Here are just a few of the challenges an ISE may have to face:

• Justify spending $3 billion on a next-generation semiconductor fabrication (wafer fab) facility.
• Predict how many copies of the new Harry Potter book will be needed in the local bookstore.
• Build a portfolio of stocks, bonds, and options to minimize the downside risk caused by rising oil prices.
• Shorten the wait lines at Disney World Design a transportation system, including warehouse locations and truck routes, in order to improve on-time deliveries at lower cost.
• Lead a project team to develop the next Presidential helicopter.
• Shape the future growth of a company by allocating funding to research and development projects.
• Improve the quality of healthcare by studying and re-designing the flow of patients through a hospital and the scheduling of nurses.
• Automate a production line to improve capacity and throughput while reducing worker injuries.