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Lamar University sees first graduate from 2+2 industrial engineering online program

Lamar University announces its first graduate through Lamar’s BSIE 2+2 online program. Tyler Currie of Orlando, Florida completed his senior design project exploring large-scale human resource scheduling and graduated in spring 2016.

Soon to follow will be Maria Tamsen, a Houston native, who developed a voice-based interface for a home health system for her capstone project and will graduate in summer 2016.

The program, established in fall of 2014 by the Department of Industrial Engineering, offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering (BSIE) with the first two years of study at another college or university and the final two years via Lamar’s BSIE online program.

The program is ideal for individuals who wish to complete their degree but are far  from the university, or find their job preventing them from taking traditional on-campus courses or have other scheduling issues.

On-campus students often enroll in the same online courses as 2+2 students in order to co-op or work during the day at local companies. Currie completed the online courses while participating in professional internships at Disney.

“One of the best benefits of program is that you can take real world situations from work and see how they apply in your courses, and vice versa. It is a good feeling knowing how much I accomplished these last two years because of the online program,” said Currie.

Tamsen had the opportunity to do research, work with advanced software including Creo, SAS and SAP, learn programming skills, design experiments and analyze data through the program.

“Without the preparation that this program has given me, I would not have been selected to complete an internship at NASA Johnson Space Center. In addition, certifications such as Lean and Six Sigma Green Belt organized by the Department of Industrial Engineering are very good,” she said.

Lamar has the only online 2+2 industrial engineering program in Texas and is one of the few online programs in any engineering discipline nationwide. The 2+2 format can be a low-cost option because it allows students to complete the first two years at a community college.

Most Lamar University Industrial Engineering faculty members have significant industry experience. Faculty have successfully mentored student projects from China, Texas to the People’s Republic of China, and from major global companies to small manufacturing firms to student ideas for improving the world.

For more information on BSEI 2+2 Online, visit https://www.lamar.edu/engineering/industrial/ .