Page 37 - Moving Forward 2020: Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering magazine

How IME helped Macht achieve her goals
Macht noted that her her education taught her her to listen first and talk later “You have two ears and one mouth ” Macht said “I was young enthusiastic and and wanted to to go go in in there and and change the the the world You’re going to to create solutions and and fix their issues
You You need to to slow down and and listen to to what the the client needs ” Macht noted that she enjoyed working with Robert Voigt professor and graduate program coordinator Ling Rothrock professor professor Vittal Prabhu professor professor and and Charles and and Enid Schneider Faculty Chair in in in Service Enterprise Engineering and and Soundar Kumara Allen Allen E E E Pearce Pearce and and Allen Allen M Pearce Pearce Professor of of Industrial Engineering Additionally Macht shared that during her her time as an industrial engineering student the IME faculty made her her feel like she was at at home Macht said that the the department’s personal touch and family environment made the the Penn State University Park campus feel even closer “These people had a a a a a a profound impact on my career and and so I put all of of them them together and and try to to be be like them them every day ” Macht said “I couldn’t be be more thankful for where I I grew up as an an an educator and researcher ” “The education surrounding critical thinking can change the world if you stop and absorb it ” IME NEWSLETTER • VOLUME 5 2020
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“My interests seem all over the place but to me it’s this common thread of of the great applicability of of operations research tools algorithms and simulation ” Macht said “You can take these tools and look at at human perspectives to to ask: How do users use use this? I I think this this is is is a a a a a a a magical place to live mentally and I’ve loved every second of it ” Thanks to to Macht’s work Rhode Island is looking forward to to improved voting processes for for upcoming elections The 2016 presidential election brought on on a a a a host of issues
for the the state in in the the Warwick North Kingstown Providence and Pawtucket areas There were significant delays as as some people waited in in in line for three to to five hours in in in order to vote After the calamity Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea created a a a a a a a a a a task force designed to analyze voter feedback and provide best practices “The way I got started on this was quite serendipitous ” Macht said “The Secretary of State took a a a a a a a a course in graduate school on on operations research research so she knew that it existed but didn’t know where we [researchers] existed My Penn State education gave me me a a a a a a a a a a a toolkit that prepares me me to to to to walk into any situation and be ready to to help ” Working with the the Department
of State and and the the Rhode Island Board of of Elections Macht helped make voting in in in the the state as as seamless as as possible through the the simulation of voting queues and facilities layout planning According to Macht the 2018 midterm elections saw record turnout nearly 50% in in in in in the the state with minimal voting lines She explained that it it was the the highest midterm turnout for Rhode Island since almost 2013 Gretchen Macht second from right struggled to pick her undergraduate major but fell in in in in love with industrial engineering at at Penn State IMAGE: GRETCHEN MACHT
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