Industrial engineering is an engineering discipline that concerns the design, development, improvement, implementation and evaluation of integrated systems of people, knowledge, energy, material and process. More than any other technical discipline, industrial engineers are concerned with Socio-Technical Systems, which involves the interaction between society´s complex infrastructures and human behavior.

One particular book, "Flying Buttresses, Entropy, and O-Rings: The World of an Engineer" by James L. Adams, has helped me consider my career choices. There is one specific quote from this title that inspired me to seriously consider industrial engineering:

"Engineering and Technology are not well understood by most people. The activities included are complex and varied, involving mathematics, physical sciences, and other areas of expertise that have evolved their own specialized languages and do not always communicate well, even with one another. Many people involved in engineering and technology are so caught up in their particular activity that they have not developed a good sense of the whole. And very few of those who have grasped the bigger picture spend much energy trying to communicate this sense to others. "

The Master of Science in Engineering with Integrated Technology Management Specialization degree that I completed in 2007 at Cal Poly is centered on industrial engineering. The program goal is to develop "industry ready" graduates who will be integrators of engineering disciplines, industry concerns, and technology management. Many of the program courses involve actual integrated problems or opportunities from industrial organizations in a collaborative learning environment. Rather than requiring a traditional research thesis, this degree program allows the student to instead participate in an industry experience.