Kurt Palmer

Dr. Palmer received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1982, his M.S. in Applied Statistics from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1990, and his Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1998.  Prior to joining the faculty at USC, Dr. Palmer was employed by the Eastman Kodak Company as a Manufacturing Engineer and owned Quality Management Consulting in Rochester, NY.

Dr. Palmer’s area of research is broadly described as engineering statistics.  More specifically, his research interests lie in data collection planning, empirical model building, and quality improvement of manufacturing and service processes.  His research has included work on the following topics.

    • Engineering design optimization
    • Response surface methodology
    • Data collection for computer experiments
    • Empirical model building techniques
    • Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis
    • Cluster analysis

 

  • ISE 225 Engineering Statistics
    parameter estimation, statistical inference, intro to regression and experiment planning
    Syllabus
  • ISE 327 Six Sigma and Lean Operations
    DMAIC methodology, root cause analysis and solution confirmation, key principles for quality management and organizational excellence
    Syllabus
  • ISE 426 Statistical Quality Control
    acceptance sampling, control charts, quality management principles
    Syllabus
  • ISE 435 Discrete Systems Simulation
    system description, random number generation, model creation and validation, computer experiments
    Syllabus
  • ISE 525 Design of Experiments
    response surface methodology, robust engineering design
    Syllabus
  • ISE 527 Quality Management for Engineers 
    management philosophies (Deming, Juran, Crosby, etc.), management system models (Malcom Baldrige Award criteria, ISO 9000)
    Syllabus
  • "A Minimum Bias Latin Hypercube Design",
    IIE Transactions , vol. 33, no. 9, pp. 793-808, September 2001 (with K.-L. Tsui)
    Abstract
  • "Metamodeling Approach to Optimization of Steady-State Flowsheet Simulations: Model Generation",
    Trans. IChemE, Part A: Chemical Engineering Research and Design ,
    vol. 80, no. 7, pp. 760-772, October 2002 (with M. Realff)
    Abstract
  • "Optimization and Validation of Steady-State Flowsheet Simulation Metamodels",
    Trans. IChemE, Part A: Chemical Engineering Research and Design ,
    vol. 80, no. 7, pp. 773-782, October 2002 (with M. Realff)
    Abstract
  • "Development of a Rapid Prototyping System Using Response Surface Methodology",
    Quality and Reliability Engineering International ,
    vol. 22, no. 8, pp. 919-937, December 2006 (with B. Asiabanpour and B. Khoshnevis)
    Abstract
  • "Factors Influencing Productivity and Operating Cost of Demand Responsive Transit",
    Transportation Research, Part A: Policy and Practice ,
    vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 503-523, March 2008 (with M. Dessouky and Z. Zhou)
    Abstract

 

 

Last Updated: July 2019