Professor Emeritus, Industrial Systems & Engineering
rlstorch@uw.edu

Dr. Richard L. Storch received his B.S. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Webb Institute, M.S. in Ocean Engineering from MIT and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington. He joined the faculty of the University of Washington in 1978, initially in the Mechanical Engineering Department and then in the newly formed Program in Industrial Engineering in 1986. He was an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Radiology and Global Health. He was active in education, research and service activities throughout his 35+ year academic career, retiring in 2014. He served as Director of the Industrial Engineering Program from 2003-2009 and then as the first Chair of the new Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering from 2009-2014.

Dr. Storch has received many awards, including:

• Kennedy Award (for contributions to shipbuilding technology), Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, 2011
• Academic Engineer of the Year, 2003, Puget Sound Engineers Council
• Fellow of Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers 
• Senior Member, Institute of Industrial Engineers
• Outstanding Professor/Excellence in Teaching, Industrial Engineering Program, six times

Dr. Storch’s research programs have been focused on productivity improvement, especially implementing lean thinking and statistical quality control. The applications include shipbuilding, airplane manufacturing, health care, medical equipment manufacturing and others. His shipbuilding research involved international collaborations in the UK, Japan, Korea, China, Spain, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy and Croatia. He and his collaborators published over 100 referred journal or conference papers.

Dr. Storch has been active in a wide variety of educational programs during his career, including Preparing Engineering Students to Work in the Global Economy, in collaboration with other universities in the US, the UK and Spain. He also participated in the Naval Engineering Educational Consortium.