Magdy Helal is an assistant professor of industrial engineering at Benha University. He received his Ph.D. degree in manufacturing system simulation modeling in 2008 from the University of Central Florida; the USA. He holds a M.S. in industrial engineering, B.Sc. in manufacturing technology and a certificate of quality assurance. Dr Helal’s research interests are centered around the system thinking approach in developing optimization and managerial decision making models. He has developed a solid set of skills developing and applying quantitative mathematical models (logical and operational research) and simulation models (discrete, continuous, agent-based, and spreadsheet applications) of industrial, service, and educational systems. Dr Helal has developed data analysis and management tools for scheduling and planning purposes that have been utilized as decision support tools at the top university administration level of a major American university. And he applied his modeling and analysis skills and knowledge of the industrial management and engineering principles in several process re-engineering and productivity improvement studies of Egyptian public and private sectors manufacturing and service organizations.
He continues to demonstrate an exemplary performance in his academic career; teaching and supervising students in the production and industrial engineering fields in addition to establishing links between academia and industry through supervising post-graduate students in industrial engineering. Besides, Dr Helal contributes his analytical skills to improving the quality of the higher education in Egypt through the participation in the national quality improvement and accreditation program of higher education in Egypt, and in the development of modern student assessment approaches for the sciences and engineering programs.
Keywords that identify Dr. Helal’s career in academic and applied industrial engineering are the total system perspective, continuous improvement, and the appreciation of the roles of data and information management in the modeling, analysis, and management of the manufacturing and service sectors. He has and continues to faithfully utilize these key concepts in his academic research and teaching responsibilities as well as in his industry experiences.
