On Thursday September 15, 2011 the STEM Scholars Program had its first Hispanic STEM Career Forum and the concentration was on engineering careers. We had two guest speakers.
Our first guest speaker was Monique de los Rios from Lima, Peru. Monique works for Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) as an arquitect. She started her presentation informing us that her father was an arquitect and that there are eight arquitects in her family including two of her nieces. Therefore, as she said “arquitecture runs in our blood.” Her passion toward arquitecture started when she observed that her dad enjoyed working on his projects on the drafting table. Monique said, “arquitecture demands a lot from you and your work is always criticized. Therefore you have to have the commitment towards arquitecture and have a thick skin towards the harsh criticism you might get.” However, creating something new that did not exist is so rewarding and your work gets recognized.
There are various academic pathways that can be taken to complete your profession in arquitecture. The general route is: begin with an associate in design, then go for a bachelor’s of Science in arquitecture and obtain your license to practice. The other pathways are: four years of education and then take an exam, or five years of education and an exam, or four years of a bachelor’s education and two years towards a master. Hoewever, there is a year of internship experience and an exam to complete.
Arquitecture is the center for many other careers in design, such as: interior design, acoustic design, urban design and many others. In today’s society esthetics are becoming important as it is the first thing the eye sees. Arquitecture is another profession that gets impact when the economy is not doing too well. A question was asked on how globalization affects the arquitecture career, to which Monique responded that there is a correlation and she commented that when she was, studying arquitecture all her books were in other languages. So there is a globalization relationship with arquitecture. However, the sky is the limit.
When Monique was asked about what skills are required for an arquitect she replied: good communication skills, computer savy, 3D visualization, calculating your structures (such as number of steel needed), arithmetic, and some physics. Communication is becoming a skill that is required in various careers, but specially in arquitecture as you have to sell your product to your client. The demand to be computer savy is important as technology advances so much. Now, arquitects can build the building as a real computer model and then build the actual structure.
Monique is very interested in solar energy and ecology. Therefore, Paolo Soleri, an Italian arquitect has been her role model and her inspiration. She concluded her presentation with a youtube video under the name of “urbanlabrat” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iRd41gvhaw), which shows Paolo Soleri’s project by the name of Arcosanti (a combination of arquitecture and ecology: http://www.arcosanti.org). His idea for his project is to create a city where everyone lives toghether and in peace. Paolo’s project is being constructed through the profits from the sales of his famous soleri bells.
Hilen Cruz was our second guest speaker and she is a Civil Engineer for SRP (Salt River Project). Her initial studies were completed in Mexico and then she came to the United States to complete her MBA (Masters in Business Administration). Hilen’s dad is also a Civil Engineer and it is her role model. It is through his teaching that she decided to pursue a Civil Engineering degree. When she came to Phoenix, Arizona she was working for a small company where she was doing work for SRP. After she was complete her work with the small firm, SRP offered her a job as an Electrical Engineer and she took it as she was familiarize with the responsibilities. She is now works as the Policy, Procedure & Standards for SRP. Her bilingual skills are beneficial for her, since it will provide her the opportunity to travel for business purposes. When asked for the important qualifications to possess she answered: determination, good habits, organization skills, and good communications skills. Education offers you the opportunity to grow. That is why she decided to come back to school and study real estate for her own benefit. Hilen is involved in a community organization within SRP called WIN (Women In Network) which conduct various community service events to help women. Hilen has also written a book by the name of “Ponte las Pilas, Mexico” (Put On the Batteries Mexico) , which “is an inspirational book that aims to motivate the Mexican community to pursue professional success thru higher education.” You can read more on her book through her website: http://www.pontelaspilasmexico.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment