Previous SAINT projects have resulted in significant benefits for participating organizations. Sponsors report cost savings, enhanced productivity, improved inventory management, smoother operations, quality improvements, increased throughputs, and improved on-time delivery of products.

Additional benefits:

• Additional analysis capacity to complete a project that would otherwise not be completed. Each student is expected to work on the project 10 hours per week during the 15-week semester. That is over 500 hours per student team.
• Bring new skills and experiences. Half of Pitt IE students are engaged in cooperative education with companies across the nation where they spend multiple semesters gaining industry experience. They bring with them the skills and experiences of their co-op work experiences to your problems.
• Find new talent. The capstone project is an opportunity to work with students about to graduate. You will watch them work, apply their knowledge, and develop the skills needed in your industry.
• Develop a collaborative relationship with a highly regarded industrial engineering department. The Pitt Department of Industrial Engineering is one of the five oldest in the world and consistently ranks among the top public industrial engineering departments in the country. The students are backed by the knowledge, skills, and experience of the faculty. Our students are proficient in:
  • Process improvements
  • Lean production
  • Project management
  • Economic and cost analysis
  • Facility layout
  • Human factors analysis
  • Supply chain and logistics
  • Production planning
  • Manufacturing modernization
  • Service operations
  • Simulation modeling and analysis
  • Data analysis

• A technical report that summarizes the project background, methodology, implementation, results, and recommendations
• A professional project presentation to the sponsor at the University of Pittsburgh and/or at the client site
• A professional poster that will be showcased at the Swanson School of Engineering Design EXPO

Sponsors in the Senior Design Program can (optionally) contribute between $3,000 and $6,000 per team as a donation to the Industrial Engineering Development Fund. Contributions are used to support the student team as well as student scholarships, etc.

Types of Projects

• Inventory Management
• Process Improvement
• Simulation Modeling
• Lean Production
• Manufacturing Modernization
• Project Management 
• Production Planning
• Economic Analysis
• Data Analysis
• Facility Layout
• Supply Chain
• Logistics
• Service Operations
• Data Analytics
• Human Factors Analysis
• Quality Management
• Scheduling Procedures

Past Sponsors

Past sponsors of projects include a range of southwest Pennsylvania based companies, from heavy to light manufacturing, healthcare to retail, and ranging in size from units of Fortune 500 companies to family owned businesses.