applied research links

• Biometric Standards, Performance, and Assurance Laboratory
• Ergonomics
• Six Sigma Quality Process-Lean Manufacturing
• Technology Teacher Preparation in Pre-Engineering Education
• Distribution Management and Inventory Control within Supply Chain Management
• Biotech Manufacturing-Life Science based
• Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education
• Healthcare Quality Initiatives
• Faculty Research Interests
• Corporate Outreach

Multiple Purdue faculty and graduate students from Purdue- West Lafayette, Purdue-Calumet and IUPUI presented at the Tri-VISN Flow Improvement Inpatient Initiative (FIX) Surgical Flow Conference in Chicago, Illinois on September 12th. 

Purdue faculty, lead by Professor Heather (Woodward) Hagg from the Industrial Technology Department at Purdue College of Technology in West Lafayette, facilitated 20 surgical flow teams from Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals throughout the United States in applications of value stream mapping and value stream analysis to improve surgical flow.  Professors Susan Scachitti, Dr. Lash Mapa from Purdue-Calumet, Dr. Matthew Stephens from Purdue and graduate student SCoTt Russell from IUPUI provided direct facilitation to the surgical flow teams.

Within her roles as an researcher at the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering (RCHE) and a health services researcher at the VA Center for Implementing Evidence Based Practice (VA-CIEBP),  Professor Hagg currently leads a statewide collaborative of Purdue School of Engineering and Technology faculty  partnering with Indiana hospitals and healthcare providers.  The focus of this program is to translate systems engineering methodologies, such as Lean and Six Sigma, into relevant and accessible tools that can be readily applied by healthcare professionals to create sustained improvement in the quality of healthcare delivery across Indiana. This program has facilitated over 40 operational and clinical practice guideline improvement project teams across 21 Indiana hospitals (6 hospital systems) with over 85% of projects reaching implementation and 80% of implemented projects sustained at 6-9 months.