Up close with Terry Mann
Posted on 14. Dec, 2011 by admin in Faculty and staff profiles
Terry Mann is a senior lecturer in industrial and systems engineering, where he teaches several courses that are crucial to exposing students to total quality management, including Introduction to Quality Engineering, a popular elective. In addition to his work in the department, Mann is also a professional consultant who helps companies set up quality management systems to meet industry standards, and brings valuable real-world perspectives to his teaching. “Terry’s teaching is crucial to integrating the tools and techniques of quality management throughout our curriculum,” says Professor and Chair Vicki Bier.
Q: What are some of the things students learn from you? How is this important to their careers as engineers?
A: I emphasize to my students the importance of building a toolbox. While they learn a host of engineering tools in their studies, the real keys are recognizing the best tool for a particular situation and recognizing the tool’s limitations.
Q: How does your consulting work inform your teaching?
A: My consulting keeps me up to date with the challenges that organizations face, as well as current manufacturing and enterprise management technologies. As a result, I can make sure that my teaching remains relevant. I think students appreciate anecdotes relating how organizations currently are using the concepts we discuss.
Q: What do you like about teaching? Do you have a particular approach to teaching that you find helpful for yourself or your students?
A: I like the variety in my weekly schedule. I’m able to be involved with university activities as well as working with a number of consulting clients. The best part of teaching is recognizing that I influence the career paths and mental models of my students. This is an opportunity and a challenge that I do not take lightly.
Q: What other roles do you play in the college?
A: Through an award from the college, I have been involved in converting Introduction to Quality Engineering (ISyE 575) to a distance-learning format to increase accessibility to this class, particularly to students who may be off campus during an internship or co-op and to students outside of industrial and systems engineering. As part of this initiative, I have been pursuing a professional certificate in online teaching through the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Education, Distance Education Professional Development.
