November 2017 Newsletter
Lean Division 
Abstract Submissions

This deadline has passed for the submission of abstracts. Notification of accepted abstracts should occur by  November 28 , and those who are successful will be able to submit full papers through  January 16, 2018 .  At least one presenter or author on the paper must register for the conference by March 13, 2018.
What is Pecha Kucha?

Pecha Kucha presentations have exactly 20 slides which are auto-advanced after each has been projected for exactly 20 seconds, resulting in a presentation that is less than 7 minutes long.  Ideally, each slide has a simple image or message.  For more information visit http://www.pechakucha.org/ or watch some of the great YouTube videos on the subject, such as this one from Matthew Bird at the Rhode Island School of Design, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L31SwpN1dAc
Awards and Recognition  

Lean Educator and Student Paper Awards
The Lean Division of IISE coordinates two awards, the Lean Educator Award and the Student Paper Competition.  Both of these awards have a February 15 submission deadline.  For the Lean Educator award, nominations must include 3 recommendation letters with at least 1 from a faculty member and 1 from a student.  More information is available at http://www.iise.org/Details.aspx?id=17204#teaching.  For the best student paper award, all authors and co-authors must be full-time students and winners will be notified in March so that they can attend the ISERC Annual Conference and be recognized there.  For more information, visit http://www.iise.org/Details.aspx?id=4042.
 
Scholarships and Fellowships
Undergraduate and graduate students who are members of IISE as of October may be nominated for scholarships by their department head or faculty advisor.  The minimum GPA is 3.4 for these scholarships.  The deadline for nominations is November 15, 2017.  Students will then be sent a full application package.  The exceptions to the deadline are the Society for Health Systems Scholarship (December 1) and the Vinod and Gail Sahney Scholarship which provides funding for a student to attend the Annual Conference (December 31).  For details, visit http://www.iise.org/Details.aspx?id=857
 
IISE Society Awards
Nominations for most IISE awards are due by December 1.  There are many awards listed, including some specifically for educators, some for industry and government leaders, and some for industrial engineers who have contributed greatly to the profession through research or service.  For more information, please visit http://www.iise.org/Details.aspx?id=592

Policies and Procedures for Society/ Division Awards can be found  here in addition to the sponsor letter of commitment. Any Additional Questions contact  Bonnie Cameron.
ELSS Conference Recap

The IISE Engineering Lean and Six Sigma (ELSS) Conference took place Sept. 25-27, 2017, in Orlando, FL. More than one hundred process improvement leaders, practitioners, researchers, and educators gathered to share their experiences and exchange ideas about emerging concepts and methods in the field. This year's ELSS featured various on-site activities ranging from presentations and keynotes to town hall and competitions. 

Some highlights include:
  • Three very inspiring keynotes given by Dr. Steven J. Choi (Montefiore Health System), Mr. Carey Hobbs (Micross Components), and Ms. Jane J. Algee (Lockheed Martin)
  • Two panel sessions: "Disruptive Solutions with LSS" and "Seeing Differently"
  • Two facility tours: "Orlando Health" and "New Laundry Facility at Disney"
  • Pre-Conference workshop: "Design Thinking"
The IISE Lean Division Town Hall on the second day was another attraction to attendees. Several key members of the Lean Division, including the current, past, and incoming presidents of the division attended the meeting. Challenges and opportunities for the division were discussed at the meeting, followed by the fun, exciting "Lean Jeopardy" game hosted by Dave Harry, Ertunga Ozelkan, and Valentine Boving. After the town hall, the conference attendees enjoyed a relaxing "Dine Around" networking event at the Disney Springs.

Two competitions took place at the conference. The Best Papers were selected by a committee after an intensive review process. The Best Posters were voted on-site by conference attendees and a review committee. The winners, listed below, were announced during the Awards Luncheon.
Best Paper Competition (sponsored by the University of Central Florida)
  • First Place: "A DMAIC Approach to Improve Hand Hygiene Compliance Rate" by Johanna Ficatier (Mayo Clinic)
  • First Runner Up: "Lean in E-Health and Telemedicine: The State of the Art" by Ona Egbue (University of South Carolina Upstate) and Arshia Khan (University of Minnesota Duluth)
  • Second Runner Up: "A Ripple Theory for Lean Culture Initiation and Development" by Clemente Romero Acosta and Hung-da Wan (University of Texas San Antonio)
Best Poster Competition (sponsored by LS2 Performance Solutions)
  • First Place: "Kaizen Approach to Streamline the Legal Process" by Krishnan Krishnaiyer, Brandon Burgess, et al. (Andeavor)
  • First Runner Up: "A DMAIC Approach to Improve Hand Hygiene Compliance Rate" Johanna Ficatier (Mayo Clinic)
  • Second Runner Up: "Manufacturing Strategy in A Nutshell" by Quarterman Lee (Strategos)
Next fall, the ELSS 2018 will take place in Atlanta, GA and the dates will be determined very soon. We look forward to seeing you there!
    NEW     IISE Connect allows IISE members to easily interact and communicate online, empowering you to have better access to your member benefits. 
Lean Division Board of Directors
 
The Lean Division board of directors is led this year by President Ertunga Ozelkan from University of North Carolina and President-Elect Valentine Boving from U.T. MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The board holds monthly conference calls to plan division activities for the upcoming year.  As a first step this summer, the board formed sub-committees for communications, awards, and conferences, which are three of the main responsibilities of the division.  The
board also reviewed the "health of the division" report and the bylaws, and has initiated the process for some bylaws revisions.  

If anyone who is a member of the division would like to volunteer to help the board with the sub-committees, please contact Ertunga Ozelkan and there are also opportunities for non-voting board member volunteers.  In addition, board member Martin Stein is leading the efforts to create a membership survey, which will help to inform the board of member interests when planning future conference sessions, webinars, and events.  Please contact martin.stein@comcast.net if you would like to help with creating or analyzing the lean division membership survey.

If you have any photos, announcements, or articles to contribute to the next edition of the IISE Lean Division newsletter, please send them to valerie@uri.edu .