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CORVALLIS - The College of Engineering at Oregon State University is helping host the world's largest international industrial engineering event May 18-21 in Portland, and two of the college's most successful alumni will be the keynote speakers.

The Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) Annual Conference and Exhibition is expected to attract more than 1,000 engineers and other professionals from around the world whose job it is to constantly improve productivity and quality at companies.

This is the first time the conference has been held in the Pacific Northwest.

"We are very excited about this event," said OSU industrial and manufacturing engineering professor Logen Logendran. "This is industrial engineering's main conference and many of our faculty and students will attend and present research papers."

Two OSU engineering alumni, industrial and manufacturing engineering graduate Mark Christensen and mechanical engineering graduate Jeff Peace, will give the keynote addresses. Christensen is vice president and director of Intel Capital, and Peace is program manager of commercial airplanes for The Boeing Co.

In addition to research presentations and pre-conference workshops, the conference will also offer specialized industry tracks, including lean concepts and applications; management and continuous improvement; work measurement and ergonomics; supply chain management; simulation, and others.

Plant tours of area companies are also planned, including Freightliner, UPS, Nike and Columbia Sportswear.

Founded in 1948, IIE serves the professional needs of industrial engineers and other individuals involved in improving quality and productivity. The organization has more than 16,000 members worldwide and more than 150 chapters in 13 countries.