Researcher

Eileen Van Aken has been appointed head of Virginia Tech’s Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the College of Engineering, effective June 10, 2018. An educator and leader in the industrial and systems engineering field, Van Aken has led the department as interim head since 2016, when former head, G. Don Taylor, began service as acting dean of the college. Taylor now serves as the vice provost for learning systems innovation and effectiveness at Virginia Tech. Prior to her interim role, Van Aken served as the associate department head, assistant department head, undergraduate program director, and professor, all in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Van Aken joined the College of Engineering faculty in 1996, after working with the university’s Center for Organizational Performance Improvement. She was also an industrial engineer for AT&T Microelectronics in Richmond, Virginia, where she was a member of product and process engineering departments in the printed circuit board manufacturing facility and conducted engineering analyses on product and process problems and issues. 

Van Aken is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), the American Society for Engineering Management, and the World Academy of Productivity Sciences. She is also a member of both the American Society for Quality and the American Society for Engineering Education. She served as co-editor-in-chief of the Engineering Management Journal from 2012 through 2018 and on the board of directors for the American Society of Engineering Management. Van Aken currently serves on the board of trustees as senior vice president-international for IISE. She has served as an ABET evaluator for industrial engineering programs both within and outside the U.S.   

Van Aken is a three-time Hokie, earning her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in industrial engineering in 1988, 1991, and 1995, respectively.