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My path into electrical engineering was non-traditional; in high school I didn’t even have a 3.0 GPA, and I essentially just got good enough grades to play football. Being an engineer wasn’t in my thought process at all, but I did like to put in car audio systems for all my friends.

Find out what you like and what you are interested in. There are so many different pathways you can take, whether it be mechanical, aviation or electrical. Try to get exposure to a variety of technical fields and find your passion.

If you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life. Figure out what you’re interested in and are passionate about and keep trying new things like building a toy robot or fixing up an old car. Also, make sure you are a passionate, communicative and responsible employee.

I grew up in Argentina and, from elementary school through early high school, I loved art and science. In high school, the science classes were so dry and disconnected from my interests that they killed my love for science for a while. I stayed very engaged with the arts, so I started studying fine arts when I finished high school. After a few years, I started being curious about science again, so I signed up to take some physics courses at the University of Buenos Aires.

I always tell people that Legos were my bread and butter growing up and I don’t know where I would be without Legos. When I was really young, my passion for engineering started by playing with Lego bricks. After school, as far back as I can remember, I loved coming home and playing with my Legos. I remember when Lego came out with Mindstorm, which let you create your own robot with different sensors, it really sparked my interest in robotics and the power it can have.  

I am what is called an applied mathematician, which means I do math for a living. What I do is use all the tools I’ve learned, from tools I learned in elementary school all the way to more complex tools I learned in graduate school, to solve problems and answer questions that people have.

What I love most is the learning that’s involved with being a programmer. We get paid to solve problems that people haven’t encountered before, using solutions that we’ve seen in the past, putting together old pieces in new ways. 

I went to school through high school in Tijuana, Mexico, which is right across the border from San Diego. When I was in fourth grade, I wanted to be a writer because I really loved reading and making up stories. Later, I think it was that same creativity that drew me to computer science

The most important part of continuing to progress is being able to translate the work and skills from one job and apply it to the next, even if it is in a different vertical. Gaining certifications and degrees has helped propel my career forward and stand out to employers.

After I graduated, I was unemployed for nine months before I could find a full-time job. I thought I would be able to find one sooner. I graduated from UC Berkeley with a double major and an internship on Capitol Hill with [then-Speaker of the House] Nancy Pelosi and had this amazing resume, but as it turns out there’s much more to it.

But the real secret to how I got where I am today is that I always keep my eyes open for opportunities. I push myself to learn, grow and do things that make me feel uncomfortable. I am constantly looking at the angles and figuring out where things are going.

At the beginning of my career, I didn’t imagine ending up where I am today. My career isn’t “normal” in that it was not a traditional, linear pathway from points A to Z. The skills that I developed throughout my career path have led me to where I am today, without any formal training in energy management.

Don’t be afraid to blaze a new path. Look for the role or take on the job or the task that other people are not willing to do. Look for those jobs that maybe other people find hard because these are the jobs that will challenge you to grow and learn completely new things.

I consider the PM role similar to conducting a symphony as it requires the ability to deliver a customer project within certain parameters and guiding the team members, who each play a separate but equally important role, toward the collaborative implementation of a project.

Growing up, my mom was a school bus driver and my dad had a paving business and worked in construction. My dad used to take me on jobs with him on the weekends and I really enjoyed being a hands-on worker. In school, I was always really interested in math and science because I was curious about how things worked.

I love the everyday puzzles that my work presents; solving obstacles like how to cover this person with that bus driver over there, because that kid isn’t going, and making sure this kid arrives on time, and so on. The transportation department is solving puzzles all day long, and it makes me feel proud when we successfully do what we do every single day, even with the resource shortages that we have.

For high school students, I want to note that there are a lot of different ways to get into a job or industry and you don’t have to take the traditional path of a four-year degree or a master’s degree. Things are flexible and academics aren’t the only way forward.

For 25 years, I’ve worked in public affairs working for companies where I believe in their product. If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, there’s a good chance you’ll be miserable at work. I believe that your personal values must align, at least a little bit, to whatever it is that you’re participating in and working on.