Welcome to the Department of Industrial Engineering and Decision Analytics, an energetic and dynamic department within The School of Engineering at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. In just two decades, HKUST leads at No. 2 position among the Top 50 under 50 year universities, with the Engineering School ranking 20 worldwide, according to the QS World Rankings 2021. These are incredible achievements, driven by elite faculty, first-class research facilities, and an absolute focus on interdisciplinary studies and internationalization. There is a real encouragement of a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. Within IEDA, you can realize your educational goals and launch a career of great potential in this new millennium of rapid advances in IT and integrated global industries.
Four unique dimensions characterize our creative and innovative Department in terms of our curricula, research programs, laboratories and industry interaction.
Globalization of the world’s economy has become the defining trend of our time. Sitting at the boundaries of several major economic forces in Hong Kong, we currently witness wealth creation through the scaling of old economic barriers. Likewise, we foresee the need to generate new knowledge to enable us to reassess traditional understanding of value added and productivity, including where, how and with whom we perform our work.
Creativity and innovation are qualities required for what is being termed “the fourth industrial revolution” that builds on the digital evolution. Part of our global strategy is to build relationships with other top global universities for the benefit of our students and faculty.
Modern technologies, especially information technology (IT) and data analytics, will be the driving forces behind rapid economic growth in the foreseeable future. Cutting-edge, data driven IT solutions provide opportunities for reengineering industry processes, but also bring new challenges to engineering management. We have been working with industries in the past few years to research and develop e-commerce/e-business solutions such as internet collaboration, decision support, and human/computer interface. We will continue to emphasize data analytics and IT in our teaching, research, and industry collaboration.
As in other developed economies, the service sector in Hong Kong has been growing at a record pace and is now the largest contributor to the city’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). IEDA knowledge and skills are highly applicable to services ranging from health care to financial engineering, and from revenue management to the design and pricing of products and services. The Department’s faculty members have built strong and effective partnerships with major service sectors, including logistics, health care, finance, and travel and leisure. Through working closely with firms in these service industries, we are in an advantageous position to drive these vital sectors forward.
In addition to technical expertise, the Department offers courses and research projects in key engineering management subjects. With their blended training in technology and management, our graduates are offered excellent career prospects and a comprehensive grasp of both technological and managerial aspects of contemporary issues.
These four dimensions open many opportunities and challenges, and there is no better place than Hong Kong and HKUST to take further advantage of the new prospects that are part of these expanding horizons. Here you will acquire core competencies in modeling, simulation, optimization, and modern data analysis, as well as domain specific knowledge in areas ranging from logistics management to human factors, from e-commerce to ergonomics, from revenue management to financial engineering.
If you have integrity, creativity, and ambition, we welcome you to share our excitement in the new world that is unfolding. Just as the challenges are awesome, the opportunities are also enormous. With industrialization in Asia progressing at such a pace and with such exhilaration, our department and its graduates are playing a significant part. Take advantage of our teaching and learning innovation as well as an exciting range of relevant industry internships to prepare you for tomorrow’s world. There is also the chance to experience some real independence with our exciting exchange programs where you will make life-long friends from different cultures and backgrounds, making you a global citizen! At IEDA, you will also have an opportunity to interact with our successful alumni network as well as join our mentorship program; factors that will no doubt help you find your dream job.
Make sure that you take advantage of this moment to make your own contribution.
Professor Jiheng Zhang
Head and Professor
Department of Industrial Engineering and Decision Analytics