Deena Sayegh

Deena Sayegh is engineering her way to a better future in healthcare and in the classroom. Hailing from Auburn, she has stayed on the Plains to pursue a doctorate in industrial and systems engineering.

 Why Auburn

 “I never really considered going anywhere else. I applied to UAB and South Alabama, mainly because two of my sisters went there, but I didn’t really want to leave Auburn. I grew up and went to high school here, and all my closest friends and my whole family is here. Auburn is home.”

Why engineering

“I originally wanted to do pre-med, but one of my sister’s friends went into industrial engineering and really advocated for it. I’ve always excelled at math, and I really appreciate efficiency, so that was how I got started doing industrial and systems.”

Internships & coops

“During undergrad, I cooped at Mercedes in Vance, Alabama, for three semesters. I started out in vehicle program management, which was more on the logistics side. Then, I moved into supplier quality and got to use a bit more of what I’ve learned in my classes. Overall, I put what I learned to work. It was cool to get outside of the classroom a bit and interact with people and show them what I’ve learned, which was what interested me in staying for grad school.

In my third semester, I did quality auditing, which was my favorite of all that I did. The class I took that specifically helped me the most with the co-op was methods engineering. It taught me a lot about manufacturing — how to run a production line, what efficiency looks like on the job, what to look for when analyzing parts for quality — all of which was really helpful for what I did at Mercedes.”

Future plans

“In my senior year, I took a class on operations research, and I was able to help a lot of my friends get a better grasp on the concepts in our study groups. That got me interested in pursuing an academic career. I’m a TA for a class now, and it’s one of my favorite parts of being a grad student. It brings me great joy to watch the students learn. I’m also currently working on improving healthcare efficiency because I’m very passionate about the medical field. Oftentimes, patients have to wait hours for services they need. In the next few years, I want to focus on a way to improve that process.”