Dr. Bopaya Bidanda joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in 1987 after his doctoral degree from the Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering at Penn State. His research is in the area of manufacturing systems with a special focus on Group Technology, Reverse Engineering, Cellular manufacturing, Lean Manufacturing, Human issues in manufacturing, Product Development, and Manufacturing Modernization. He is currently the Ernest E. Roth Professor and Chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
At Pitt, he has helped found the Manufacturing Assistance Center, the Automated Data Collection Laboratory, and more recently the Swanson Center for New Product Innovation.
He has industrial experience in aerospace manufacturing, precision manufacturing and tooling accrued before graduate study. He has co-published two books with McGraw Hill (Automated Factory Handbook and Shared Manufacturing), in addition to over 100 papers in international journals and conference proceedings.
He has served the Industrial Engineering profession in many roles ranging from the Director of Conferences (1999-2000) to President of the Senior Pittsburgh Chapter, to being the Program Chair for both the IE Research Conference (Phoenix 1997), and the IIE Solutions Conference (Banff, 1998). Dr. Bidanda has participated in accreditation visits to many engineering schools across the United States on behalf of the Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technology (ABET).
He has actively consulted with organizations ranging from regional small and medium sized industries to national heavy engineering industries to precision luxury goods re-manufacturing. Recent examples include FedEx Ground, PPG, Schroeder Industries, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Eaton-Cutler Hammer Inc., and Cartier Inc and the Department of National Defence (Canada).
His research has been funded by the Federal Government (NSF, Department of Commerce), major foundations (including W.M. Keck Foundation, the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, etc.), and the State Government (Department of Labor) and private industry (FedEx Ground).
He is a senior member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers.