Young Professionals Advisory Council: Diego Martinez
There are still days, more than 15 months in to Diego Alexander Martinez’s job at Rolls-Royce, when he has to take a moment.
To appreciate what is happening, what he’s part of.
Maybe it’s during a certain project he’s working on, and he pauses, allowing himself to soak in that he’s working on a project that is “really cool” and important.
Maybe it’s walking out of the office and realizing where he’s leaving: One of the world’s leading industrial technology companies.
Maybe it’s having a flashback of all the time spent watching documentaries with his dad, Diego, a fellow engineer, that sparked this career path and the recognition he’s made it.
Maybe it’s on a recent visit back to Purdue, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in May 2018, when he realizes how much the rigor mattered. Then, it provided a daily stress, a sometimes uncomfortable existence, but now, having the perspective of time and professional experience, he can see AAE and college life for what it was: An influential period that shaped the person who is now thriving in Rolls-Royce’s Engineering Graduate Development Program.
Martinez shared all those stories and much more on that recent visit, as part of AAE’s Young Professionals Advisory Council. In late August, he and four other AAE alumni spent two days meeting with faculty, students and advisors, among others, to gain a broader view of AAE and to offer feedback on curriculum, new programs and student growth.
“I was really happy with the experience overall,” Martinez said of being part of YPAC for the first time. “I think it was really nice to get the perspective from faculty because as a student you don’t really see that. You don’t really see where faculty is coming from, so you can get frustrated when things don’t go your way or things are the way they are. So being able to understand the constraints the faculty have (was helpful). I also really enjoyed sitting down with different professors who had different plans they wanted feedback on.
“The idea of being able to give back and to make Purdue and the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics even better, that was awesome. People wanting my feedback in that sense was pretty crazy to me, but I’m more than happy to do that and give that time.”
Martinez had plenty to offer faculty and students during his visit.
For one, he’s gained plenty of knowledge in a short period of time at Rolls-Royce, especially working in the rotation-based program. He’s already had three job titles, working as a design engineer in his first rotation, a test engineer in his second and currently as a digital capability specialist.
He’s worked in fans and compressors in a component-design-type role, using ANSYS Workbench and other design tools. He lived in California for six months during his second rotation, interacting with technicians and working hands-on with sensors, selection and placement of sensors, then doing data analysis. Now, he’s delving into computer science work like machine learning and model development.
He’s enjoyed how the program has given him freedom to basically mold his own career, picking all his rotations.
“I really, really enjoy it,” he said. “You have the flexibility to essentially work on whatever you think is the most interesting. So if you have thoughts on something that would be cool, you basically try it out for six months, then say, ‘Hey, I don’t think I like this,’ then try something different. A lot of companies when they hire for full-time employees out of college, they’re typically looking for a two-year commitment at least. So instead of spending two years to get yourself into a role, you’re only investing six months of time. And in that, you are getting exposed to all these different things and finding out what’s interesting and finding out what’s going to be on the cutting edge of the industry.
“I’ve been trying to strategically place myself on what I think are the most interesting projects and most important projects for the future of the company. Being exposed to that has been really great. It’s been great for skill development as well. I’m quite happy with the rotation program.”
And he’s been somewhat surprised of the clarity the program has brought: An intent to move more into the digital world.
Martinez didn’t have any experience in computer science prior to entering Rolls-Royce — he didn’t even know how to code beyond taking one class at Purdue — but he’s found it to be an especially interesting space and one that’s piqued his interests.
“I think coming out of college, a lot of people think they’re going to be doing the stuff they’re doing in college, an aerodynamics specialist or a stress specialist. Those roles definitely do exist. But I realize there’s so much more in this world of engineering you can be doing,” he said. “It’s not necessarily bad that you’re not leveraging all aspects of your degree, but your degree empowers you to be able to learn new things and learn things that are outside of the scope of what the degree was. I feel like I have all the skills I need to be able to learn a lot.”
He’s eager to see how AAE continues to prepared students for industry.
Martinez said he was encouraged hearing from assistant visiting professor James Goppert, who shared details about the development of AAE’s UAS research and test facility. He was impressed by Goppert’s pulse on industry and the direction toward unmanned systems.
“I really think that is an important direction Purdue should be heading in,” Martinez said. “For faculty and the School itself, I think just being aware of what’s going on in the industry in terms of the shift toward the digital space and finding what skills are going to be relevant in that environment is really important. Then the School can try to answer how we can prepare students to be able to succeed in that space as well as give them the flexibility to do that. I think that would be really great.”