Advancing Engineering Excellence: Highlights From ASEE's Annual Conference & Exposition

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Jena Asgarpoor, Engineering Management Division Program chair; Ed Pohl; Ekaterina Koromyslova, Engineering Management Division.

The American Society for Engineering Education recently hosted its Annual Conference & Exposition in Baltimore, Maryland, to celebrate excellence and innovation in the field of engineering education. From June 25 to 28, leading professionals, educators and researchers met to exchange knowledge and recognize outstanding achievements. Among the attendees were members of the Department of Industrial Engineering, who were recognized for their exceptional contributions and commitment to advancing engineering education.

The newly appointed dean of the Graduate School and International Education, Ed Pohl, was the recipient of the Bernard R. Sarchet Award. This award is the highest award of the Engineering Management Division of the society and is given to recognize a lifetime achievement in engineering management education.

Named after one of the founding fathers of the academic discipline of engineering management, the award is given annually to an individual who has made significant contributions over an extended period to the discipline and the division and who exemplifies the highest standards of the professorate in engineering management.

Pohl joined U of A in 2004 as an associate professor of industrial engineering. From 2007 to 2014, he was the director of the operations management master's degree program, one of the largest graduate programs at the U of A. In 2010, he also became the director of the Master of Science in Engineering program. He served as the director of the Center for Innovation in Healthcare Logistics from 2013 to 2017, and he was promoted to full professor in 2013. He served as the head of the Department of Industrial Engineering from 2014 to 2023. In May 2023, Pohl was named dean of Graduate School and International Education.

Pohl received his Ph.D. in systems and industrial engineering from the University of Arizona. He holds an M.S. in systems engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, an M.S. in reliability engineering from the University of Arizona, an M.S. in engineering management from the University of Dayton and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Boston University.

Also honored, Eric Specking, assistant dean of enrollment and retention for the College of Engineering, was the recipient of the Merl Baker Award. The award is given by the Engineering Management Division and recognizes exemplary service to the division.

The award is named for Merl Baker, who served as dean of the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy and first chancellor of the University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology). The annual award goes to a member who has provided significant service to the division.

An alumnus of the Department of Industrial Engineering and the Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, Specking received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the U of A.

Chase Rainwater, head of the Department of Industrial Engineering, said, "I want to thank Dr. Pohl and Dr. Specking for their ongoing commitment to engineering education. Dr. Pohl has demonstrated long-term leadership in engineering management, and our university has benefited from the way he has represented us for many years. Fortunately, Dr. Specking is clearly continuing our history of service leadership to this organization, and I look forward to seeing the results of his efforts for years to come."

About ASEE: The American Society for Engineering Education advances innovation, excellence and access at all levels of education for the engineering profession, recognizing the term "engineering education" to encompass the full academic spectrum of instruction, research, scholarship, practice and service. ASEE also has an enduring commitment to continuous improvement.

About the Department of Industrial Engineering: The Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas was founded in 1950, led by department head John L. Imhoff who believed deeply in the global impact of industrial engineering. Today, the department averages over 200 undergraduate students and over 40 doctoral and master's students. In addition, the department has three online master's degrees: the Master of Science in Operations Management, Master of Science in Engineering Management and Master of Science in Operations Analytics. These three programs alone enroll over 600 students each academic year. To learn more about the Department of Industrial Engineering please visit our website.