Pioneers Who Helped Shape Industry's Growth
The 20th century has correctly been called the American Century by historians, politicians and business leaders. But within America, it is as fair to say this has been a Hispanic Century, as the fastest-rising minority in a nation of diverse ethnicities continues to bulk ever larger in the destiny of the nation.
From a beginning in which relations with Spanish-speaking countries were marked by conflict and underpinned by the presence of U.S. military forces, the 20th became a century of broad demographic, economic, and political shifts, some mostly unnoticed, which greatly changed the situation of Latinos in American society.
Today, Latino culture, especially in music, has burst into public consciousness. Latino politicians, while not yet at the forefront, are pushing at the doorways to the corridors of power. Latino businesses are exploding, so much so that the U.S. Small Business Administration has set aside special funds to assist them. And the Latino thrust into Corporate America, especially into the industrial enterprise, has produced a new wave of top achievers whose energy, creativity, and drive have produced benefits for society, as a whole as its chief exponents pass new personal milestones of access and authority.
First, to the Schoolroom
The basis of such progress, necessarily, is solid educational grounding. Hispanic Engineer and Information Technology, a magazine which reaches students enrolled in technology programs across the country, has considered reportage of educational opportunities for Hispanics, and the political and economic influences which govern educational access, a major focus. We acknowledge that without opening even more doors to Hispanic youth, the steady march of progress over the last several decades of the 20th century would be cut short.
This magazine also chronicles success stories, however. We know that urging Hispanic youth to excel without showcasing the role models who demonstrate with their own lives and accomplishments the possibilities for tomorrow's career climbers would be an exercise in futility. For America's so-called mainstream media too often ignore the role of Hispanic scientists and engineers, computer scientists and executives in developing and maintaining the excellence in technology that is a hallmark of American industry.
Early Recognition
Thus, over the years, Hispanic Engineer and IT often has been the first national publication to bring to public attention the high achievers in science and technology coming out of the Hispanic community. The Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards, which just celebrated their 10th year anniversary, were founded by Career Communications Group, publisher of Hispanic Engineer and IT and its sister publication, US Black Engineer and IT (USBE and IT), to help build an even bigger showcase. The Women of Color Technology Awards, Career Fair and Trade Show, which completed its fourth annual appearance in Atlanta, Ga., last fall, is yet another event designed to showcase people of color at the forefront of the competition to design, build, and market the best products for a world economic scene full of sharp newcomers, unleashed by the end of the Cold War.
Time to Look Back
It is fitting, then, at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of a new millennium, to reexamine the milestones most recently passed. The coverage of Hispanic Engineer and IT regularly led the competition in revealing the critical achievements of Hispanic engineers, scientists, and management professionals at times when no other media were even paying attention. We begin with a collection of forerunners who opened doors to other Hispanics, even as they still struggled to climb their own personal ladders of achievement.
1984
Corporate Profile:
Edson D. de Castro
Chief Executive Officer,
President, and a founder of
Data General Corporation in Westboro, Mass.
By Tyrone Taborn and Grady Wells
With special thanks to Fred George, Ed Russell, and Mike Klatzman
These days, Edson D. de Castro does not roll up his sleeves anymore to work on the design engineering problems he was trained to solve. As president and chief executive officer of Data General, he spends most of his time now figuring out how to take his company even further down the road to success in high technology. That's not to say he doesn't think about designing anymore. Rather, he designs on a much larger scale, taking an adolescent company with its all-too-common problems of rapid growth, and creating a mature corporation able to grow consistently and with control. These problems involve approaches similar to engineering problems in many ways, and Ed de Castro is first and foremost a highly trained engineer.
When he was at Digital Equipment in the mid-1960s, Ed de Castro was leader of the design team which developed the famous PDP-8 minicomputer. He left DEC in 1968 to confound Data General. In the years since, Data General has grown to a $1 billion company known for innovation and what The Boston Globe has called its "brash renegade" image. De Castro's holdings in the company now total more than $29 million, and his presidency has propelled Data General to a leadership position in the computer industry. In 1982, the company had 11 percent of all minicomputer sales nationwide. And today, analysts predict 20 percent growth for Data General through 1990, to $3 billion yearly revenues.
On the day we interviewed Ed de Castro in his modest office at Data General, he'd just returned from New York City where the company had announced its newest product. "Data General/One," a portable personal computer. This IBM-PC compatible has a full-size LCD screen, 512 K memory, and two 3.5 inch disk drives, all in a ten pound package. While the system was in development it was codenamed "Book One" among company personnel, and even after its announcement to the press, this code name was used by all the people we spoke to. We had the opportunity to sit down with a Book One (though not to take one away for an extended test drive), and without doubt, Book One is the future of personal computers.
1987
Organization Profile:
The National Science Foundation
By Mark Paikoff
Dr. Morris S. Ojalvo's new job has had him traveling quite a bit lately. Hispanic Engineer caught up with him in his room at the Piermont Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. As Program Director in the Industry University Cooperative Research Centers Program of the NSF., Dr. Ojalvo was in Atlanta to check out a materials handling center at Georgia Tech. Before that, it was biological cell regulation at the University of Texas at San Antonio, iron and steel research at Carnegie-Mellon in Pittsburgh, and a management studies program at Lehigh.
Ojalvo explains, "The NSF plays the broker. Universities want to set up research centers, and industry wants to fund the research. The NSF gets them together, and makes a small grant to the university also. Most of the money goes to the universities, but we try to get industry involved in the cooperative aspect of research. The Foundation sets up these centers, then keeps track of them and helps in the technology transfer.
"The industrial advisory board advises the director of the center which projects should be done, and how much money each one needs. It is up to the center director to make sure that this research is done. It's just basic research in an industrial development and it's open to the public through reports and papers."
This program also works with research initiated at minority institutions and works closely with ACCESS. "We try to get undergraduates interested in research through the researchers we support," says Ojalvo. "We ask the researcher to look for minority students that can be brought into their project's budget as assistants. This brings the undergraduates into the fold of learning about research, and hopefully they'll pursue it as graduate students as well."
This current job began in June 1987, but during Ojalvo's extensive career with the Foundation he worked as a director in five other programs. "I began in engineering energetics. We looked at high temperature systems, heat transfer, combustion, and energy conversion." Then he worked with special engineering programming. "We just covered all the little odds and ends in the engineering division....
The Ojalvo family history goes back to the Catalan region of Spain between Barcelona and the French border. "My family left Spain for Turkey, but kept the Spanish name," says Ojalvo. "My parents came to the U.S. and got married, and I was born in New York City in 1923."
Ojalvo earned a degree from the Cooper Union Engineering College in 1944 and then spent two years in the Navy. "Then I started my graduate work at Penn State University and finally got my master's degree in 1949 from the University of Delaware. I met my wife there too," he says.
A brilliant teaching career led Ojalvo from Delaware to the University of Maryland, to The University of Illinois at Chicago, and eventually George Washington University.
In between, The Ojalvo family grew by three, and Morris Ojalvo became Dr. Morris Ojalvo. "When I started my doctorate work at Purdue I had a wife and two children. When I finished in 1961, I had a wife and three children. I was 38 years old."
Ojalvo was first brought to the NSF by an old colleague. "While I was teaching at GWU in 1962, one of my colleagues from the University of Maryland asked me to join him for the summer to do some consulting. Then, in 1965 a sabbatical didn't work out, and when the NSF found out I was available they asked me to join," he says. Other than a brief stint in Mexico, he's been there ever since.
1988
Corporate Profile:
Jorge Diaz,
Vice President,
Space Transportation Systems Division,
Rockwell International
By Carmela Mellado
In every pioneering effort, there are key positions that must be occupied by people who have the expertise and ability to lead, as well as the courage to accept responsibility for making decisions. In the pioneering manned space flight program, Jorge Diaz has risen to the challenge of several such positions and today is the vice president, engineering for Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey, Calif....
Diaz has earned the reputation of being a thorough professional, capable of dedicating himself to solving the most difficult problems that engineers have faced in their quest to conquer space. He has been a part of Rockwell's history of significant contribution to the advancement of space technology, including such milestones as the creation and manufacture of the Navaho and Apollo command spacecraft, as well as the Space Shuttle Orbiter vehicle. Diaz is recognized as one of the key people responsible for resolving the problems with the thermal protection system of the Space Shuttle.
Born and educated in Mexico, Diaz earned his degree in chemical engineering from Mexico City University, where he also earned a degree in metallurgy. He came to the United States with his wife Alma and young family to enroll in a master's program at the University of Southern California and to improve his English skills. At the same time, he began working at a consulting laboratory. Diaz explained that he found it tough to work, study, and spend time with his wife and young family. He never completed the master's program, although he did attend school for about five years. After saying that, Diaz laughed at himself, and dismissed his explanation with the comment, "You know, those are just excuses."
With more time on his hands, Diaz did study for and received his American citizenship. He also had more time to invest in his work at the laboratory. He developed expertise in the investigation of technical failures embroiled in litigation. Diaz remembers that within six months of receiving his American citizenship, he received a letter from North American Aviation, now Rockwell International. Although he had applied to several other companies, this one had not been on his list. After an interview, North American offered him a position running a section of its engineering laboratory....
It wasn't long before Diaz was called upon to enlist all his skills toward finding answers for major technical disasters. One was the 1967 fire aboard Apollo 13 during a pre-flight simulated launch, which took the lives of three astronauts following an explosion in the spacecraft's oxygen system. Diaz was named project manager for all the testing representing the engineering development laboratories.
Diaz explained that although these kinds of assignments can be very stressful for even the most seasoned professional, there are ways to cope with that stress. As head of an engineering organization currently numbering 3,500 engineers, Diaz deals with varying degrees of stress daily.
"You can imagine the amount of problems, and complaints, and stressful situations, both technical and administrative, we run into," he chuckled as he shook his head knowingly. "We have technical differences with our customers, who are also very qualified people. Engineers are very stubborn and when they believe in something, they often take the attitude, 'My way is the right way!' So, we can get into some impasses which we somehow always manage to resolve. Either we agree to disagree and it officially goes on record, or we come to an agreement by convincing each other," he explained.
1989
Professional Profile:
Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff
of the Harvard Medical School
By Elisse Wright
Elisse Wright is the assistant dean for student affairs, School of Public Affairs, at the University of Maryland.
Lydia Villa-Komaroff, an associate professor in the Department of Neurology at the Harvard Medical School, smiles when she tells the story of the day the chairman of the biology department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ran down the hall to inform her that he had discovered to his delight that she was, in addition to being a woman, an ethnic minority.
In a field where there are few women and even fewer Mexican- Americans, Villa-Komaroff claims she's never felt isolated by her unique status. Perhaps when your fellow researchers have last names like Efstratiadis, Cancedda, Kafatos, Tanzi, and Lomedico, being an ethnic minority doesn't seem so unusual.
Nonetheless, Dr. Villa-Komaroff does believe her gender and ethnicity may have subtly affected her climb within an "extremely competitive field." She says, "Women and minorities have more trouble in research because they come to it with a different mindset. Unfortunately, in this field, the white male's single-minded dedication to work to the detriment of home and family is useful. I've never been able to concentrate on the experimental problem to the exclusion of people in the lab, my husband, or my students." But Villa-Komaroff believes that the mindset within the profession will change in response to the influx of more women and minorities with this more well-rounded outlook.
Her work with the Association for Women in Science and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) may bring about that change much sooner through programs which encourage girls and minorities to explore careers in science. Villa-Komaroff particularly enjoys a program sponsored by MIT in which she and other women scientists visit area high schools. She explains, "The students know that three scientists are coming to speak, but they are always surprised to see that all three are women."
Villa-Komaroff also participates in the efforts of the Boston Museum of Science which holds annual "Camp In's," which bring teenagers to the museum overnight to learn and to explore the displays and exhibits.
As a founding member of SACNAS, Villa-Komaroff has been involved in the group's 17-year effort to bring its nearly 300 Chicano and Native American membership to the attention of Chicano and Native American high school and college students in order to be role models and provide assistance and encouragement. The annual conference, held in a Southwestern city, is the high point of the group's activities, and an energizer for Villa-Komaroff....
Villa-Komaroff believes her love of science was nurtured by her mother, who had dreamed of becoming a botanist before childhood health problems prevented her from pursuing that dream. Villa-Komaroff experienced the excitement of scientific experimentation when she attended a National Science Foundation Summer Training Program at Texas College just before her senior year in high school. She remembers that it was her first introduction to "real experimentation," explaining that regular high school labs had been more like following cookbooks. "The National Science Foundation Summer program allowed me to do more sophisticated experimentation. It was the first time I felt I was able to really explore a problem. It was great!" she says.
1989
Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards
Hispanic Engineer of the Year
Larry P. Morata
Deputy General Manager and
Vice President
Space Station Division
McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company
Huntington Beach, Calif.
America is about to take another giant technological leap into the future as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) gears up to build Space Station Freedom. After 30 years of planning and learning from other projects like Apollo/Saturn, Space Shuttle, and Skylab, Space Station Freedom is just a few years away from entering its orbit 200 miles above Earth. And because the United States has entered into partnership with Canada, Japan, and the 13 nations of the European Space Agency (ESA) to build Freedom, the program also represents a giant leap in international cooperation.
But what does it represent to the people who actually work on the project? To Larry P. Morata, the 1990 Hispanic Engineer of the Year, it means getting the chance to put his 29 years of experience in the space industry to the biggest challenge of his career. Morata is vice president and deputy general manager for Design, Development, Test and Evaluation for Space Station Division at McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company, one of four prime contractors who successfully competed for a position on this prestigious technical team. His mission is to direct and manage the Space Station Freedom hardware and software development program for Work Package 2.
As explained by NASA, the massive project has been divided into three levels of management, each with its own support contractors. Level III consists of four work packages, each assigned to a different NASA center and supported by one of the following prime contractors: Boeing Co., McDonnell Douglas, General Electric Corp., and Rockwell International. Each contractor is responsible for the detailed design, manufacturing, integration and test, plus engineering and technical services for its respective work package.
McDonnell Douglas is the prime contractor to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, which is responsible for Work Package 2. Major subcontractors to McDonnell Douglas include General Electric, Honeywell, IBM, and Lockheed. Together they will manufacture the space station's integrated truss assembly, the propulsion assembly, the mobile transporter system, the outfitting of the resource node structures provided by Work Package 1, the external thermal control system, the attachment systems for the space shuttle and experiment packages, the guidance, navigation, and control system, the communications and tracking system, the data management system, and the airlocks. What is it going to take to get the job like this done? Well, first of all, a lot of good people. In this year alone, Morata estimates that his division has hired about 600 new people to fill positions in engineering, human resources, business, quality, and manufacturing, bringing the total work force to 2,000 people. About 1,400 of these people work out of the Huntington Beach, Calif. facility and about 600 are based in Houston.
Add to that number another 2,000 people who work for the major subcontractors and the figure rises to about 4,000....
When Morata came aboard at McDonnell Douglas (then the Douglas Aircraft Company) it was 1960 and he was 26 years old. NASA had just been created two years earlier. Morata had just finished working his way through the University of Oklahoma where he earned a degree in electrical engineering while working full time to support his wife and infant daughter. Soon, both his career and the industry would be on a fast track. Within three years, he joined the ranks of first line managers as a section chief. "They took a big chance on me," Morata remembers today in his spacious office on the eighth floor of the Huntington Beach facility, adding, "Maybe I've been luckier than most, but I've always enjoyed coming to work. I don't have a problem getting up in the morning and getting to work by 6:30 a.m. We put in some long hours, but hey, they go by real fast!"
1989
Profiles in Leadership:
Raul Alvarado
Helping Dreams of Opportunity Come True
By Carmela Mellado
No discussion of the national minority engineering effort would be complete without acknowledging the leadership of Raul Alvarado, Jr. As chairman of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Foundation and a former SHPE national president, Alvarado has become one of the most respected and nationally recognized activists working to increase the number of Hispanics in engineering and science careers. It's an accomplishment he's proud of, one he's earned during fifteen years of volunteer service, and one he works at daily to maintain.
What motivates someone to dedicate so much of his life to a particular cause? For Alvarado, there have been many reasons, but perhaps the most important are those he includes in his personal definition of success: "I think success is being able to do what you want in a profession that you enjoy; being financially comfortable (I never really think about becoming a millionaire, although I'd like to be a thousandaire!); being respected by your peers; being highly thought of in your community; being social; and being able to pick up the phone to call someone with influence who could help someone else," he explains.
According to this definition, Alvarado appears to be enjoying a period of great professional and personal gratification. First and foremost, he recently realized his long-held dream of working in the space program when he joined McDonnell Douglas as a senior engineering scientist in its Space Station Division. Alvarado is assigned to work on the Data Management System (DMS), an onboard computer system that includes all the hardware and software necessary for data processing and local communications among the onboard elements, systems, and payloads. The DMS also provides an interface between humans and machines for the operation and control of the space station, Freedom.
Aside from the professional rewards, his association with this exciting space project complements his student outreach efforts through SHPE. "It's so easy to communicate the importance of education, mathematics, and science to students when you can talk about a project like the space station, and you're actually a part of it. When I pull out my card, and they read, 'Senior Engineering Scientist, Space Station Division,' their whole fantasy world suddenly becomes a reality. I can share with them that I have attended a launch of the space shuttle, that I personally know an astronaut, and that now I'm working on this new project. They really get excited," Alvarado explains....
Serving as chairman of the SHPE Foundation, Alvarado has become a highly visible role model within the national engineering and Hispanic communities. The SHPE Foundation is the primary funding source for the highly acclaimed Advancing Careers in Engineering (ACE) program, and is also the source for several annual scholarship awards made to engineering students nationwide....
Like many of the students he meets today, Alvarado found his own way to a college education and eventually into the engineering profession. As a student attending Central Union High School in El Centro, California, Alvarado recalls the best way to reach the All American Dream seemed to be through athletics. "My whole world revolved around sports and school activities," he says.
Although he did well in his courses, there never seemed to be any encouragement or guidance from counselors until the end of his senior year when one of them told him too late, "I didn't realize you were doing so well. I could have gotten you a scholarship."....
Like many of his Hispanic peers, Alvarado never dreamed he would rise to national prominence within the Hispanic community. He laughs when he remembers, "I had to learn about my culture. Throughout high school I was one of those Hispanics who grew up without any strong ties to my cultural heritage." The more Alvarado learned about his Mexican American culture, the more he valued it and vowed to make his own contribution to his people, especially in the area of negative stereotyping. His involvement with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers represented the first major step in that direction.
In 1974 Alvarado was invited to attend a meeting of the fledgling SHPE organization. He had just transferred into the personnel department at Rockwell hoping to redefine his career goals. "The term 'Hispanic' had just become popular and I wanted to join forces with a professional organization that had the greatest potential for success," Alvarado explains. At that time, SHPE membership was comprised primarily of Los Angeles city and county employees. Alvarado was one of the first corporate members of the society.
It wasn't long before Alvarado was given the opportunity to sharpen his leadership skills. He served three consecutive terms as president of the society, (the only person ever elected to three terms), and instituted many procedures and traditions that are still observed today. He initiated the presentation of the Junipero Serra Award, presented to a non-engineering major who has contributed significantly to the engineering effort, and the Jaime Oaxaca Award, presented by the society to a SHPE regular member for unselfish contributions to engineering and science in the Hispanic community.
Raul Alvarado Jr. won the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award Winner for Community Service in 1991.
1990
Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards
Chairman's Award
Albert V. Baez, Ph.D.
Physicist
By Marie Bradby
As a research physicist, Dr. Albert V. Baez dedicated years to studying and unlocking the mysteries behind the power of science. As the director of the Division of Science Teaching for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for six years, he worked to spread the power of science education in four continents. Today, Baez is president of the board of directors of Vivamos Mejor/USA, an independent organization that grew out of the Swiss foundation Vivamos Mejor. It is dedicated to promoting self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-help through science-based education and community projects.
Baez explains that his mission is based on "a faith in education as the basic ingredient of ultimate peace and in the important role that the spirit of science must play in infusing the whole of education."
To those who argue that scientific advancements are greatly responsible for many problems which face the world today, Baez has written, "I am disturbed by the worldwide problems of population, pollution, poverty, and peace, all of which have felt the impact of science and technology, but I am convinced that we will need more, not less, science and technology to save them. I am concerned, therefore, that science be better understood not only by the future scientists and engineers but by laymen as well."
Baez was born in Puebla, Mexico in 1912. He emigrated from Mexico with his family to the United States while still a young child. The family ultimately settled in Brooklyn, N.Y., where his father, an ordained Protestant minister, was asked to organize a small but growing Spanish-speaking congregation.
Baez attended Drew Wagner College in Madison, N.J., where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He taught physics at the small college for four years while continuing his studies in mathematics at Columbia University. He received an offer to move west to teach physics courses at Stanford University. While teaching at Stanford, he also became a graduate student in physics and earned his doctorate. During this time he studied under physics professor Paul Kirkpatrick, pioneer of the x-ray microscope. Kirkpatrick invited Baez to join him in his research work in the field of x-rays and in the development of the x-ray microscope. The impressive body of work produced by the two physicists is recognized as a critical forerunner to many of the technical advances made in the field to this date.
It was through the American Physical Science Study Committee (PSCC) that Baez first became interested in developing the educational component of technology. Representing Stanford University, he attended a conference chaired by J.R. Zacharias of MIT on the subject of producing instructional films in physics. The whole subject of instruction and curriculum reform captured his imagination. He left Stanford for MIT to begin a two-year career with PSCC in curriculum reform and innovation.
Next, Baez was invited by UNESCO to come to Paris to establish the new division of science teaching that he would head for six years. Under his leadership, teaching projects in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and biology were implemented in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Arab States....
His daughter, Joan, is the celebrated songwriter, folk singer, and internationally known peace activist. He resides in Northern California's Carmel Valley.
1991
Antonio J. Otero
Director of Manufacturing Engineering and Quality
General Motors Corporation
Bravo Antonio!
Hispanic Engineer of the Year Antonio Otero applies his quest for total quality at Buick City.
By Michael F. Kastre
Being the best doesn't just happen. It requires consistently going all the way. "I have always put everything I had into the job," says Otero. "I never gave half a loaf, even in school."
This approach has paid off. For over 25 years, he has successfully climbed the auto giant's corporate ladder. Otero is currently a key member of the Buick City Assembly Center management team, where he is credited with helping the plant achieve worldwide recognition as a leader in quality.
As the United States fights to stay atop the increasingly competitive world technology ladder, the Cuban-born native represents the future. His role in an 11-member design team led to the transformation of manufacturing plants more than a half-century old into a modern assembly center on par with any in the world.
His engineering expertise and knowledge of production environments have enabled him to radically alter manufacturing concepts by applying new cost-efficient computer controls, robotics, just-in-time material management systems, and new employee relations to promote teamwork.
His group is organized to evaluate customer satisfaction and respond to customer requirements. This provides the focus for production, material management and engineering operations. His organization supports more than 5,000 workers, who are committed to resolving engineering issues.
According to Otero, "Our customer initiatives include a focus on their problems, quick response to engineering issues, warranty feedback, and responsiveness to marketing division concerns.
By crossing functional boundaries and assuming direct responsibility for eliminating quality problems, Buick City is doing what would have seemed unthinkable five years ago. The results have set new standards for American made automobiles. An initial independent quality survey ranked the Buick LeSabre, produced at Buick City, as the most trouble-free car built in the United States for 1989 and 1990 model years. Repairs alone dropped a staggering 6 percent in the 1990 model, compared to 1986 figures.
Otero has been instrumental in this process. Long before it was an accepted way to operate, he was promoting the concept of production being responsible for controlling quality. "No matter what the product, producing quality is one of our biggest technological challenges if we are to compete successfully," he says. "But quality is built in -- it comes from solid engineering."
1995
Mario Molina's Long Road to Acclaim
The First Latino Nobel Prize Winner for Chemistry
By David L. Chandler
Ozone hole discovery led to a gauntlet of criticism.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Twenty-one years ago, when Mexican-born chemist Mario J. Molina first suggested that a crucial layer of the Earth's atmosphere could be weakened by chemicals created and unleashed by humans, many scientists scoffed at his conclusions and criticized his work, calling it unduly alarmist.
Nobody's criticizing him now.
Not only did this important prediction turn out to be correct, but the risk was even greater than Dr. Molina and his colleague F. Sherwood Rowland had estimated. In October 1995, the Royal Swedish Academy vindicated those years of hard work by announcing that Dr. Molina, Rowland and Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen would share the Nobel Prize in chemistry for 1995 for their pioneering work in discovering the now almost universally recognized danger of ozone destruction.
In their declaration, the Academy referred to the disbelief that had greeted the ground-breaking discoveries: "Many were critical of Molina's and Rowland's assertions," the citation noted. "Today we know that they were right in all essentials."
'Achilles Heel'
Their work, the Academy said, revealed a vulnerability this planet faces from what it described as "the Achilles heel of the universe."
Colleagues at MIT greeted the announcement with exceptionally warm praise. Molina, they pointed out, is not just a highly regarded scientist, but also a man who takes very seriously his responsibilities to society, one who also is respected and admired for his personal qualities of warmth and honesty. He is well known at MIT, they said, for being considerate to everyone he encounters.
That point was underscored just a week later, when newspapers ran stories noting that Molina had been willing to spend time helping a schoolgirl from Maine who happened to call him for advice on her eighth-grade science project....
Early Fascination
On the day the Nobel award was announced, Dr. Molina recalled his own early years: "From the very beginning, as a high-school student, I remember I was fascinated by science." But that continuing that interest "was not particularly easy, because the culture in Latin America is not one that praises science, particularly at that age. So I really had to struggle to keep my friends, and keep at the same time my interest."
Now that he has an established position in the scientific community, he said, "I certainly try to encourage minority students to continue" in science. "We have too few scientists coming from, for example, Hispanic backgrounds, and it's clearly something that needs to be improved."
He explains to students that they must be very patient, but that "in the end, it pays off." And then he added, basking in the glory of the world's most prestigious science award, "It can be very fun, very rewarding -- as is the occasion today!"....
'Nice Guys Finish First'
Among the many who rushed to praise Dr. Molina on winning the Nobel Prize, MIT President Charles Vest perhaps summed up his colleagues' joy at the award being given to such a respected and well-liked member of the academic community: "This award emphasizes that the most fundamental scientific inquiry can turn out to have extremely important ramifications for our world." And, he added, "It also shows that sometimes, nice guys finish first."
2000
Soaring Ever Higher in Her Career
Linda Garcia Cubero
Director of Hardware and Telecommunications Procurement,
Global Purchasing
Electronics Data Systems
When we introduced Linda Garcia Cubero to this magazine's readers in 1991, she was only four years into her civilian career, working as a senior systems engineer at General Electric Aerospace and moving swiftly up the ranks. This was impressive movement, and for a Hispanic woman carrying the weight of being a doubly stereotyped "double minority," even more so.
But, by that time, achieving career success in tough circumstances had become old hat for Cubero: first Hispanic woman to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy, or any U.S. service academy, in 1976; recipient of a Joint Service Commendation Medal for her work with the Pentagon's intelligence task force assigned to the Falkland Island conflict, beginning in 1982; proud and effective mentor to Hispanic Air Force cadets and volunteer worker in the greater Hispanic community; winner of the 1991 Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Pioneer Award for her efforts.
Later, Hispanic Engineer caught her on its cover, in 1994, soaring "up, up and away" as manager of Group Development, Mergers and Acquisitions for Martin Marietta's Information Group. You'll find her again in Hispanic Engineer and IT, and in its sister publication, USBE and IT, receiving a Women of Color Technology Award, in 1998.
Today, Cubero continues her flight above the "glass ceiling," as director of Hardware and Telecommunications Procurement for the Global Purchasing support unit of EDS, responsible for managing about $3 billion in annual hardware and software spending. From early 1998 until she took her current job in April 1999, she was director of software purchasing at EDS, directing more than $500 million annually in spending and managing 60 software and technology professionals in four departments.
Cubero's concern for humanity remains evident, in her frequent contributions to workshops and programs to enhance technology education among Hispanics and other minorities.
Corporate High-flyers
1990
Space Bound
Ellen Ochoa
Not Even the Sky's the Limit
By Marie E. Ferrey
Ever since she was a little girl, Ellen Ochoa was taught to do her best and shoot for the stars. Today, at 32 years of age, Ochoa has paved her way to the stars — as NASA's first Hispanic female astronaut.
Ochoa, a branch chief of the Intelligence Systems Technology Branch at NASA Ames Research Center, was selected to be an astronaut candidate in January 1990. After almost five years of waiting for an acceptance letter from NASA, Ochoa's dream came true....
Persistence is what has gotten Ochoa as far as the stars. Ochoa admits math has always been fairly easy for her, "but that doesn't mean I didn't have to study hard," she adds. "I couldn't have done that well if I hadn't been conscientious and tried to understand and dedicate extra time to do so."....
Math was not the only subject Ochoa mastered. Throughout her entire academic career, her grade point average never dropped below a 4.0. However, it was her fascination with math that made Ochoa decide to major in physics.
Since she excelled in every subject in high school, Ochoa had a very hard time choosing a major. A talented flutist, she first decided to major in music, then changed to business administration, followed by a stint in journalism and afterwards computer science. But none of these fields captivated her like physics.
"It took me about a year to make my decision," said Ochoa in an interview last year when she was awarded the 1989 Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award for Most Promising Engineer in Government. "It did take me five years because I didn't declare the major until the second year. But it was worth it to me. I had time to think about what I wanted to do."
Ochoa graduated from San Diego State in 1980 as valedictorian of her class and received a bachelor's degree in physics (optics). But, it wasn't until graduate school that Ochoa decided she wanted to be an astronaut.
1993
Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards
Outstanding Technical Achievement
Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz
Senior Mission Specialist Astronaut
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
JSC/Houston, Texas
The world first met him as the first Hispanic American astronaut when he flew on board the space shuttle Columbia, STS 61-C, in 1986. But his contributions to science and space exploration extend far beyond that high-profile role. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz is a dedicated research scientist making notable breakthroughs in rocket propulsion methods.
For the past 12 years, Dr. Chang-Diaz has been developing a new concept in rocket propulsion called the Hybrid Plume Plasma Rocket on which two U.S. patents have been issued. Commenting on the significance of this research, Daniel S. Goldin, administrator for NASA, says, "This nuclear electric derivative promises to have significant implications to future manned and unmanned missions to the planet Mars and beyond. Dr. Chang-Diaz' research has also made significant advances in other related fields such as plasma heating by rocket fusion radiation, plasma vectoring and exhaust in magnetic nozzles, and the general field of manned interplanetary spacecraft design and engineering."
Chang-Diaz was born in San Jose, Costa Rica, where his mother still lives. He emigrated to the United States and graduated from high school in Hartford, Connecticut. He earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut and entered graduate school at MIT, where he earned his doctorate in applied plasma physics and fusion technology. Since 1983 he has been a visiting scientist at the MIT Plasma Fusion Center, where he has continued his research on advanced plasma rockets....
As a leader in the scientific community, Chang-Diaz is sincerely concerned about the comparatively small percentage of Hispanics working in technical and scientific professions. Testifying before the Congressional Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities in September 1987, Chang-Diaz said in part, "The promise of the American dream is for me a reality today and I have nothing but praise and admiration for this great Nation.... Nevertheless, throughout my years in the United States, I have become painfully aware that the Hispanic American population greatly lags in their participation in the Nation's professional work force.
1994
Behind The Wheel
As one of Ford Motor Company's emerging leaders, Susan Pacheco is driving the new Aerostar into unexplored territory.
By Travis E. Mitchell
Things are changing at Ford Motor Company. Chairman Alex Trotman recently pulled 1,800 of his managers to Florida to discuss his vision -- the re-engineering of Ford. With a new attitude, Ford's newly named automotive division, Ford Automotive Operation, is pursuing new ideas, strategies and approaches. This inevitably will mean greater opportunity for those at Ford who see the company's destination and possess the vehicle to get them there.
As vehicle line director for Ford's new Aerostar minivan, Susan Pacheco not only has the vehicle -- she is the driver.
"This is a whole new ball game for Ford," says Susan. "But I can't begin to tell you how much energy exists about this change. For me to be part of that as a vehicle line director is a chance for me to grow with the company and enjoy the progress."....
In this new era of "Re-engineering," cries for teamwork are frequently heard in the corridors of America's largest corporations. Yet many professionals don't understand the true meaning of the word.
Susan Pacheco does.
Although she is responsible for the entire business operations for the Aerostar, including strategy definition, business viability, engineering, design and launch, the former soccer standout at Michigan State University learned during her athletic days that it takes a whole team to win.
"I enjoy being a team player," she says. "I chose to play soccer because it's a team sport. I didn't like swimming because in swimming you compete as an individual. At Ford, every member of the team will be part of the effort to make the Ford Motor Company number one in the world, period -- the bottom line."
1995
Hispanic Engineer of the Year
Juan Sandoval
Deputy Director, Engineering
F-22 Program
Lockheed Martin
Tactical A/C Systems
World-Class Challenges, World-Class Engineer
An electrical engineer since 1956, Juan Sandoval has had the kind of career most engineers only dream about. His leadership of the programs that developed many fighter aircraft, including five of the F-111 series, the F-16, and now the F-22, has earned him a place in the highest echelons of his industry.
By Carmela C. Mellado
Many men credit the military with changing the course of their lives. But few can claim to have changed the course of military warfare. Juan Sandoval can make that claim.
Over the course of 39 years as an electrical engineer developing state-of-the-art aircraft systems avionics, Sandoval played a key role in the systems development and integration and ground and flight tests of airplanes like the B-58, B-57G, five of the F-111 series, and the F-16. Today, as most of his generation settles into retirement, Sandoval, deputy director of F-22 engineering at Lockheed Martin Tactical A/C System, is gearing up to build the Air Force's newest air-to-air combat aircraft.
It wasn't until he joined the Navy that Sandoval even discovered his aptitude for electronics or recognized his aptitude for learning. Although as a young student, he had always demonstrated a certain facility for mathematics, he never seriously applied himself to his studies, confessing to this interviewer, "I was too busy doing other things." Fortunately, one of those other things was building and flying model airplanes.
After high-school graduation in Laredo, Texas, young Sandoval took a good-paying government agency job where he enjoyed early promotions and frequent pay raises. But he soon grew restless, and against his family's advice, left the comforts of job security to join the Navy and discover the world. It wouldn't be the first time he would take a risk to broaden his experience.
Having identified his aptitude for electronics, the Navy trained Sandoval to maintain and repair radar, radio, and navigation equipment on board its destroyers. Sandoval's first academic recognition came when he graduated Class Honor Man. Later, he would take advantage of the long 90-day tours at sea to study for the fleet-wide promotional exams. His hard work paid off, earning him the rank of first class petty officer in the record time of three years and three months.
Active duty during the Korean War brought life into focus for Sandoval. He decided on a career as an electrical engineer, knowing full well that he had none of the educational prerequisites needed to admit him to his first choice university, the University of Texas at Austin.
Sandoval quickly found lucrative employment as an electrician immediately following his discharge from the Navy, but he still held to his ambition to enroll in college. Hoping the GI Bill would be extended to Korean War veterans, he nevertheless determined to find the means to enroll, no matter what. When extension of the bill was announced, Sandoval once again left the security of a good job, against the advice of family and friends who, this time, suggested that age 22 was a little too old to start college. Undaunted, he enrolled at Laredo Junior College.
Lacking classes in calculus, analytical geometry, and physics, Sandoval started from square one. In retrospect, he observes, "It's amazing to me how much I changed by the time I finished at Laredo College. You can do anything when you have the drive."
After one year of intensive studies and straight A grades, Sandoval was ready to apply to the University of Texas, Austin. He was sure he wouldn't pass the tough entrance exam the first time around, but he took it anyway and was accepted on probationary status for the first two semesters. By 1956 he was an electrical engineer.
1996
Hispanic Engineer of the Year
Dr. Richard Tapia
Professor of Computational Mathematics
Rice University
Equal to Any Challenge
By Carmela C. Mellado
Richard Tapia figured it out a long time ago: To achieve your best, get in over your head and rise to the top. And the world-class mathematician has applied this formula throughout his life. It has brought this passionate and caring Rice University professor of computational mathematics the kind of professional and personal achievements most people only dream about.
Dr. Michael M. Carroll, dean of Rice's George R. Brown School of Engineering, considers his friend and colleague "first and foremost, a truly dedicated and outstanding teacher." In 1991, Dr. Tapia received Rice's George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching, an award made by Rice alumni to faculty members who most influenced their lives. A professor and former chairman of Rice's Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics, Tapia is credited with playing a key role in the department's success in graduating more women and minorities with doctorates than any other mathematics program in the nation.
Genuine Concern
His genuine concern for the declining state of mathematics and science programs in grades K-12 led him to create the Mathematics and Computational Sciences Awareness Workshop for K-12 teachers, counselors and principals. The four-day workshop helps teachers motivate and counsel students toward math-based educational and career opportunities.
Described by colleagues as a fearless advocate and passionate activist, Tapia is convinced that creating this kind of awareness among students at these early stages of education is critical to our nation's ability to maintain its world-class status.
"Certainly, I do feel that an important part of our job right now is to convince the youth that there are options," he says. "You don't have to just say, 'I'm going to be a lawyer, or an athlete, or an entertainer.' "
1997
SHPE REPORT
President's Message
By Melissa Villegas Drake
Melissa Villegas Drake was national president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers from 1995–1997.
As we get to the end of the SHPE year, I look back at what SHPE has accomplished. We have done much to get to where we are today. We have improved our financial and administrative processes. We have improved services to our professional members by providing job-seeking opportunities and leadership training. We have also recruited new sponsors to SHPE and have improved our technological resources.
We have created partnerships with the Center for the Advancement of Hispanics in Science and Engineering Education, Mexican American Engineers and Scientists and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. We also have had successful benchmarking and communication with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and the National Society of Black Engineers.
Our networking with the U.S. Congress and federal agencies has improved as well. Being able to express our views on affirmative action, technology in the classroom and other social technical issues has been a step in the right direction for SHPE.
SHPE was able to motivate members to do well in the organization. We have outstanding committee chairs who are very active. They have taken the initiative to get the job done, in particular with the planning and execution of the National Technical and Career Conference '97. Board members also took the lead to get things accomplished. The SHPE student members have been great in planning and carrying out their programs. The membership and number of student chapters continues to grow. Professional chapters also are being created each year.
It gives me great satisfaction that we were able to accomplish so much. One of the greatest challenges of my life has been running the organization. It is like running a business. I have had the responsibility of being accountable to SHPE members, sponsors and staff. I thank the staff who did a great job to assist me with my job. Being an engineer with some project-management experience made the job of president an interesting experience. I really needed some finance and business management skills to assist me. I learned quickly as I went along what I could do to get resources and advice from experts.
I have developed great friendships among the board and committee members that will last a lifetime. We work together as a family, being there for each other when we need help, always doing the right thing for the organization, not for ourselves.
I encourage people who have not joined SHPE to become members of the organization and invite those who have been inactive SHPE members to help us accomplish the goals we have planned for the future. We have a great plan and the implementation part is the next step to being a greater organization.
1997
Hispanic Engineer of the Year
Ernesto J. Rodriguez
Vice President, Switching Systems
Product Realization Center
Lucent Technologies
Switching on the World
By Carmela C. Mellado
When Ernesto Rodriguez joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1967, he knew he was initiating a career at a world-class company to develop state-of-the-art technology for the dynamic telecommunications industry. What he didn't know was that he also was initiating a professional track record that would in many ways set the standard for world-class corporate leadership in the global economy.
Today, as vice president, Switching Systems, Product Realization Center, for Lucent Technologies, Ernie Rodriguez, 50, leads an organization of nearly 11,000 employees with an annual budget of approximately $1.5 billion dollars. He has functional accountability for research and development, manufacturing, and customer support for Lucent's Global Switching business worldwide.
Rodriguez began his career at Bell Laboratories with an assignment in systems engineering, working on computer access planning for picture phone service. By the early 1980s, he had been promoted to department head, leading the development of the AT&T X.25 packet switching network, the forerunner of the high-speed technologies provided today. Then the young R&D executive led the development of the System 75 PBX, now part of the world-class DEFINITY product line.
TELEFONICA I+D
In 1987, after several more successful projects and promotions, Rodriguez took a leave of absence from Bell Laboratories to take a major step into the international arena. He accepted an offer from Telefonica de España to create a world-class research and development center to support the technical needs of Spain's telecommunications industry.
Creating Telefonica I+D (Telefonica Investigacion y Desarrollo), a new subsidiary of Telefonica, took two and a half years. Rodriguez's charter included everything from erecting a new building to house the new company, to creating all the elements essential to a technical organization, like administrative practices, organizational structures, training, and libraries. The project was further complicated by the need to establish and nurture critical links with key Spanish business leaders. By the end of the assignment, the first CEO of Telefonica I+D had built a legacy that will impact the Spanish and European technical communities for many years to come.
But to his Spanish colleagues, who hold their American colleague in great esteem, the essence of Rodriguez's legacy was a leadership style that introduced a whole new corporate culture. Antonio Golderos Sanchez of Telefonica described this culture as one of expressing thanks for a job well done, one of esteem, one of personal relationships, and one of achieving excellence in every position and in every activity. Implementing these higher standards in the work environment, according to Golderos Sanchez, continues to produce a higher standard of technology.
1997
High-Flying, Deep Diving and Hog Riding
David Cabello
At Compaq, he's cool and corporate; after work, look out!
Meet David Cabello, Compaq Computer Corporation's new senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, reporting to President and Chief Executive Officer Eckhardt Pfeiffer. As might be expected, he is what corporate types call a high-flier.
His company is the world's fifth largest computer maker and the largest global supplier of personal computers. Compaq, the leader in distributed enterprise solutions, has shipped more than one million servers and offers Internet solutions, networking products, commercial and consumer PC products. In 1995, Compaq had worldwide sales of $14.8 billion.
But "high-flying" applies to more than Cabello's career, despite his great achievements. Cabello is a real flier -- as in airplane pilot -- when he isn't scuba diving, or tooling around the countryside on his motorcycle. George Jetson, watch out.
Cabello, a Texas A&M engineer, has made some unusual career moves. For a start, he's a registered professional engineer in two state, a hurdle electronic types usually eschew. He may have gotten there because of his background in construction. Out of engineering school, Cabello worked for Brown & Root engineering contractors, then moved to the California-based Jenkins Engineering group, a petrochemicals firm. Then he got the bright idea to be a lawyer and worked his way through South Texas Law School.
He came to Compaq after doing some of its legal work for an outside firm. As a senior corporate counsel, he helped orchestrate the deals that keep Compaq Computer Corporation on the front burner in the fast-moving world of desktop computers; and that was bound to attract attention.
If that wasn't enough, getting on his Harley-Davidson Fat Boy and cruising around with the Houston HOG riders attracts even more. HOG (Harley Owners Group) riders make big noise when they saddle up. Cabello, a soft-spoken, orderly guy, wouldn't seem to fit the mold.
But there's something about riding a Hog ... Blame it on his father, who gave Cabello a scooter as a teenager.
TAKING OFF, WITH GUSTO
Cabello, assistant general counsel, business group, from 1995 until his recent promotion, was responsible for managing and directing legal services for the Houston-based computer company's product development teams, its manufacturing, procurement, sales and marketing organizations.
Maybe that wasn't enough high-flying. In his time off, he shares ownership of a twin-engine Beech Barron private plane, and he has a multi-engine pilot's license, with instrument-landing rating. Jetson, are you paying attention? He's been piloting planes since 1974. He had a friend, see, who got him interested....
Some of Cabello's flights are for charity. Joining other General Aviation pilots, he flies the Air Lifeline, under which private pilots use their planes to fly critically ill patients to Houston's famed medical centers for cancer treatment.
Finally there's the scuba diving. Cabello does most of his underwater swimming in local U.S. waters, but he dreams of seeing the Great Barrier Reef. Never mind George Jetson; this guy would give Tom Cruise a run for his money....
1998
Hispanic Engineer of the Year
Enrique J. Sosa, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President
Amoco Corporation
Chicago, Illinois
A Passion for Petrochemicals
By Carmela Mellado
Looking for a vigorous industry with a promising future in the 21st century? Enrique J. Sosa, executive vice president, Amoco Corporation, suggests you take a good look at petrochemicals. As head of Amoco's chemical sector, Sosa oversees world-wide chemical and marketing operations, which in 1997 reported product revenues of more than $5 billion. A respected business leader, Sosa holds directorships on the boards of EDS, the Chemical Manufacturers Association and American Plastics Council.
With his finger on the pulse of the international petrochemical industry, Sosa promotes its vitality.
In an address at the 1998 International Petrochemical Conference hosted by the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association in San Antonio, Texas, last April, Sosa described the industry as "Strong, adaptable, innovative, and growing. Its products are key to the quality of life." But, he cautioned, "This is not an industry for the faint of heart!"
Indeed, the very magnitude of this arena is formidable. In 1996, the chemical industry represented about $1.6 trillion in sales worldwide, $800 billion of it from synthetic organic chemicals, and $400 billion worth of that from basic petrochemicals and derivatives. It is a highly competitive international market driven by a tremendous pace of change in key areas.
As Sosa explained, the role of petrochemicals in oil companies has changed from one of supporting growth to leading growth. In the last 15 years, "Share of revenue accounted for by chemicals increased steadily, almost tripling from 4 percent to 11 percent for a group of 20 international oil companies. In Amoco's case, chemicals have increased their share of revenue from 5 percent in the early '80s to 16 percent in 1996," he told colleagues.
Equally impressive is the dramatic increase in share of operating profits. In 1995, chemicals accounted for 43 percent of Amoco's operating profits. Sosa reminded colleagues that in such an increasingly competitive arena, the one thing that will propel performers to the top and keep them there is technology.
"It is still the most formidable cost advantage there is. In all areas, oil companies continue to push the envelope in both product and process development."
An executive with great experience and great expectations, Sosa was new to the petrochemical industry when he joined Amoco in 1995. But he had spent the previous 30 years at the Dow Chemical Company, where he had risen to president of Dow North America, Asia/Pacific, and Latin America, the second largest chemical company in the United States in 1994, with sales totaling $20 billion....
Other career highlights include a return to the United States to work in Dow's U.S. plastics business, where he became national director of marketing, and a relocation to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where in two years he would become president of Dow Brazil, one of six area managers reporting directly to Dow's CEO.
From 1985 to 1990, several key promotions accelerated Sosa's progress up the corporate ladder.
He was elected a corporate vice president, a member of the Dow Board of Directors, and a senior staff member as director of the Corporate Product Department, with world-wide responsibility for ensuring uniform standards of quality, productivity, and efficiency.
In the last four years at Dow, Sosa was elected a senior vice president and was named president of Dow North America. Very soon after, he took on additional responsibility for Asia/Pacific and Latin America.
1999
Professionals on the Move
Joining Tony the Tiger atop the Cereal Business
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- Kellogg Company's chairman and chief executive officer, Arnold G. Langbo, has announced that Kellogg's board has elected Carlos M. Gutierrez chief executive officer of the company. Gutierrez also was elected a director and retains the title of president and chief operating officer.
Chairman Langbo said, "The enactment of our transition at this time reflects the board's confidence that Carlos Gutierrez is well prepared to lead Kellogg Company in our commitment to delivering superior shareholder value. As the new chief executive officer, we believe Mr. Gutierrez is well positioned to execute the company's growth strategy amidst very challenging marketplace dynamics." Langbo will remain board chairman until the company's annual meeting of stockholders scheduled for April 28, 2000.
Gutierrez, born in Havana, Cuba, in 1953, joined Kellogg in 1975 as a sales representative in Mexico. He has held executive leadership positions in North America, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific. Before becoming president and chief operating officer in June of 1998, he served nearly two years as executive vice president-business development.
On his election, Gutierrez said, "As we begin 1999 and move toward the year 2000, my most immediate attention is to restore both top-line and bottom-line growth to our company. I am convinced that the key to growth for our company and the category is investment -- in product innovation, in franchise -- building marketing, and in the accelerator expansion of our convenience-food business.
"I am honored and excited by the opportunity and challenge the board is giving me to lead this great business enterprise into the next century."
Modern Masters of the Craft
1987
Researcher Profile:
Dr. George Castro,
Research Scientist with IBM,
San Jose
By Carmela Mellado
For 11 years, research scientist Dr. George Castro was the Manager of the Physical Sciences Function of the IBM San Jose Research Laboratory in San Jose, California. A distinguished member and leader of the scientific community, Dr. Castro has led research into photoconductors. IBM corporate leaders have described the research he did in the field of organic photoconductors as a graduate student during the 1960s as "a classic contribution on an important prototype" and his work overall as having "promoted forefront basic research on a broad front of physics and chemistry." During this time, Dr. Castro also played a key role in the pioneering work which developed the concept of photochemical spectral hole-burning as a possible means of increasing storage capacity of memory devices by several orders of magnitude, utilizing laser interactions with a special class of organic materials. Today, he is the Manager of Synchrotron Studies....
As a student at Hollenbeck Junior High School in East Los Angeles, California, young George Castro never expected to do anything different from what the majority of other Mexican American students were doing. But one algebra class changed the course of his life. By enrolling in that class, he moved into a college-bound academic track and out of the occupational training track in which all of his Chicano friends were enrolled.
At a time when a student's educational opportunities and accomplishments seemed to be predetermined by the prevailing ethnic stereotypes, even Castro wondered what he was doing among this group of predominantly Japanese-American and Jewish students. Feeling out of place and out of his league, he almost quit. But some encouraging words from a counselor, one of the few Chicano counselors or teachers he ever came across, assured him that he was indeed in his league. It wasn't long before he could see it for himself and earned the grades to prove it.
Castro graduated from Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles and enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a chemistry major. He was the first in his family to attend a university. Finding life as an undergraduate rather uninspiring. Castro was earning only average grades when a counselor from the University of California, Irvine, suggested that with a little improvement in his grades, he could become a graduate student in the university's new doctoral program. Castro earned those grades and moved into a whole new academic environment, one that he found not only challenging, but inspiring. He said, "Graduate school is completely different from undergraduate school. Most college students won't know how terrific academic life really can be unless they go to graduate school."
1987
Profiles in Leadership:
Mitch Maidique
By Carmela Mellado
He's been a professor at Harvard, at Stanford, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He's been the president of two substantial high technology companies. He's been the partner-in-charge of the southern region for a major venture capital firm. And yet, after one year in his position as president of Florida International University (FIU), Modesto "Mitch" Maidique says without reservation. "By some measure, this is by far the richest, most exciting, and most stimulating job I've ever had!"
At 46, Maidique became the first Cuban-born president of a four-year university in the United States and only the fourth president of this urban state university located near Miami. FIU has 17,000 students and over 800 faculty members. It currently offers 100 undergraduate programs, 50 master's programs, and 12 doctoral programs. Last May, FIU graduated 3529 students, more than half the college graduates in all of Dade County.
What could entice a professional with Maidique's vast experience and background to take on the enormous challenges that come with heading a major university? Maidique said it was the students themselves who attracted him to FIU. "I'm most enthusiastic about the students. If you're going to give up a career which gives you half the work for 'n' times the compensation, then you've got to have something unique, and the unique thing about this opportunity is the students. You see, young people don't know what can't be done. When you talk to them, they can tell you about dreams and ideas they've had that you might never had had yourself unless you talk to one of them. It is so exciting to be around young and very gifted people."
President Maidique also believes that Hispanic students at FIU, which equal about 42 percent of the enrollment, represent "The most qualified large group of Hispanic students in the nation." He bases that assessment on the fact that to enter FIU they must have a 3.0 GPA and a minimum score of 1000 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Students in FIU's 1987 fall incoming class had an average GPA of 3.4 and an average SAT score of 1060.
FIU's president sees further evidence of this excellence among Hispanic students in the School of Engineering. "Often in engineering schools which require higher SAT's and are more selective, the percentage of Hispanic students drops off. In our school, the reverse happens. The percentage of Hispanic students increases in the school of engineering, where they represent 51 percent of our undergraduates and 45 percent of our graduate students," Maidique explains.
1989
Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards
Professional Achievement
Daniel Rey
Associate Manager, Systems Engineering Laboratory
Assistant Program Manager, Heavy Forces Modernization
Hughes Aircraft Company
Electro-Optical and Data Base Systems Group
Daniel Rey, 47, of Hughes Aircraft Company is extremely pleased to be one of the first Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award Winners for Professional Achievement. "I was unaware of the magnitude of the award until recently," he says. "In general, there are a lot of good Hispanic engineers that are deserving.
"I was able to look through the nomination packet. It is nice to know that I'm held in high esteem by Hughes Aircraft Company," Rey says. In that packet, Nathan L. Simmons, Vice President and Manager of Hughes' Tactical Land Systems Division Electro-Optical and Data Systems Group, writes, "Throughout his career, Mr. Rey has epitomized the essence of the unequaled engineering professional. It is rare to discover an individual who combines proven technical excellence with the ability to effectively manage a complex and multi-tiered organization."....
Rey is currently working as technical director of a new proposal program called Heavy Forces Modernization. "It's a new initiative within the army to modernize armored forces. We're going after conceptualizing and developing electro-optical fire control sensors for the next generation of armored vehicles," he says, explaining, "They're essentially thermal imaging devices for tanks that will allow commanders and their gunner/drivers to use the tank in nighttime conditions with minimum battlefield obscurances."
He has also directed the design and development of two Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV) systems and was responsible for the company funded CITV Head Start program and proposal efforts. It was a six-year proposal effort that ended earlier this year....
Rey, married father of two daughters and one son, holds a bachelor of science
and master of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. He received his master's degree in 1969 as part of the Hughes Masters Fellowship Program. He specializes in the field of electro-optical systems, including infrared and laser technologies and their application to airborne and land vehicle platforms.
1990
Hector Ruiz
A Fighter in the Chip Wars
By Marie E. Ferrey
In high school, Hector Ruiz' dream was to own an automobile repair shop. With encouragement, hard work, and some luck, he took his technical interest all the way to a doctorate in electrical engineering. Today Ruiz is a senior vice president at Motorola, working on semiconductor manufacturing technology. One of his projects, a joint venture with IBM, is synchrotron X-ray lithography, which will use intense beams of X-rays as a light source to make semiconductors.
In college, Hector Ruiz studied with a Spanish-English dictionary in one hand and an engineering book in the other. He spoke very little English but was determined to excel academically, one way or another. Today, Ruiz is a senior vice president at Motorola, where his perseverance is a way of life. Ruiz, 44, a native of Mexico, came to the United States in the early 1960s to learn English while in high school. He attended high school in Eagle Pass, Texas during his junior and senior year, not knowing a word of English. Despite his poor language ability, Ruiz managed to qualify for a one-year scholarship to study engineering at the University of Texas.
"I wasn't 100 percent sure if I wanted to go into engineering," Ruiz says. "But I was inclined toward engineering because I've always been fascinated by how things work."....
Ruiz' parents, Gregorio and Maria, really wanted him to go to college, so they offered him a deal. They told him that if he went to college for one year and still disliked engineering, he could quit school and open his auto shop. So Ruiz took them up on the deal.
Once in college, Ruiz found he was not fighting the battle alone. When he failed his first English term paper, his teacher got him a tutor. If he needed support, he got it from his Hispanic peers and professors. "Quite a few people helped me get through college," he says. "But I still had to work extremely hard."....
Upon completing his freshman year in college, Ruiz decided to continue his studies in engineering. He realized owning his auto repair shop had been just a fantasy. And besides, engineering fascinated him.
He chose electrical engineering as his major, without really knowing what it meant. Ruiz thought electrical engineering had something to do with radio and television. Since his father repaired radios and televisions for a living, he thought majoring in electrical engineering would enable him to help his father. "Although electrical engineering has nothing to do with radios or TVs, it turned out to be a good decision." Ruiz says.
His professional record shows it was definitely the right decision. After getting his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1969, Ruiz earned a doctorate from Rice University in Houston in 1972....
One of his interviews turned into a job as a research scientist at Texas Instruments in Dallas. Ruiz held numerous positions between 1972 and 1977 in the research laboratories and manufacturing operations at Texas Instruments. His career at Motorola started in 1978, as an operations manager for manufacturing complimentary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS) and n-channel metal oxide semiconductors (NMOS), at a division located in East Kilbride, Scotland. In 1980, he returned to the United States and spent two years at the Mesa integrated circuit facility as operations manager of the high performance metal oxide semiconductor (HMOS) front-end unit....
Ruiz left Motorola in 1986 to join Thompson Components, MOS Technology Corp., as senior vice president for I.C. products. He chose to join Thompson Components because it was a small company that offered him the chance to own part of the firm. To his disappointment, the company failed ten months after he joined. So, after his stint with Thompson Components, he reapplied at Motorola and was rehired.
1992
Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards
Professional Achievement in Industry
Jose Monita
Truck Marketing Product Plans Manager
Ford Motor Company
Like the cars he has helped to shape, innovation combined with technical excellence have enabled Jose Monita to reach new heights in America's auto capital. Since joining Ford in 1966, he has moved easily between engineering and management roles while ascending the corporate ladder and becoming a profile in excellence.
But the road to Detroit wasn't always easy or smooth. Monita first developed an interest in engineering as an eighth grade student in San Antonio when one of his teachers suggested that he consider it based on his performance. This led him to attend school across town, which meant he had to commute by bus an hour each way.
His determination was again tested when it came time to go college. "I couldn't afford to go out of the city, so I had to locate a school in San Antonio where I could pursue an engineering program -- that was St. Mary's University," he says. "This allowed me to go to school during the day, work part-time, and live at home."
After gaining his hard-earned bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, he joined Ford in Detroit. Instead of stopping there, though, he set out to get his master's degree. "At that time, I was working 10- and 12-hour days, coming in early in the morning to work and then going to school at night," he recalls.
His efforts paid off and he earned his MBA from the University of Detroit....
On the technical side, Monita has also been a prolific achiever. From his start as a product equipment designer he went on to become a plant engineer designer in 1969 and then a product design engineer in August of that same year. This would mark his steady climb through the ranks. By 1986 he was the Lincoln Mark VIII business planning manager where he made significant contributions to bring together new technology to meet the demands of the luxury car market.
In addition to his technical prowess, his management style has also had a dramatic impact on the company's planning process. He was responsible for the development of a timing chart that now coordinates every planning aspect of new car development. This total program work plan is now a standard used in the planning of all Ford vehicles.
1992
The Real Tom Cruz
By Carmela Mellado
Mention his name and heads turn. The inevitable question that follows is always, "You mean the real Tom Cruise?" Embarrassing as this can be for him from time to time, the real Tom Cruz deals with it good-naturedly. Actually, Cruz and the celebrated actor, with whom he shares his name phonetically, do have one more thing in common: They both play leading roles in their respective fields.
For Cruz, there couldn't be a more exciting time to be in the telecommunications industry and especially to be a part of a premier company like AT&T, where he is the technical business operations director for Switching Systems, a business unit of AT&T Network Systems. Cruz supports all human resource activities in the business unit, including career development, performance, compensation management, EO/AA/Diversity, quality planning, and strategic layout.
"I think telecommunications is one of the most exiting businesses today," he says, "in terms of where we are in the technology and where that technology is going. The potential growth and markets for information movement is absolutely phenomenal."
Cruz explains that as industry leaders began to search for new world markets, they initially looked to the emerging countries in Eastern Europe and the Pacific Rim. But recently, their attention has been drawn toward Central and Latin America where a virtual explosion of telecommunications opportunities is anticipated.
Accepting tough challenges is nothing new for either Cruz or AT&T, the company that in 1982 settled its celebrated antitrust suit by divesting itself of its local phone companies, which at the time accounted for 77 percent of its assets.
But as Cruz explains, the transition from being an industry monopoly to being a skilled competitor required some fundamental attitude changes at every level of the company. Not everyone succeeded in making those changes.
"At one time, there were 1 million AT&T employees. There was always a job, any place in the U.S. Becoming a competitor meant that if we were not successful in meeting our objectives, we might not have a job. We know our competitors are out there trying to eat our lunch. We're fighting every day to be successful," Cruz observes, adding candidly, "It's been a tough journey. I'll be honest with you, it was very scary and some people couldn't adjust to that kind of competitive, hard-driven, the customer-tells-us kind of environment."
No area of the company was exempt from change. In manufacturing, research, and development, where Cruz has spent the majority of his time, a new element had to be considered: the bottom line. "Before (divestiture), having the highest innovations and quality were always most important," he says. "Cost was not the driving factor is it today. Now, we still want the leading edge technology, with the highest quality, but we also want to be cost-competitive."
Today's AT&T employees are gearing up for the next challenge, worldwide competition. Their CEO believes that they will be better prepared to meet this challenge if everyone in the company adheres to a prescribed set of fundamental values, which include respect for individuals, dedication to customers, integrity, innovation, and team work.
Understandably, Cruz has confidence in these values because they coincide with those of his own Mexican American heritage. His father, who hailed from Laredo, Texas, moved with his family to Michigan where they had always found seasonal employment as farm workers. Eventually he met and married a local woman and they remained in Michigan where Cruz grew up.
When Cruz graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in industrial engineering/management, he was looking for the same kind of job security and career opportunities that his father had enjoyed. He accepted a position with Western Electric, a manufacturing arm of AT&T. "I wanted a big company, a company that was a big player in the game. That was 22 years ago," he says nostalgically, "just the other day."
1996
Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards
Technical Contribution, Industry
Veronica Czitrom
Member of Technical Staff
Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs Innovations
9333 South Young Parkway
Orlando, FL 32806
As a member of the Technical Staff in the Quality Assurance Organization at Lucent, Veronica Czitrom leads consulting and training efforts for the application of statistical data analysis methods, primarily in the area of design of experiments, for semiconductor process and equipment characterization and improvement. Throughout her career, Czitrom has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to extend statistical techniques to high-technology development and manufacture, and then teach others their use.
Prior to her current assignment, which she began in 1993, Czitrom was a senior statistician in the Statistical Methods Group at SEMATECH, a consortium of U.S. semiconductor manufacturers, where she worked as the company's representative in developing best-in-class applications of statistical techniques to semiconductor process engineering.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Czitrom holds a bachelor's degree in physics and master's in engineering from UC Berkeley and a doctorate in mathematics, area statistics from the University of Texas, Austin.
1996
Exceptional Women of Color
Laura Ann Rangel
Process Control Engineer
Amoco Chemical Company
Texas City, Texas
Laura Ann Rangel is a styrene products process control engineer at Amoco Chemical in the Gulf Coast community of Texas City, Texas. She began with refinery operations, joining Amoco Petroleum Products to work on fluidized catalytic petroleum cracking and cogeneration units in 1991, after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. She had won many awards and scholarships, including acknowledgment as Outstanding Student in the Austin area by the University YWCA. She received her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1991. Laura is an Amoco recruiter for the University of Texas at Austin, as well as Amoco liaison for minority engineering support programs, working with student chapters of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and Pi Sigma Pi Minority Academic Society. Laura is Texas Bay Area Chapter president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and serves on the internal Amoco SBPE Advisory Council and the Amoco Texas City Hispanic Network.
1996
Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards
President's Award
Daniel M. Mercado
Senior Member, Technical Staff
TRW
One Space Park, Mail Station: R5/2281
Redondo Beach, CA 90278
Daniel M. Mercado began his career as a high school mathematics teacher in Hemet, Calif. Prior to joining TRW in 1987, he was a member of the technical staff at Hughes Aircraft Co., where he participated in a wide variety of analytical and computational studies, primarily in a weapon systems-oriented environment.
During his tenure at TRW, Mercado's exemplary engineering skills have been a contributing factor to the success of various classified and top secret projects. His principal responsibilities have included developing software tools to monitor system margin, performing trade studies to assess effects of various error sources on calibration accuracy, developing algorithms and software to perform on-orbit spacecraft calibration, and executing a complex computer simulation to assess beam patterns, monopulse characteristics, and sensitivity to various possible on-orbit conditions....
A graduate of UC Riverside, Mercado holds a bachelor of science in physics and a master's in mathematics.
1997
Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards
Executive Excellence
Reinaldo B. Moré
Vice President & General Manager
Worldwide System Development Div., Motorola
Reinaldo Moré entered the communications industry 23 years ago with a kind of passion for learning and living that was destined to target him for leadership in the emerging global market. Through challenging assignments at Motorola locations throughout the world. Moré built a broad background in product and systems design and development, marketing, business management, high volume manufacturing and physical distribution.
Along the way, he grew to appreciate how cultural diversity can impact an organization's competitive edge positively in the international arena. His success in sales and service of radio products for 117 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa regions clearly demonstrated the multifaceted leadership capabilities of this outstanding engineer.
In his current position, which ranks him in the top three percent at Motorola, Moré coordinates the worldwide design and development resources which serve Private Systems customers with integrated turnkey systems solutions. He leads an organization of 1,600 engineers and computer systems people in the U.S., Europe and Asia who together develop wireless communication software and hardware products for Private Systems customers around the world....
A native of Cuba, Moré came to the United States as a refugee at the age of seven and lived for a short time with a foster family. His thirst for knowledge was nurtured at an early age by his family of distinguished lawyers, physicians and educators. He holds a bachelor's in electrical engineering from Tulane University, a master's in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University, and has received more than 1,000 hours of technical and management training at Motorola University.
1999
Microsoft's Man of the World
Orlando Ayala, senior vice president for the Americas and South Pacific Region at Microsoft Corporation, started with the company in 1991, as senior director of the Latin America Region, which he expanded from two to nine subsidiaries over four years. Earlier, he had spent 10 years with NCR Corporation, where he was responsible for the UNIX product line in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Ayala previously was Microsoft's vice president of the Intercontinental Region, responsible for growth and investment strategies in developing markets such as Africa, India, the Mediterranean and Middle East, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific. Under his leadership, the Intercontinental Region doubled its revenues from $500 million to more than $1 billion. He holds the B.Sc. degree in management information systems from the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano.
