Sujan Ganesh Kumar became intrigued with the concept of serving humanity through medicine at an early age — white coat, stethoscope, the whole picture.
So, when he had the opportunity to learn more about it through the Medical Bioscience Academy at his high school, Ganesh Kumar enrolled immediately. The program exposed him to healthcare, patient systems, and the science behind clinical care. Becoming a physician seemed like the natural next step.
But by the end of his junior year, everything changed.
He had taken an AP Statistics class, and that opened his eyes to the ways data could spot patterns, strengthen decisions, and, ultimately, improve the ways that systems support people. It was a revelation — one that pushed him to think about industrial engineering, a field that merged his mathematical mindset with his determination to do something meaningful in healthcare and something that felt deeply human.
“What I love about IE is how it lets you take a systems approach to problems that affect people directly,” said Ganesh Kumar, now a fourth-year student in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE). “In healthcare, even small process improvements can make a real difference in someone’s care.”
As he works toward that future of making a difference for people, he’s trying to make a positive impact on campus first. He’s found ways to connect his interests and his personal values: mentoring younger students, conducting research on using data to improve medical outcomes, and organizing events as president of the Georgia Tech chapter of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) professional organization.
“It’s about using what we learn here to make things work better for people,” he said.
As the president of Georgia Tech’s student chapter of IISE, Ganesh Kumar has focused on making the organization a bridge connecting students with industry professionals. He and the executive team worked to create partnerships with major corporations like Lockheed Martin and Delta Airlines, aimed at providing professional development sessions, even offering members Lean Six Sigma certifications to boost their resumes. The group also has expanded opportunities for mentorship between first-year students and their older peers.
Meanwhile, Ganesh Kumar’s experiences on campus, through research, and as an intern have helped him clarify his future plans — showing him how data and systems of thinking can drive meaningful change in healthcare.
“When I started out, I didn’t know where IE would take me,” he said. “But the more I saw how data could improve real systems — especially in hospitals and health systems — the more I knew that’s where I want to make an impact.”
During an internship with Johnson & Johnson focused on medical device manufacturing, he saw how the engineering principles he’d been learning could improve processes in healthcare settings. That helped him focus on using data to strengthen hospital operations and make those systems work more efficiently for patients and providers.
Meanwhile, as his vision for his career has crystallized, it’s also been reinforced by alumni doing similar work, Ganesh Kumar said. He was particularly inspired by a recent visit from Piedmont Hospital Chief Operating Officer Josh Roberts, an ISyE alumnus who spoke to the Executive Roundtable Club.
“He talked about the different problems he sees in healthcare,” Ganesh Kumar said. “Hearing that was really inspiring — it reassures me this is the field I want to go into because there are so many opportunities to make an impact.
“In medicine, I wanted to help people one at a time,” he added. “In industrial engineering, I get to improve systems that help thousands of people. That’s what makes this so meaningful to me.”
Sujan Ganesh Kumar
Sujan Ganesh Kumar, President - IISE
Sujan Ganesh Kumar
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