Wm Michael Barnes '64 Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
Robert Frost

The path a PhD student travels is an exploration of uncharted territory.

For Jackson Sanders the path started his freshman year when he joined Dr. Pei’s lab. There he investigated the properties of high-fidelity resin 3D-printed parts.

Multiple internships followed including summers with Stratasys, Joshua Tree Group, and KBSI. Then after a 2-week, NSF funded trip to Italy where he visited manufacturing facilities, he started an internship with Saint Gobain Research.

The next summer he led a team of 8 undergrads to advance his research.

All those internships and research led to an insight.

“The longer I’ve spent in the PhD program, the harder I feel the pull of the space industry. Space exploration poses some of the most difficult challenges humankind will ever attempt to triumph,” Sanders said.
So, this spring semester he started an internship with NASA.

“The program I joined was ‘Gateway’ space station, a successor to the ISS that would orbit the moon. My job was to translate engineering schematics (data & power cabling, fluid & air flow) into a digital systems model. This model aids decision making in anomaly situations and can be used to effectively plan maintenance activity,” Sanders said.

In summarizing the experience, “I learned a TON about spaceships, space operations, systems modeling, and multi-team engineering efforts. Watching the Artemis II launch live in the same auditorium where Gene Kranz gave his famous Apollo program speeches was pretty mind boggling,” Sanders said.

When asked what’s next for him, Sanders said, “I want to return to NASA as a research scientist and help establish a human presence on both the Moon and Mars.”

Dr. G. Kemble Bennett is enjoying a well-earned retirement after 40 years at Texas A&M. Currently, he's enjoying cooler weather along the coast of Alaska.

In his most recent update, he said, "This time I am just cruising up the coast out of Seattle. Now in Skagway viewing snow on mountain tops. Took a beautiful narrow-gauge train ride this morning. All in all, relaxing."

Industrial engineering faculty designated Fellows of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). This is the highest recognition by IISE. Congratulations to Alaa Elwany, Mike Graul, and Shiren Wang and affiliated faculty member Mark Benden.
https://www.iise.org/Details.aspx?id=597

IISE Awards - The Fellow Award

Our chapter of IISE earns Gold Award for 10 consecutive years! Shoutout to Dr. Erick Moreno-Centeno for his mentorship of our students.

Data engineering student hits it big with Chicago Cubs. Check out this video.

How Data Engineering and Sports Analytics Come Together at Texas A&M | Texas A&M Engineering Interested in a career in data engineering or sports analytics? Mee...

Dr. Hamid Parsaei is the president elect of IISE. In this leadership role, he will work with the current IISE President and serve on the IISE Board of Trustees over the next three years before formally assuming the presidency in April 2027. https://www.iise.org/Details.aspx?id=56211

2026 IISE Leadership Candidates

Are you attending the IISE Annual Conference in Arlington? If so, we hope you’ll join us for a special ISEN networking reception!

On Monday, May 18, take a break from the conference and connect with fellow Aggies, ISEN alumni, students, faculty and industry professionals for an evening of networking, food and drinks.

📍 Troy’s at Texas Live!
🕕 6:00–8:00 p.m.

It’s a great opportunity to connect with the ISEN community and build new connections during the conference.

See you there!

Happy last day of class, ISEN Aggies!

As the semester wraps up, we’re celebrating the hard work and accomplishments of our students across all of our programs. Graduation is right around the corner and summer is almost here.

Finish strong, enjoy the moment and Gig ’em! 👍 ☀️

Don’t miss the Virtual Town Hall hosted by ISEN on Wednesday, April 29!

The event will be held from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. via Zoom, where you will hear from new Department Head Dr. Satish Bukkapatnam as he shares exciting updates about ISEN and students share highlights from across the department.

Register here: tx.ag/ISENTownHall

We look forward to seeing you there!

Our last seminar of the ISEN Spring Seminar Series is tomorrow, April 24, from 1:50 to 2:40 p.m. in ETB 1034.

We’ll be joined by Dr. Barrett S. Caldwell from Purdue University. His research looks at how expert teams work together in high-stakes environments like aerospace, emergency response and spaceflight operations. It focuses on how communication, timing and expertise shape coordination and decision-making.

We’re wrapping up the semester with one final look at how teams function in complex, real-world settings. Hope you can join us!

Learn more: tx.ag/CaldwellSeminar