Contact: Bob Ratliff
A textbook co-authored by a Mississippi State University professor is being used to educate industrial engineers at some of the nation's leading universities.
Royce Bowden, associate professor of industrial engineering, is one of the authors of "System Improvement Using Simulation," fifth edition. Other contributors to the book are Robert E. Bateman, Charles R. Harrell, and Jack R.A. Mott.
The textbook is used to teach students theory and practice of simulation and optimization using Promodel simulation and SimRunner optimization software. In 1996, Bowden co-developed the SimRunner optimization software.
The Promodel software allows users to create a working simulation of manufacturing and other business operations on a personal computer. Potential changes can be tested using the computer simulation.
Promodel Corp., a Utah-based computer software manufacturer, is the publisher of "System Improvement Using Simulation." Universities using the textbook include all three U.S. military academies.
Bowden, who is director of MSU's Simulation and Advanced Computation Laboratory, joined the university's industrial engineering faculty in 1992. His previous work includes manufacturing engineering positions with Texas Instruments and Martin Marietta Aerospace.