Recent ISE graduate makes impact through healthcare

When recent industrial and systems engineering (ISE) graduate Camille DiCarlo heard an ISE alumna speak to her class about how she is using her degree in the healthcare industry, DiCarlo knew it was the path she was meant to take.

In October 2021, DiCarlo took the first step toward making her dream a reality when she accepted an internship with Duke Health Performance Service. DiCarlo, along with five additional interns, worked on the Performance Services team after graduation in May 2022.

“We started working on projects two weeks into the summer and they were all meaningful assignments that truly helped teams either by taking something off their plate or by bringing in new ideas,” DiCarlo said. “The people in the office were always there to help if we hit a barrier with the software or with the data. I was able to present the updates for one of my projects to the ‘customers,’ who in this case were nursing officers for a service line.”

DiCarlo transitioned into a full-time role in July as a management engineer. Her role is to serve as an internal consultant for the health system to support labor and productivity, performance improvement projects, and provide analytics and decision support.

“I get to work directly with clinical teams and leadership within the health system,” DiCarlo explained. “We create visual dashboards for data, help teams track metrics, and implement performance improvement techniques in different areas.”

Originally from Homewood, Ala., DiCarlo originally chose to study pre-medicine at Auburn. She learned about industrial and systems engineering as a degree option and declared the major during her sophomore year.

“Once I learned more and saw it focused on efficiency, I loved what I was learning and knew I made the right choice,” she said.

While studying at Auburn, DiCarlo was a member of and served as president of the college of engineering’s School’s Council, a Cupola Engineering Ambassador, and served as officers for engineering honors society Tau Beta Pi, and social sorority Alpha Gamma Delta.

One of her favorite memories was the 2021 Iron Bowl.

“Even though we lost, I remember it as the time it was our last home game in the student section and all of my best friends were standing together screaming while our roommate was cheering on the sidelines,” she said. “Everyone was really emotional after the loss but it’s because we all love Auburn so much and have cultivated great friendships during our time there!”

DiCarlo believes the Auburn University Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering prepared her well for her career.

“I believe in the strength of my education from the ISE department so much that I am actually returning to Auburn as a distance student to get my Master of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the spring,” she said. “Industrial and systems engineering is very relevant to many aspects of healthcare, and I believe that using my skills to make medical professionals’ jobs easier or a patient’s experience better is incredibly meaningful.”