
Industry Engagement
Penn State frequently collaborates with companies large and small that are interested in supporting industrial and manufacturing engineering education and research efforts.
Our partnerships are beneficial to companies, our department, and our students. We assist with engineering projects, processes, and problems while our engagement partners provide students with the real-world experience they need to be successful, industrial engineering professionals with a global view of business and manufacturing.
Engagement opportunities within the department include:
Engineering Career Fair
Fall Career Days
Spring Career Week
Industrial Engineering Career Fair (Fall semester)
Contact Guodong (Gordan) Pang, faculty adviser of Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Student Chapter
Engineering Career Resources & Employer Relations Office
Engineering internships & Co-ops
Information sessions/panel discussions
Held via IISE
Contacts: Lisa Petrine, assistant to the IME Department Head; Guodong (Gordan) Pang IISE faculty adviser
Senior-level Capstone Design Projects
Contact: Charlie Purdum, Director of Industry Relations
Distributing internship and/or Co-op opportunities to industrial engineering students
Contact: Denise Olivett, Undergraduate Staff Assistant
Identifying industrial engineering courses
Give a presentation/lecture related to the course content, which could also provide insight into companies.
Contact: Denise Olivett or Elena Joshi, Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Student Scholarship Support
Provide scholarship funding
Contact: Dan McCurdy, Associate Director of Major Gifts
Partnering to provide applied research projects
All levels: undergraduate, masters, and doctoral
Contact: Charlie Purdum
Organizing factory tours for students
Run via either a student organization or IE-specific course
Contact: Charlie Purdum
Collaborating through research centers and/or labs
Contact: Charlie Purdum
Sponsoring departmental events
Such as the Annual Awards Banquet and Family Day held every spring, among others
Contact: Charlie Purdum
Our corporate partners include:
- Case New Holland, Inc.
- Dresser-Rand
- First Wave Technologies, Inc.
- Fed-Ex Services
- Ford Motor Company
- Geisinger Health System
- General Electric
- General Motors
- Haas Automation, Inc.
- Honeywell, Inc.
- Ingersoll-Rand
- Ingram Micro
- Intel
- IQS, Inc.
- Kennametal
- Kimberly-Clark
- Lee Industries
- Lincoln Electric
- Lockheed Martin
- Muncy Valley Hospital - Susquehanna Health
- PepsiCo-Frito-Lay
- Philips Ultrasound
- Quaker Chemical Corporation
- Schlumberger Doll
- SEKISUI-SPI
- Steel Founders Society of America
- TMP Manufacturing
- Third Wave Systems
- Victaulic
- Volvo Group
- Whirpool Corporation
Get involved
If your company has a project for our students, a research question for faculty, or would like to help take advantage of a funding opportunity, please contact Charles Purdum at 814-865-5345.