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July 25, 2005 Volume 30, Issue 2 |
Bowden new head of industrial engineering
Dr. Royce O. Bowden Jr. is the new head of the Department of Industrial Engineering.
A faculty member for the past 13 years and among the Hearin Eminent Scholars designated by the Bagley College of Engineering, Bowden succeeds retiring department head Larry Brown. Brown retired in early June after more than 30 years of service to the university.
“The industrial engineering faculty under Dr. Brown has developed a strong, modern curriculum that is serving our constituents extremely well,” said Bowden, who joined the MSU faculty in 1992 and was named a full professor in 2002.
“It is a privilege to be working with the enthusiastic faculty, committed staff and talented students of industrial engineering,” he added.
Dr. Kirk Schulz, dean of the engineering college, said Bowden “brings a dynamic personality and a compelling vision for excellence that will help elevate our industrial engineering program to national prominence.”
A native of Picayune, Bowden did the seminal research in discrete-event simulation optimization using modern optimization algorithms. His work at MSU involves the design of computer algorithms to solve complex problems by manipulating engineers’ computer simulation models of systems.
Bowden’s research also provided the foundation for ProModel Corp.’s SimRunner TM—a simulation optimization package that is sold and used worldwide.
Bowden earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1984. He completed additional undergraduate engineering coursework at MSU, and then earned master’s and doctoral degrees in industrial engineering from MSU, respectively, in 1989 and 1992.