Sadie Carrillo recently landed her dream job: a gig at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Sadie Carrillo
A member of the University of Mississippi Class of 2015, Carrillo will work as a project engineer in the facility asset management department. Her responsibilities will include managing projects in multiple parks and resorts, providing day-to-day organization and implementing various projects. She will also have opportunities for on-the-job professional development and collaboration with fellow engineers.
Carrillo’s interest and relationship with the Disney organization began in 2012, when she participated in its summer internship program. There, she attended an engineering conference and received an award in project engineering. This experience led to another professional engineering internship in the summer of 2013. She remained in contact with her leaders and mentors.
While Carrillo is realizing her dream, she was not originally seeking a degree in mechanical engineering.
“My initial major was international studies, but I soon realized that my passion was in science and math fields,” she said. “I grew up around engineering, as my family has a history working in the engineering field. Mechanical engineering seemed like a natural progression for my curiosity. I came in every day and was excited to learn.”
Coming from a major in liberal arts, she had a lot of catching up to do as a new engineering student. However, she found that the professors in the School of Engineering were very accommodating.
“There were challenges at first, but I found quickly that the engineering faculty were always willing to help,” Carrillo said. “I even had the opportunity to work alongside the department chair in a research project that gave me greater insight into how professional engineering is done.”
She credits several faculty members, including Arunachalam “Raj” Rajendran, chair and professor of mechanical engineering; Jeffrey Roux, professor of mechanical engineering; and Jim Chambers, associate professor of mechanical engineering; as being influential during her undergraduate experience.
“Sadie has been a highly spirited, enthusiastic and energized student when it comes to applying engineering design concepts and analyses in real-life applications,” Rajendran said. “I was not surprised when Sadie was recruited for an engineering position by the Disney World Corp. just after her graduation. We know that she will accomplish great things as an engineer.”
Carrillo served as an orientation leader with the Office of Admissions and as a community assistant with Student Housing and Residence Life. She was also a member of Lambda Sigma honor society and volunteered time tutoring younger students.
She looks forward to continuing her contract as a project engineer with Disney and would like to advance in her career to work abroad in other Disney parks. Ultimately, she hopes to become a senior director in an engineering department with the Walt Disney Co.
Carrillo is certain that the educational foundation she received at Ole Miss will serve her well as she pursues a professional career in engineering.