Seeing Engineering at Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Connor Mitchell,
Senior, Industrial and Systems Engineering

Athens, OH 12 November 2013 – I came to Ohio University undecided as to what engineering major I wanted to pursue. Halfway through my freshman year, I decided that Industrial and Systems Engineering was the right fit for me. Not long after that, I decided I wanted to become more involved with the engineering, specifically the Industrial and Systems Engineering department.

At the end of my freshman year, I decided to join the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). IIE can offer a lot for its members. Normally three to four times during the academic year, IIE provides students with the opportunity to tour various industries. Industrial and Systems Engineers can work in a variety of settings, so being able to tour different facilities certainly helps students understand what Industrial and Systems Engineers do. It also helps you understand what type of career path you want to take following graduation. As an added bonus, students don’t have to worry about paying for the tour because IIE pays for the tour itself and transportation.

Last week, IIE took a trip to Columbus to tour Nationwide Children’s Hospital. It was interesting when one of the associates of the hospital presented an example of a typical project she was working on. She explained how she is working to reduce the waiting time for their patients to see a doctor. She continued by explaining the different tools and techniques she used to reduce the waiting time, some of which are very similar to what we have learned in class.

After touring the hospital, I feel sure that working in a hospital setting would be an ideal option for me. It allowed be to see what I’ve enjoyed learning in class in a professional setting. I enjoy being around people and I feel it would be rewarding knowing I’ve improved different processes and systems within the hospital and how these improvements could impact the lives of so many individuals. I’m really fortunate to have joined IIE because it has taught me what I enjoy and what I want to do after graduation.