Young Professionals mission statement
IIE's Young Professionals Group was established to identify the needs of members who are college graduates ages 35 and younger. Our mission is to strengthen the connection between young professionals and IIE to develop opportunities that would be of interest to young professionals such as career networking, professional development and job opportunities.
Current Objectives
- Identify and provide high value opportunities for young professionals
- Strengthen IIE YP participation with local student chapters, student regional conferences and professional chapters
- Create leadership roles for young professionals in IIE
President
Patrick Foxworthy
Multi-discipline systems engineer, The MITRE Corp., Washington, D.C.
Kettering University, 2008
What IIE has done for me and what keeps me involved: I became involved with IIE for the networking and leadership opportunities I saw within the organization at a collegiate level. Networking and leadership still keep me involved today and as I have grown within the organization I’ve found other opportunities including: jobs, great conferences, speaking engagements, continuing education and friendships. Most of all I stay involved because it’s both an opportunity to grow and learn, as well as give back to a great community of people who share my passion for our very diverse discipline.
Fun fact: I love the Olympics (but have yet to attend) and would someday love to apply my IE skills as a member of the Organizing Committee.
President-elect
Alex Bohn
Transformation Engineer with CareLogistics in Alpharetta, Ga.
Kettering University, 2009
What IIE has done for me and what keeps me involved: IIE has provided me with a window into the entire world of Industrial Engineering & allowed me to learn about the advances of IE across the full spectrum of industries & academia. In addition, IIE has allowed me to build an incredible network of professionals, students & professors who I am able to collaborate with to continue to develop myself professionally. What keeps me involved are the opportunities to strengthen this network and challenge myself as a leader while increasing visibility to the benefits of Industrial Engineering in all fields.
Fun fact: I love snowboarding and have hit the slopes in three countries on two continents. One of my life goals is to go snowboarding on every continent in the world.
Past President
Natalie Keller
Global Business Services Emerging Leaders associate - Operations, The Nielsen Co., Tampa, Fla.
University of Florida, 2010
What IIE has done for me and what keeps me involved: IIE has helped me build and develop an incredible network of IE professionals. From my internships throughout college to my current role, IIE has opened doors and ultimately led me to where I am today. It unites industrial engineers and helps us to share best practices and learn from each other regardless of what our job titles become or where our careers take us.
Fun fact: I play flag football and love Latin dance.
Northeast Chair
Dana Wexler
Operations improvement supervisor, United Parcel Service (UPS) Inc., New York
Rutgers School of Engineering, 2007
What IIE has done for me and what keeps me involved: Being a member since college, IIE has been a great guide through the first steps of my professional career. It allowed me to build my professional network already as student, receive mentorship from active members and find job opportunities. As a continuing professional member, the online benefits alone are numerous – including on demand courses at one’s fingertips. In addition, I think that joining a local chapter is the ultimate compliment to a professional membership; introducing locality to the global scope of IIE – It is the best way to find local plant tours and live demonstrations which can’t be beaten.
Fun fact: I just started skiing and like it!
Southeast Chair
Fernando Lamelas
Industrial engineer, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts; Orlando, Fla.
Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico), 2008
What IIE has done for you/ what keeps me involved: Since I joined the organization in 2007, IIE has provided a great variety of opportunities to develop my leadership skills, network with engineers from diverse industries and keep me updated in the latest trends in my profession. Perhaps my greatest memory goes back to the 2008 Annual Conference in Vancouver where I interviewed with Disney, the company I currently work for and one of the most admired companies in the world. The benefits of the membership are numerous; from conferences, training programs, great online resources, to its award-winning magazine Industrial Engineer of which I am a big fan.
Being from Mexico, I've also experienced IIE's commitment to become an international organization and admire its passion to serve its diverse members. Looking into the future, I would like to become more involved in these international efforts, promote/organize value-added opportunities for its professional members and see the organization reaching out to the community in a variety of ways.
Fun fact: My dream job growing up was to become an independent filmmaker.
South Central Chair
David Rossi
Supply chain management program, Unilever, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
The Ohio State University, 2010
What IIE has done for me and what keeps me involved: IIE has opened the door for me to learn more about what IEs do in the real world. IIE has been a great avenue for me to meet IEs from all over the world, both professionals and students. There are many things that keep me involved with IIE. The first thing is the people. At the student level, I was fortunate enough to interact and meet many people in IIE's senior leadership. It was a great college experience. In addition, I believe IIE has amazing potential for growth. As far as I am concerned, every IE should be a member of IIE. Lastly, I absolutely love the annual conferences. It is the one time a year where IEs from all over the world have the opportunity to come together in one location. You learn so much and network like there is no tomorrow … and they are so much fun!
Fun fact: I love to travel. As a student, I was able to study abroad twice! The first time was in Costa Rica, the second time was in Puerto Rico. I love the Caribbean. It has the best weather in the world! Currently, I have been to four continents and plan on eventually visiting them all.
Western Chair
Zach Fairman
Operations manager, Intel, Portland, Ore.
Oregon State University Honors College, 2010
What IIE has done for me and what keeps me involved: IIE has provided remarkable opportunity to attend outstanding conferences and travel to very desirable locations. IIE has been instrumental in helping me to establishing a professional network that spans the entire country and many industries. I have become friends with many IIE members across the country and have visited IIE members from other schools on multiple occasions since graduating college. Over the course of my undergrad experience, IIE allowed me to establish relationships with other Industrial Engineering students that I value and will hold for years to come.
Fun fact: I have been parasailing, hot air ballooning, bungee jumping and skydiving.
Mid-Atlantic Chair
Kalli Hulse
Operations Management Leadership Program (OMLP), GE Aviation
North Carolina State University, 2011
What IIE has done for me and what keeps me involved: IIE has helped me establish a diverse network of professionals from the many different fields and career paths of industrial engineering. IIE also offers incredible opportunities for leadership and continuing education through conferences, speakers and social media. It’s the combination of these opportunities that keeps me engaged with IIE, and excited to learn about the advancements in the field of industrial engineering.
Fun fact: I have lived in 6 states in the past 3 years.
Canada Chair
Yousif Al-Khder
Business technology analyst, Deloitte
University of Waterloo, 2012
What IIE has done for me and what keeps me involved: At the University of Waterloo, management engineering was only inaugurated in 2007, and therefore we did not have an IIE chapter until 2012. During my last internship term, however, I became involved with the Toronto IIE chapter as well the Ryerson University chapter. A few months later, Waterloo sent its first team to the Canadian National Student Conference, where we had an excellent performance during the competitions.
What currently keeps me involved is mostly the networking opportunities and meeting new people.
Fun fact: During the summer of 2012, I went on a short backpacking trip in Europe. Although it was a lot of fun to be in Europe and learn about their history, I also learned that I can survive on one backpack while living with strangers in hostel rooms.