Industrial engineering is one of the fastest-growing job categories nationally, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a median annual pay of $102,440. It’s the academic discipline that has propelled the careers of many corporate leaders, including former Apple CEO Tim Cook, who holds a bachelor’s in industrial engineering from Auburn University.
It’s also one of the reasons Chloe Yu chose the Â鶹ÊÓƵ in fall 2025.
“I’ve always really liked business, but I also really like engineering,” Yu said.
Industrial engineering is the study of improving how people, processes and technology work together to solve real-world problems more efficiently and effectively. UNR’s College of Engineering launched a comprehensive industrial engineering program in 2024 — the only program of its kind in Nevada — and recently hired two new industrial engineering assistant professors: Sara Shonkwiler, who specializes in intelligent manufacturing and optimizing part designs/geometries for manufacturing; and Yinsong Wang, who focuses on artificial intelligence and intelligent systems. The two join Assistant Professor Bijun Wang, who researches healthcare systems and human factors. Jason Shaffer, a senior engineering manager at Carson City-based manufacturer Click Bond, also has taught in the program.
“This program prepares students to use math, data and analytical thinking to make processes more efficient,” Engineering Dean Tom Weller said. “Industrial engineers are in demand across industries, from healthcare to manufacturing, and we are preparing the next generation of problem-solvers to meet society’s evolving needs.”
‘The invisible force making your day better’
As a student at Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas, Yu was active in FIRST Robotics Competition, an international robotics program for high school students.
“I originally joined for computer science,” Yu said, “but as the year went on, I found myself more interested in the machinery that we had. I found myself using the hand-cutting tools and training people on that.”
She took on leadership roles with the team and continued to train her teammates.
“I really liked seeing how people grew, and I loved putting them (in roles) where their interests lie,” she said. "And I really liked planning out how much we had to do in the year. I also really like spreadsheets.”
That combination of technical expertise, leadership ability and organizational skills made Yu a good candidate for industrial engineering.
“Industrial engineering is fundamentally different from other, traditional engineering disciplines,” Yinsong Wang said. “The major difference lies in the interdisciplinary nature of industrial engineering.”
Rather than focusing on a single technical system, industrial engineers examine how multiple systems interact, including technical, information, workforce and financial systems. They apply a common set of methodologies, including probability, statistics and optimization, to a range of different industries, including healthcare, advanced manufacturing and transportation.
“Industrial engineering is the invisible force making your day better,” Bijun Wang said. “When it works perfectly, you don't even notice it. It's the reason your Amazon package arrives in two days, the reason the wait time at a theme park is manageable.
“In my line of work,” she said, “it’s the reason a hospital visit is safer and less prone to medical errors. We remove the friction from everyday life. Sometimes the impact is that the line moves faster, the nurse has less documentation burden, the patient receives care sooner, the warehouse worker is safer, or the system makes fewer errors.”
Industrial engineering in practice
Industrial engineering prepares students for industries the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development has identified as target areas, including manufacturing; logistics and operations; and health and medical.
But the job ads don’t always call for industrial engineers: positions like process analyst, systems analyst and operations research analyst require the skill set of an industrial engineer.
And not all engineers in industrial engineering actually hold a degree in it. Shonkwiler, one of the new industrial engineering faculty members, holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.
“Essentially, what I do is apply mechanical engineering to manufacturing problems,” Shonkwiler, who studies AI-driven manufacturing process optimization, said. “Part of my research really is mechanical engineering and not industrial engineering.
“But then, a lot of my research is also using these surrogate models or machine learning models, which are optimization, to speed up the mechanical engineering processes,” she added. “And that is industrial engineering.”
At its core, industrial engineering is about applying math and analytical methods to design, improve and optimize complex systems and processes.
That approach can be applied to many industries, something that is attractive to Yu, the industrial engineering major.
“It's just a super-broad major,” Yu said. “Maybe I just do manufacturing, maybe I do project management, maybe I do supply chain management. It's all about optimization, no matter what it is. Optimization is needed everywhere.”
