By Megan Howard
ISE Student Profile
From farming to government to engineering, University of Florida Industrial Systems Engineering (ISE) junior Allen Kurian doesn’t spend much time relaxing.
On the weekends, he can be found on his family’s Newberry-area farm, working in the barn or driving the tractor. During the weekdays, he can be found attending classes, running engineering organizations, and working with students across the university.
After living in Gainesville for 13 years, Kurian said he could not imagine going anywhere else for college. The state’s Bright Futures scholarship and UF’s reputation as the best school in the state made other colleges dim in comparison.
Kurian also couldn’t resist being near his pharmacist dad, nurse practitioner mother, and his farm’s citrus trees, goats, chickens, and ducks. He shares his parents’ love for fresh, organic food but is taking a different path to a medical career.
He is interested in the behind-the-scenes work of medical care after spending high school summers volunteering at the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where his parents work.
“I would much rather create the tools that help thousands of patients indirectly,” Kurian said.
He discovered ISE, what he calls a “found major.” All it took was some time at UF’s student orientation, Preview, to take him from business administration to industrial systems.
“The fact that our UF [ISE] program is the 11th best in the nation is truly amazing,” he said, referring to the ISE’s 2024 rankings from U.S. News & World Report. “The opportunities it has given me, I won’t find anywhere else.”
His passion for the program led him to pursue a combined bachelor’s/master’s industrial systems engineering degree. While he finishes his undergraduate degree, he is working on his master’s. Instead of taking two years to receive his graduate degree, he expects to be done in one year after graduating with his bachelor’s.
Kurian is drawn to the major because of the career stability and flexibility. Industrial engineers’ skills are applicable to almost any field. From aerospace companies like Lockheed Martin to healthcare companies like Johnson & Johnson to consulting firms like Deloitte, industrial engineers are in high demand.
“It’s a universal engineering degree. You can go into any industry and provide value,” he said.
But Kurian is much more than his studies.
Within ISE, he’s the vice president of UF’s Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers chapter and the internal vice president of UF’s Society for Health Systems. Through these organizations, he mentors underclassmen engineers and connects with industry professionals.
He also works as a student assistant with the ISE office. He serves as a board member for UF’s Student Petition Committee and an Advisory Committee board member for UF’s Career Connection Center.
During the spring of his freshman year, Kurian realized that a vital part of advancement in engineering is policy.
He spent a year working in the student government cabinets.
“For any problem that has a solution, one of the biggest impediments to making that solution come to fruition is policy. And back then, I realized policy is probably one of the most important things,” he said.
His passion for outdoor spaces, like his family’s farm and Gainesville’s natural corners, led him to join Alachua County’s Recreation and Open Spaces Advisory Committee, where he serves as a board member.
“It’s a great initiative because Gainesville has a lot of natural beauty,” he said. “We as a county, as locals, really try to reinforce and encourage support for that.”
This summer, Kurian will combine his passion for business, policy, and engineering in Washington, D.C., where he will intern as a business technology consultant at Deloitte.
“I think that will probably be the best experience I’ll ever have,” Kurian said.