May                                                                                                                                             2017
Message from President

Greetings everyone! Your PI division continues its work to keep you informed of our activities and involved.
In this issue, you'll have the opportunity to read about PID spotlights in the upcoming IISE Annual Conference and the recent IISE Northeast Regional Conference. This year, we have continued our success in organizing the Production Planning & Scheduling Track for the Annual Conference. Joel Haight and myself are serving as Track Chairs. A number of members have contributed to the success of the IISE Northeast Regional Conference by attending the conference, advertising PID, serving as a judge, and supervising students. In this regard, Anna Olender, Joseph Eisner, and myself have contributed in this way.
At our upcoming Town Hall, we will discuss the current status of the PID and new strategies to make the division more relevant to the membership. We hope you can attend and contribute your ideas. All are welcome.
It is our pleasure to welcome Technical Vice President (TVP) Rajiv Saxena to the PID. We sincerely thank our outgoing TVP, Michael Testani, for his support and contributions.
The Board of the Process Industries Division is seeking new members. Please consider joining. We are looking forward to working with you in the coming year. I would like to thank the members who contributed to our success this year and who helped with webinars, conference activities and the Board. Also, a special thanks to Anna Olender for her work as Board Secretary.
Best Regards,
 
W. Grace Guo, Ph.D.
2016/2017 PID President

 
PID Spotlight in the Upcoming IISE Annual Conference 2017
IISE Annual Conference 2017 is approaching. Among many exciting activities and attractive presentations on Process Industries, we would like to highlight the PID Town Hall Meeting and Panel Discussion: Career Development in the Process Industryfor your consideration. The Town Hall Meeting and Panel Session will be held jointly on Monday, May 22, 2:00 PM - 3:20 PM, in Room 317. This is a great opportunity for you to get to know the Process Industry, to track the current status of the PID, to learn career opportunities in the Process Industry, and to meet colleagues in similar industries and disciplines. All are welcome.
The PID is sponsoring the Production Planning & Scheduling Track for IISE Annual Conference 2017. Joel Haight and W. Grace Guo serve as the Track Chairs. The Track received 33 abstracts and 16 papers. These presentations cover a broad spectrum of topics and applications. They are arranged into 8 sessions:
  • Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.:Production Planning & Scheduling in Manufacturing 1
  • Sunday 3-30 p.m.-4:50 p.m.: Flow Shop Scheduling
  • Sunday 5:00 p.m.-6:20 p.m.: Resource Planning
  • Monday 2:00 p.m.-3:20 p.m.: Production Planning & Scheduling in Manufacturing 2
  • Monday 3:30 p.m.-4:50 p.m.: Batch and Lot Sizing in Production Planning & Scheduling
  • Monday 5:00 p.m.-6:20 p.m.: Production Scheduling 1
  • Tuesday 2:00 p.m.-3:20 p.m.: Production Scheduling 2
  • Tuesday 3:30 p.m.-4:50 p.m.: Production Planning Models
We would also like to highlight the below presentations for your consideration. These presentations are either from PID members or on PI topics. We hope you find these presentations of interest and of value.
  • Abstract # 2266, "A Constraint Programming Model for Ice Cream Processing", by Ezra Wari, Lamar University, Session : Production Planning & Scheduling in Manufacturing 1, Sunday 8:00a.m. - 9:20a.m., Room 308.
  • Abstract # 2579, "Modeling and Simulation Techniques to Improve the Hiring Process", by Nosaiba Dar Mousa, State University of New York at Binghamton. Session: Modeling for Decision Analysis, Sunday 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM, Room 404.
PID Spotlight in IISE Northeast Regional Conference
The 2017 IISE Northeast Regional Conference was held in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, NY, March 24-26, 2017. The first-place winner of the Technical Paper Competition went to a Rutgers student team for their project: Managing Traffic Flow for the Union Pacific Railroad. The project was supervised by Rutgers professor and current PID president Dr. W. Grace Guo. Anna Olendar, PID Secretary and Treasurer served as an invited judge for the Technical Paper Competition. Joseph Eisner, PID Director of Student Activities, attended the conference with the Northeastern University's IISE student chapter and advertised PID activities during the conference
Call for Nomination for the Process Industries Division Board of Directors

The Process Industries Division is currently soliciting nominations for President-Elect and six board members - Treasurer, Webinar Chair, Newsletter Chair, Social Media Chair, Student Activities Chair (Student Rep), and Competition Chair

Board members will serve a two-year term on the PID Board and the President-Elect a one-year term. All nominees must be current, regular members of the Process Industries Division. New members are welcome. Self-nomination is highly encouraged. Students are only eligible for the Student Activities Chair position (see description below).
 
Please take a few minutes to consider submitting your name or that of a colleague. To submit a nomination form, complete the attached nomination form and send to Victoria Clark  by June 1.
Contact W. Grace Guo, PID President, if you have questions about the positions and responsibilities.  
 
Invitation to Nominate Board Member - Director of Student Activities
In our effort to support an interactive community, we are now seeking one or two student members to fill the position of Director of Student Activities on the Process Industries Division Board of Directors. The selected student would be invited to participate and contribute to our monthly Board meetings and will have the opportunity to lead outreach and collaboration efforts with both our student and our professional members. The basic responsibilities will include attending the once monthly Board Meeting, and developing an event program targeting at least one student-focused activity per quarter.

This position will be a non-voting member, and the term will last for 1 year, transitioning in April. All students at the Freshman level and above are welcome to apply, however the position is geared toward enrolled students, so if you are graduating before the completion of 1 year, please consider joining the PID as a young professional member instead. There is no travel requirement, as our membership is based throughout the nation and even internationally, and we connect through the phone and web. Many of the members attend the Annual IIE Conference in person, and it is a great experience, but not a requirement to hold the position.
Welcome to our New TVP


It is our pleasure to welcome Technical Vice President (TVP) Rajiv Saxena to the Process Industries Division. The TVP is our point of contact with IISE's Technical Operations Board, which develops policy and provides strategic direction for the effective operation of IISE's societies and divisions. We sincerely thank our outgoing TVP, Michael Testani, for his support and contributions to the success of the Process Industries Division.
Rajiv Saxena, Head, Supply Chain Solutions, at APL Logistics (APLL), Scottsdale, AZ, is responsible for supply chain engineering, global trade compliance data analytics and IT solutions areas. He has over 25 years of cumulative industry experience in Supply Chain Solutions Design, Supply Chain Sustainability, Industrial Engineering, Management Consulting, Trade Compliance and Systems Development. He is a regular speaker at INFORMS, CSCMP and IISE conferences as well as at several leading academic institutes. He has extensively published on different logistics and supply chain topics in several magazines. He has a PhD in Operations Management from Simon School of Business, University of Rochester, a Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Engineering from National Institute of Training in Industrial Engineering, Mumbai, and a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology.