Rudolf Herrmann, president and chief executive officer of Dover Resources Inc., a Fortune 500 company, and an Iowa State alumnus, will be on campus as Executive-In-Residence for the industrial and manufacturing systems engineering (IMSE) department until Friday.

This is the first time the IMSE department has hosted an Executive-in-Residence but Pius Egbelu, IMSE chair, said it is “something we’d like to do annually.”

So far during his stay here, Herrmann has met with undergraduate and graduate students and faculty and has taught classes in Industrial Engineering 101, 205 and 441 and Management 422.

During the next couple days, he will continue to teach classes and meet with students and faculty.

He will also make a speech at the Thursday night meeting of the Industrial Advisory Council.

Thursday afternoon he will discuss world class manufacturing during an open seminar at 1 p.m. in 209 Marston Hall.

“He’s very busy,” Egbelu said.

Herrmann said he advises students “to develop a good ‘tool chest’ of skills: a broad base engineering education, an understanding of industrial processes and systems and how they operate, an understanding of engineering economics, experience in solving real world problems in a team setting, awareness of global issues, and leadership and communication skills.”

He also stressed the need to continue developing professional skills.

“I would always encourage students both here and after they graduate to continue to work hard, to find out what they can do to serve their customers more effectively and to continue to develop their skills,” Herrmann said. “The world is changing very rapidly and each of us have a personal responsibility to keep our professional skills current.”

Egbelu said they agreed to arrange for Herrmann to serve as Executive-In-Residence last year after Herrmann visited Egbelu.

He said it is a good opportunity to bring someone with experience in the industry to talk to students. “He’s a good role model for students, especially people who are just coming to the program new and don’t really have an understanding of what lies ahead in the future,” Egbelu said.

He said it is also a good chance to bring industrial perspectives into the classroom and establish a connection with the industry, as well as keeping up relations with alumni.

Egbelu said he sat in on a class with Herrmann earlier and was impressed by the questions students asked. “Students enjoy listening to him,” he said. “The output so far has been great.”

Herrmann said he has been very impressed with the knowledge of the students and with the interest they have shown in manufacturing.

Herrmann developed his interest in industrial engineering during his senior year in high school on a tour of Amana’s refrigeration factory.

He said he was fascinated by the complexity of the manufacturing system and noticed signs for industrial engineering offices.

“I was an industrial engineering major from the day I walked on campus,” he said.

Herrmann graduated from ISU in 1973 with a B.S. in industrial engineering. He also earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1975.