality Excellence through Six Sigma Teamwork), a new center that is being developed in the IEMS department at UCF will also be discussed.  This center will help to institutionalize the means to continue to develop our engineers to achieve the vision of the future, as well as help public and private organizations implement Six Sigma to better meet the needs of their customers.