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Faculty, Research & Staff

Sharon A Johnson

Associate Professor

Faculty Listing
Office: Washburn Shops, 223
Phone: +1-508-831-5183
Fax: +1-508-831-5720
sharon@wpi.edu

Educational Background

• B.S., University of Michigan, 1983
• M.S., Cornell University, 1986
• Ph.D., Cornell University, 1989

Research & Teaching Interests

Lean process design; health care delivery improvement; simulation; facility layout; operations management

Research Grants

• January 2001, WPI Educational Development Council
  "Using Discovery-Based Learning to Explore the Lean Design of Global Supply Chains"; with A. Gerstenfeld, F. Noonan, A. Zeng, and J. Zhu
• December 2001, National Science Foundation
  "Using Discovery-Based Learning to Explore the Lean Design of Global Supply Chains"; with A. Zeng and A. Gerstenfeld (with matching contributions from GE and Teradyne).    
• January 2002, WPI Educational Development Council
  "Management Education in the Information Age"; with J. Mistry and D. Strong
• May 2005, National Science Foundation
  "Integrating Enterprise Decision-Making Modules into Undergraduate Management and Industrial Engineering Curricula", with D. Strong and J.J. Mistry
• January 2006, WPI Faculty Advancement in Research (FAR) Program
  "Applying Engineering and Information Technology Tools to Improve Health Care Delivery Processes", with I. Bar-On and D. Strong, Faculty Advancement in Research (FAR) Program, WPI Research Development Council, $25,000.
• September 2006, National Science Foundation
  "Collaborative Research:  Integrating Hands-On Discovery of Lean Principles into Operations, Industrial, and Manufacturing Curricula", with V. Allada, S. Pariseau, and T. Shehata.
• September, 2008, University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care
  "Creating Reliable and Valid Measures of Health Care Delivery Performance", with D. Strong
• August, 2008, National Science Foundation
  "AOC:  Health Care Information Technology as an Agent of Change for Improving Health Care Delivery Processes", with D. Strong, I. Bar-On, N. Kashyap, E. Westrick
• July, 2009, U.S. Veteran's Administration
  "New England Health Care Engineering Partnership (NEHCEP)",  with VA VISN 1, Northeastern University, and MIT

Recent Publications

• Zeng, A. Z. and S.A. Johnson, "The Impact of Integrating a Discovery-based Laboratory to Teach Supply Chain Management Fundamentals in an Undergraduate Management Course", Innovation in Education and Teaching International, to appear, 2008.

• Searle, G. and S.A. Johnson, "A Decision Model for Risk Management in New Product Development Projects"

• Goulet, J. A., S. A. Johnson, J. A. Minasian, and E. B. Field, "Measuring Productivity using Attribute-Based Performance Modeling", submitted to Journal of Productivity Analysis.

• S. A. Johnson and J. Zhu, "Identifying Top Applicants in Recruiting Using Data Envelope Analysis", to appear, Socio-Economic Planning Sciences.

• Johnson, S. A., D. M. Strong, J. J. Mistry, "Integrating Enterprise Decision-Making Modules into Industrial Engineering Curricula", Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference, Chicago, IL: June 18-21, 2006.

View detailed list

Honors & Awards

• 2005, First Place, ASEE IE Division Best Paper Award
  Teaching Lean Process Design Using a Discovery Approach (Johnson, Gerstenfeld, Zeng, Ramos, and Mishra)

Years of Service at WPI

1998 - 1994               Assistant Professor
1994 - Present           Associate Professor
1996 - 2009               Director, Industrial Engineering Program

Institute

• Co-Chair, Presidential Commission on Effectiveness and Efficiency, November 2008 -
  
• Faculty Review Committee, Fall 2007 -
• Institutional Review Board, Fall 2006 -
  
• Dean of Undergraduate Studies Search Committee, Spring 2006
  
• Chair, Commission E - Shape and Size, 2005-2006
  
• Member, Commission Task Force, 2005
  
• Committee on Academic Policy (CAP), 2002-2003
  
• Strategic Outcomes Assessment Steering Committee (SOASC), 1999-2000

Departmental

• Chair, Industrial Engineering Search Committee, Fall 2008
• Graduate Policy and Curriculum Committee, July 2008-present
• Department Tenure Committee, July 2004-2006
• Finance Search Committee, Fall 2004-Spring 2005
• Department Strategic Task Force, Fall 2004
• Industrial Engineering Program Committee, 1996-present

Professional Experience & Activities

• Conference Chair, "Integrating Lean Concepts into the Curriculum", EdNet Conference, Boston, MA, April 24-25, 2008.
• Host and Organizing Committee Member, "Linking Lean Thinking to Education", Joint Meeting of LEAN-EdNet, October 16-18, 2006
• Associate Editor, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 2001-2008
• Member, Innovations in Curriculum Award Subcommittee, 2006-2007, Council of Industrial Engineering Academic Department Heads.
• Chair, 2003-2004; IE Research Conference Subcommittee, Council of Industrial Engineering Academic Department Heads.
• Past-Chair, 2003, Chair 2002, Chair-elect, 2001; Council of Industrial Engineering Academic Department Heads.

Professional Societies/Memberships

• INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences)
• American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)
• Institute of Industrial Engineers
• Production and Operations Management Society

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