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'Engineers in all disciplines are in demand and the biggest demand is for mechanical engineers," says Diana Gomez, national president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE, www.shpe.org).
Companies are continually coming to SHPE for MEs, she notes. Automotive manufacturers in particular are interested in Spanish-speaking MEs because so many have plants in Latin America countries.
Keith Marrocco agrees about the automotive interest. Now executive director of the Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES, www.maes-natl.org), Marrocco has been working with companies like GM and Ford since he started with MAES as a volunteer in 1992.
His task then was to match students with jobs and employers with students. Fifteen years later, many of the Hispanic students he advised are well along in their careers as engineers. Perhaps some of them are among the dozen Hispanic MEs interviewed for this article.
ME Pablo Valencia, Jr is a group manager at General Motors
Pablo Valencia, Jr is engineering group manager in product engineering at General Motors (Warren, MI). He's responsible for engine cooling and air conditioning on full-size pickups and sports utility vehicles. "Launching a new product like the Cadillac Escalade involves the coordination of multiple plants from Mexico to Canada," he explains.
The group Valencia manages has to consider the manufacturability and integration ease of the cooling systems it develops. Group members also work closely with suppliers to leverage their capabilities. "It's our job to deliver a product that's easy for our plants to build correctly every single time," Valencia declares.
Valencia earned his 1983 BSME with a concentration in CAE at Michigan State University, doing internships with several companies. Then, motivated by a desire to work internationally and a long-standing interest in cars, he chose GM and has been there ever since.
"I couldn't believe GM was going to pay me to work at my hobby," he says with a smile.
GM started him in a department that offered broad exposure to various vehicle systems, to help him understand the interdependence of the systems. Soon he was validating existing designs and working with suppliers and plants to bring systems together.
For even broader experience he moved on to business planning, program management, technology planning and tech development. A high point was the task of defining how the Pontiac Solstice would be designed and manufactured.
Valencia is fluent in Spanish and learned Italian for a three-year project in Italy. To be successful in a cross-cultural setting, though,
he says you also need to understand the culture and how it approaches problems. He found that his Italian colleagues were masters at blending art with science.
"They'll often adapt an idea rather than inventing a new solution as we feel compelled to do in the U.S., but they insist on solutions that are aesthetically pleasing," he says. Besides his assignment in Italy, he has worked on international projects in Asia and Brazil.
Valencia's team received a "supplier of the year" award for a component of the Alpha Romeo. "There's nothing like the feeling you get when your team reaches the goal line!" he says.
ME Cindy Arroyo: electrical specialist at Toyota North America
Cindy Arroyo is an electrical specialist in the parts commodity engineering group at Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America (Erlanger, KY). She's responsible for making sure Toyota's electrical commodities suppliers have the capacity to deliver the volume needed for production. "Our suppliers have to give us the same amount of parts per hour as the automobiles coming off our assembly lines," she points out.
A watchword at Toyota is "genchi genbutsu," Japanese for "go and see." Arroyo spends 70 to 80 percent of her time doing that, working closely with the engineers at suppliers' plants to resolve issues, improve quality and make the manufacturing process leaner.
"When Toyota advertises 'built-in quality,'" she says, "it's referring to the involvement of engineers like myself in all aspects of automobile production, including parts made by our suppliers." Toyota's culture is based on "kaizen," continuous improvement. "No matter what, there's always room for improvement," Arroyo agrees.
Arroyo earned her 2004 BSME at the Georgia Institute of Technology. An internship at General Motors gave her important experience. She connected with Toyota at a career fair sponsored by the National Society of Black Engineers. "It was a nice surprise to learn I would be able to work with suppliers at their manufacturing plants," she says. "I get to see things being built."
Since many of the supplier plants are in Mexico, Arroyo's Spanish is very useful. She was involved with SHPE throughout her college years and served on the national board of directors as regional student rep. "SHPE helped me develop confidence and leadership skills," she says.
Arroyo has been a representative at career fairs put on by SHPE and the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. She also works with Toyota's purchasing and supplier diversity group to bring in more minority suppliers.
ME/EE Alberto Aguilar: continuous improvement at John Deere
Alberto Aguilar is a continuous improvement engineer at the John Deere product engineering center in Cedar Falls, IA. He's responsible for introducing design changes to reduce warranty costs and improve value of diesel engine components.
Deere (Moline, IL) tracks engine problems that occur in any of its equipment, including farm tractors and combines and construction equipment like excavators, backhoes and front loaders. Aguilar works with reliability engineers to prioritize problems based on cost and occurrence. He identifies the characteristics of a failure and works with suppliers of the parts and components to address and resolve the issue.
Aguilar grew up in Mexico and earned his 1995 BSME and EE at the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores (Monterrey, Mexico). In his first job he was a product engineer at Siemens' electrical industrial division in Mexico City. Then he became a design engineer at General Motors.
He moved to the supplier side with Tower Automotive, working on structural durability and strength with auto manufacturers like Ford and DaimlerChrysler. In 2006 he joined John Deere.
His job at Deere, he notes, requires flexibility and adaptability. "As soon as you master something it will inevitably change, so you have to keep on learning," he says.
With so many production facilities in Mexico and South America, Aguilar often gets to use his bilingual skills to help engineers communicate with each other. There's also work to be done with people in India, China and many other countries. "It's important to learn how to relate to many nationalities and cultures," he says.
Aguilar thinks that opportunities for MEs are wide open. "You can work in the auto industry, aerospace or construction," he says. "The only thing that limits you is where you decide to stop."
Harold Martinez manages a design group at Northrop Grumman
Harold Martinez is department manager in the mechanical design engineering department at Northrop Grumman Space Technology in Redondo Beach, CA. He's responsible for selecting and recruiting mechanical design engineers, and allocating resources, training and career development. "It's my job to be sure that we have the talent to execute on our commitments," he says. "In space, you don't get a second chance."
The fifty-one MEs in his department work on the design of spacecraft structures, deployable spacecraft mechanisms, high-energy chemical and solid-state lasers, and spacecraft propulsion systems. They support projects like the James Webb space telescope, NASA's planned successor to the Hubble telescope, and the next-generation of weather forecasting satellites for military and civilian users.
Martinez has been with Northrop Grumman his entire career, including internships every summer while earning his 1987 BS in engineering at California State University (Northridge, CA). His career progressed from project positions to personnel leadership before his promotion to department manager in 2006. He says he's had exceptional leaders and mentors along the way.
The biggest challenge Martinez faces is finding qualified techies to meet future challenges. "Since many of our products are firsts in history, it's tough to find people with the skills to do this kind of work," he says.
Dr José Vázquez: internal consulting at DuPont
José Vázquez, PhD is an internal consultant in the corporate engineering group at DuPont (Wilmington, DE). He provides technical assistance in advanced dynamic measurement, vibration analysis and system dynamics to DuPont strategic business units. "I troubleshoot one-of-a-kind problems with the machinery that the engineers at the plants can't solve," he says. "I use measurements to find out what's wrong with a machine or process."
DuPont is a multinational chemicals and science company. Vázquez' work includes modal analysis, vibration measurement, remote monitoring, root-cause failure analysis and modeling of rotating machines and other dynamic systems.
Since his job is essentially responding to emergencies, Vázquez never knows what he may be doing from one week to the next. He generally works on eight or ten projects at a time, supporting DuPont plants in the U.S. and abroad. Much of his time is spent measuring properties like velocity, vibration, pressure and temperature. "When a machine shuts down it can be very costly to the company," he says.
Vázquez grew up in Venezuela and earned his 1990 BSME and 1993 MSME at Universidad Simón Bolívar (Caracas, Venezuela). He came to the U.S. in 1992 to work on an MS in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Virginia and went on to a 1999 PhD in 1999.
While working on his PhD Vázquez was a research assistant and then laboratory engineer at the rotating machinery and controls (ROMAC) lab in U VA's department of mechanical, aerospace and nuclear engineering. Many of the labs' engineering computer programs are recognized as industry standards in rotor dynamics and fluid film bearings.
After graduation, Vázquez stayed at the University of Virginia, working as a research scientist at ROMAC. He developed several computer programs and co-authored conference and journal papers about his research.
In 2001 Vázquez left U VA to join DuPont, which was a member of the ROMAC consortium at the time. He started as a consulting engineer and was soon promoted to senior consulting engineer and then consultant.
Vázquez says he must remind himself to speak English slowly because of his accent. But his bilingual skills come in handy when communicating with engineers at DuPont plants in Spain and Mexico.
Liliana Cerullo: ecology engineering at Intel
As a product ecology engineer, ME Liliana Cerullo is helping ensure that Intel Corp (Chandler, AZ) complies with environmental health and safety regulations around the world. "We strive to design our products for a sustainable environment while providing a safe and healthful workplace for our employees, contractors and communities," she says.
Cerullo and her associates work closely with Intel's legal department and production groups to implement standards that comply with worldwide directives. For example, a European Union directive restricting hazardous substances bans the sale of electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium and more. Manufacturers must find new materials and develop new engineering processes. "If our products don't comply, we can't ship them," Cerullo says.
Cerullo grew up in Colombia and earned her 1999 BSME at Los Andes University (Bogotá, Colombia). She moved to the U.S. to pursue an MS program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, but left to join Kulite Semiconductor Products (Leonia, NJ) as a manufacturing engineer.
In 2001 she was promoted to product support manager. She supervised incoming inspection, testing and failure analysis of customer-rejected products. While working full time, she completed a 2003 MSEE with an emphasis on microelectronic devices at Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ).
Cerullo was a reliability engineer when she left Kulite for an ME job at Intel in 2004. "My husband and I wanted to relocate to the Southwest," she explains. She was ready for a change when her current position opened up last year. "I've always been interested in the environmental side of engineering and I like that my job directly impacts Intel's business," she says.
Cerullo has found organizations like SHPE, SWE and Intel's internal Latino network supportive in helping her integrate as a professional. She appreciates the opportunities the groups offer to make young women and Hispanics aware of careers in engineering.
Leonardo Quintero directs engineering at Dell
Leonardo Quintero, a member of the product development group at Dell Inc (Austin, TX), recently became director of engineering, responsible for consumer engineering teams in the desktop line of business. It's up to him to see that products are developed with the appropriate engineering rigor and quality. Last year his group launched the XPS 210 and 410 consumer desktop PCs.
Quintero is also in charge of the failure analysis and component engineering organizations that support all product groups, including servers, notebooks, desktops and storage. Many components are used on multiple products, he explains, so it makes sense to have centralized groups with common standards and processes. "Our goal is to wind up with high-quality products across the board," he says.
Quintero earned his 1985 BSME and 1997 MBA with an international business concentration at the University of Miami (Miami, FL). After he finished his BSME he started at Martin Marietta Aerospace (now Lockheed Martin, Orlando, FL), working on weapons systems for the military as a precision mechanical design engineer. He liked the opportunity to "focus on a narrow area and develop deeper product engineering and analysis skills."
In 1987 he joined United Technologies Optical Systems (West Palm Beach, FL) as a mechanical design engineer, working on lasers and electro-optics for the defense industry. By 1992 he had moved into electronics at Motorola's paging division (Boynton Beach, FL) as a lead ME. He earned an MBA while he was there, and when he left he was an engineering program manager leading cross-functional teams.
His product development skills were a good match for Dell, and he was brought in as a manager in 1998. "My role was similar, but I was developing laptops instead of pagers," he recalls. After three years he was promoted to second-line manager, and in 2003 he moved into the precision workstation area as senior manager responsible for platform engineering development teams. "It's great to see the products my team designed being used in everyday life," he says.
Quintero hasn't used his Spanish at Dell so far, but it was helpful when walking Motorola's pager factory line in Puerto Rico. He's also done some technical translating for co-workers. He is convinced that bilingual MEs have a competitive advantage.
Alstom's Larry Garcia manages the industrial turbine fleet
Larry Garcia is manager of the industrial steam turbine fleet at Alstom Power (Richmond, VA). Alstom is a leader in transportation and power generation with HQ in Paris, France. The company designs and services products and systems to meet world energy and transportation needs.
Garcia is on the service side of the power business. He provides tech support to industrial steam turbine operators in the U.S. and the Caribbean region. His team of four customer service managers helps customers with strategic maintenance and quick problem resolution. "When a machine is down it can cost a company hundreds of thousands in revenue every day," he says.
A Navy ROTC scholarship helped Garcia finance his 1986 BSME at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA). After fulfilling his active-duty obligation he joined Virginia Power Co in 1990. He worked at North Anna Nuclear Power Station (Mineral, VA) as a systems engineer, optimizing system reliability and efficiency.
In 1993 Garcia moved on to Asea Brown Boveri (now Alstom Power) as a turbine field advisor. "I wanted to travel and work more closely with the customer," he says. After three months training on turbine generators in Switzerland, Garcia traveled around the country servicing turbine equipment, and spent a year on the job in Puerto Rico.
In 1996 he became part of a strategic team developing business design options for consideration by senior management. "It was my first experience with the business side," he says.
Next Garcia became an alliance engineer, responsible for all turbine, generator and auxiliary technical issues for a customer in Chicago, IL. "I relocated to Chicago and served as resident expert for two years," he explains.
The contract ended in 1999 and Garcia returned to an engineering job in Richmond, then on to customer service manager for the utility fleet. When he was promoted again in 2003 he went back to school for his MBA, which he completed in 2005 at Averett University (Richmond, VA).
Garcia was born in the U.S. of parents who grew up in Mexico. As the first of four kids, he served as interpreter for his mom until she learned English. "I'm a little rusty today, but my Spanish was very beneficial the year I worked in Puerto Rico and when I was in Europe," he notes.
Luis III Bonilla-Avilés provides systems support at Georgia Power
Luis III Bonilla-Avilés is an engineer at Georgia Power Co (Atlanta, GA), one of four operating subsidiaries of the Southern Co. At the company's Bowen power plant in Cartersville, GA, he supports systems that employ environmental control. "I work with a team of engineers that keep our equipment working properly so electricity production is at full capacity at all times," he says.
He's responsible for maintenance strategy and budget for all ash-handling, condensate and selective catalytic reduction systems. He works with vendors to determine cost-effective solutions and coordinates implementation to minimize disruption. "We have to be proactive in our approach," he says. "We're always looking to the future, and safety is a high priority."
Bonilla-Avilés earned his 2005 BSME at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez while serving in the Puerto Rico Air National Guard and working as a supervisor in the food industry. "My military and supervisory roles helped me learn the value of building relationships," he believes.
An interest in power generation and membership in IEEE's power engineering group led him to Georgia Power after graduation.
Living 1,500 miles away from home, Bonilla-Avilés misses his family. But he's part of an ever-increasing population of Puerto Rican engineers at Georgia Power, including his EE girlfriend. "We all get together on weekends," he says.
He also belongs to Amigos, Georgia Power's Hispanic/Latino affinity group. He's chair of the group's recruiting committee, linking new grads from his old school with the company. Amigos also pairs up new employees with mentors, and has an outreach program that works with other local groups to provide support to the Hispanic community.
Bonilla-Avilés finds continual use for his Spanish on the job. Hispanics make up a good part of the workforces of Georgia Power's maintenance contractors, and he spends time with them to be sure they understand what needs to be done and are observing the safety rules.
Maria Barajas: manufacturing tech engineer at 3M
Maria Barajas works in the optical systems division of 3M (St. Paul, MN) as a manufacturing technology engineer. 3M makes many thousands of products, including Post-its and the extensive Scotch lines.
The relatively new optical systems division addresses the graphics and film business, offering high-precision polymer optical assemblies and systems. "When I was offered a job I chose the optical systems division because I like new products," Barajas says.
She works with manufacturing and quality engineers, optimizing processes to bring the new products to market. Her group focuses on brightness-enhancing optical films for cell phones, iPods and personal storage devices. "Our films make your viewing screen brighter," she explains.
This is Barajas' first job since receiving her BSME from the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign last year, but she's an old hand at 3M. While in college she was a summer intern in 3M's minority engineering student program, exploring opportunities in the lab, manufacturing and design.
In high school she took part in Lead, a summer program sponsored by corporations and business schools. "When we toured a Ford plant, I got to speak with the ME recruiter. I thought I would like an ME job because it would be more challenging," she says.
Throughout college Barajas was active in SHPE. As president in her junior year, she tripled the group's membership. "We did a lot of mentoring, helping students get internships, write resumes and make connections," she says.
She's still offering that kind of help, now as part of 3M's Latino resource group. The organization offers tutoring at local schools and encourages Latino students to go on to college.
Barajas is fluent in Spanish, but hasn't been called on to use that skill at work yet. "I'm taking a course in Japanese because we work with a lot of companies in Japan," she says.
David Castro: production manager at Owens Corning
David Castro's official title is complex leader, but he functions as production manager for the cultured stone division at Owens Corning's Chester, SC division. The plant makes composite stone veneers used as facades on houses and commercial buildings. "Our products are one-quarter of the weight of full-thickness stone and they cost much less," he says.
With his two supervisors, Castro is responsible for the safety of more than seventy-five employees on the floor. He's also accountable for product quality and efficient operation and production at the plant. "My biggest challenge is keeping our workers safe, focused and engaged in the middle of constant change to accommodate consumer trends," he says.
Castro graduated first in his class at the Mexicali, Mexico campus of Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, where he earned his 1991 BSME. His first job was project engineer for an ITT General Controls division in Mexico. "The QC manager told my professor he wanted a bilingual engineer," he says.
In 1992 he was recruited by Mexican-based Vitro to work at a new glass container division they were building in Mexicali. In 1994 he moved to Vitro's Dallas, TX plant as technical service engineer, and in 1998 he returned to the Mexicali division as QC supervisor.
Later he joined Driessen Aircraft Interior Systems (Mexicali, Mexico) as production manager. "They were moving production lines from two locations in California to Mexico and liked my production-line startup experience," he says.
In 2001 Owens Corning recruited Castro to help speed up processes and introduce safety measures at the company's Napa, CA plant. "They wanted a bilingual engineer who could communicate with the primarily Hispanic workforce," he says.
He started as a process engineer and was promoted to QC leader in 2002. He became complex leader at the Napa plant in 2004 and moved with his family to the Chester plant in 2006.
Castro has used his bilingual skills on every job, communicating with other engineers and inspectors at ITT, and with U.S. customers at Vitro and Driessen. He's most proud of his success at getting a team of ten Spanish-speaking QC inspectors at the Napa plant certified by the American Society of Testing Materials. He taught them basic computer skills and coordinated the testing by Spanish-speaking officials.
"These people are now more valuable and desirable as employees," he says.
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