Karen M. Bursic

Professor and Undergraduate Program Director

Department of Industrial Engineering
University of Pittsburgh
1037 Benedum Hall
Office: (412) 624-9837
Mobile: (412) 889-2754
email: kbursic@pitt.edu

bulletKaren Bursic CV

The home pages for all of my courses are on the University's Canvas system.  If you are currently enrolled in one of my classes, you should go there to find the page for that course. My professional resume can be found by clicking on Karen Bursic CV above.

Courses that I have taught/teach include:

bulletENGR 0031 / BUSSPP 0042 – Plus 3 Italy: Food, Fashion, and Fabrication Supply Chains in Italy

This study abroad program includes site visits to highlight Italy's history and reputation as one of the world's leading countries in the fashion and luxury brand markets and also highlights Italian expertise in food and fabrication. Lectures focus on Italy's historical background providing context for the company visits where you will learn about the business and engineering practices that highlight the nation's reputation. From the manufacturing to the design practices, these visits provide a firsthand look at the supply chain of these industries.

bulletIE 1040 – Engineering Economic Analysis

Discusses time value of money, interest rate calculations, economic equivalence concepts, comparison of alternative investments, evaluating economic life and replacement alternatives, cost estimation, inflation, depreciation, the impact of taxes on engineering economic decisions, and dealing with uncertainty.

bulletIE 1035 – Engineering Management

This course focuses on engineering management theory applied to technical organizations. Topics include: the management process and management functions; project management; managing technical people; technological change; labor relations; engineering ethics, and other modern management concepts. In addition to basic lecture of textbook material, these concepts are reinforced through classroom exercises, cases, and discussions as well as a required book report and group project.

bulletIE 1076/2076 - Total Quality Management

This course covers the theory and application of total quality management and quality control topics that are within the "current" trends of 'quality engineering'. The course covers four areas: Philosophies, Principles, and Practices (History and Gurus, Leadership Concepts, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Involvement, Continuous Process Improvement, Performance Measures, 6 Sigma, etc.); Product/Service Development ( Benchmarking, QFD, BPR, DOE, Taguchi, etc.); Manufacture of Product/Delivery of Services - SPC , etc.; Inspection of Raw Materials/Outgoing Product (Acceptance Sampling, ISO 9000, etc.)

bulletENGR 0011 - Introduction to Engineering Analysis

bulletENGR 0012 - Introduction to Engineering Computing

bulletENGR 0020 – Probability and Statistics for Engineers I

This course is designed for students majoring in engineering.  Topics include:  data analysis, probability, random variables, discrete and continuous probability distributions, estimation, hypothesis testing, and linear regression.