Embedded Control A New Key Technology And Its Possible Effects On Industrial Engineering Curricula

Technological advances have always affected manufacturing, trade, and even national economies. In today's rapidly changing world, industrial engineering must keep a sharp eye on such new technologies. Computer technologies double their performance in about every 12 to 18 months. Accordingly, IE curricula must be reviewed and updated on an almost continuous basis. Such rapid and sustained change places unprecedented demands on curricula development and management. The new challenges being faced include the anticipation of new key technologies for timely preparation of new curricula, determination of the relationship of new technologies to other components of the curricula, faculty development, and course material delivery. At the University of Florida's Industrial Research Laboratory, we have invested several years of work in embedded controls and their applications to autonomous intelligent systems. Through our extensive research, we are convinced that embedded control is a new technology that will have profound effects on the field of industrial engineering. This paper discusses issues related to the emergence of embedded control technologies. In order to better understand the profound effect of new technologies on industrial engineering and industrial engineering curricula, we must first adopt working definition for industrial engineering: the field of engineering that is concerned with the efficiency, productivity, flexibility, robustness, or in short, the competitiveness of industry. Over the past decade, computer technologies have had the most significant influence over the competitiveness of industry. Although the IE profession has focused more on improving competitiveness through operational methods, the accelerated growth in technologies may soon make it more appropriate for IE to be a technology-driven profession. The