The Socially Responsible Operations (SRO) Center is a new center located in the Department of Industrial Engineering, II -219. The research groups associated with the center are: Improving Design Decisions in Engineering & Applied Systems (IDDEAS), Integrative Solutions for High Dimensions (iSoHD), Governmental Operational & Logistics Decisions, and International Service Systems Engineering Research (ISSER).

SRO’s mission is to discover and promote innovative decision making for the wellbeing of society.

The center strategy is to capitalize on the synergy created by the interaction and collaboration among research groups to create a culture of innovation and problem solving of societal issues. The board of directors strives to create a sustainable operation that will enable the incubation of ideas that will benefit the center’s mission. One of the keys for its success is founded in the allocation of common space, resources and equipment that will impact the development of student’s research skills at a reduced cost.

ISSER is a research and consulting lab within the Industrial Engineering department at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez.  The Mission is to support ongoing research and professional services that advance the understanding, design and evaluation of complex service-delivery systems. A service system (or value co-creation system) is a configuration of technology and organizational networks designed to deliver services that satisfy the needs, wants, or aspirations of customers. Marketing, operations, and global environment considerations have significant implications for the design of a service system as well as human considerations, given that most services are co-created by human providers and customers.

Research areas are grounded in service science theory, operations research tools and techniques and statistical analysis of customer data. One important and emerging area of research is how culture and other behavioral factors affect inter-cultural service systems and how one can design them to minimize negative effects while maximizing benefits.

• Survey research and qualitative customer data analysis
• Systems Thinking and Systems Integration
• Operations Research
• Data Envelopment Analysis
• Facilities Design

In the consulting arena, ISSER faculty aims at working with the private sector and government with the goal of recommending a system design that is capable of delighting customers while achieving world-class efficiencies. This is done through the application of scientific design principles to real life problems affecting the service industry such as specific IE and OR tools for the improvement of systems in specific research areas.

The Bio IE Lab focuses on the use of engineering analysis methods to extract biological knowledge from scientific in-silico, in-vitro and in-vivo experiments. The laboratory integrates high computing capabilities and state-of-the-art algorithms to lead data-based biological discovery. The lab work relates statistical, soft-computing and optimization techniques to biological data analysis. In particular, the search and discovery of biomarkers of cancer is a central line of work of the Bio IE lab.  Located in the Industrial Engineering Department, the laboratory is equipped with 5 MacPro workstations and one iMac capable of running UNIX, Mac and Windows software, two printers.

The Lean Logistics (LeLo) Lab is a student-centered research lab seeking to provide hands-on experience while creating practical research-based solutions to contemporary logistics problems. The main research streams in LeLo are ergonomics​ & ​human factors and material handling & logistics. Consulting and training at the supply chain, facility, or production line level are available through the lab. The LeLo lab, located in II-115, is partly funded by private agencies and donations.

This laboratory space has been designed to provide students with hands on experience in the analysis and evaluation of humans in their working environment. As part of the class experiences, manual tasks are simulated and evaluated based on anthropometrics, cardiovascular, posture and force requirements. The laboratory has modern equipment and software available for the analysis of work systems, including manual material handling activities, biomechanics, and time studies. The equipment available in the laboratory for teaching and research purposes, includes:

• Computers with licenses of ErgoIntelligence for analysis and evaluation of workstation design as well as the analysis of lifting tasks with the NIOSH lifting guide
• Chatillon force measurement gauges and equipment for the analysis of lifting, pushing and pulling tasks
• Hand dynamometers and pinch gauges to measure hand force
• Anthropometers and calipers for the collection of anthropometric data
• Heart rate meters and a treadmill for the evaluation of cardiovascular requirements of physical tasks
• Goniometers and data collection software for the analysis of flexion, extension, and rotation of body members
• Glove pressure mapping system and software for the evaluation hand force
• Heat stress monitors and Wet-bulb globe temperature meter for the analysis of environmental variables
• Dosimeters, sound level meters and octave-band analyzers for the evaluation of noise levels
• Photometers and spot meters for illumination studies, and Stop watches and digital recording equipment for Time Study, line balancing and Work Measurement analysis, including WorkStudy+ licenses, among many others