ASSESSING INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING COURSES USING BENCHMARK, FACULTY EXPERIENCE AND FE REQUIREMENTS

Faculty of Engineering at King Abdulaziz University plans to redesign its undergraduate courses, which is required for students in 14 different programs. These courses have an annual enrolment of about 2,500 students each year. The Operations Research Teaching Area in the Department of Industrial Engineering will be presented as a case study. This area involves two core and three elective courses. The course redesign involves preparing students for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam requirements while coping with the best worldwide practices as benchmark. The FE Exam is a computer-based test (CBT). It is closed book with an electronic reference. Examinees have 6 hours to complete the exam, which contains multiple-choice questions. The 6-hour time also includes a tutorial and an optional scheduled break. The exam session is administered in the following seven disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Computer, Environmental, Industrial and Systems, Mechanical, and Other Disciplines. The top ten USA Universities in Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering are used as a benchmark to reliably lead to the desired courses redesign results. Moreover, faculty experience is also utilized to enhance the process. Keywords: Industrial Engineering; Course design; Best practices; Benchmark; Fundamental Engineering.