The article, "Hispanic engineers blend tech expertise with interpersonal skills," features Hispanic professionals in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields and the positive impact they have on the STEM industry as a whole, both culturally and linguistically. Ray Mellado, chairman and CEO of Great Minds in STEM, shares his view on STEM as a key career field in the United States and the positive influences the growing Hispanic community has on developing the talent the nation needs.

 

Dan's profile summarizes his experiences, both professional and cultural, at CH2M HILL and how he became involved in the engineering profession. Born in New York, Dan spent most of his school years in his parents' home country of Colombia. He was proficient in math and physics and wanted to learn how to combine aesthetics with hard sciences—civil engineering combined the two. He earned his BSCE at Purdue University in 2007, choosing Purdue for its highly ranked civil engineering program and because it had the most international students of any school in the country at the time. "I liked the diversity, not only of courses, but also of the people,” Dan said.

 

In 2006, Dan was awarded a CH2M HILL Foundation scholarship. He stayed at Purdue to work on his masters, while interning with the firm in Sacramento, CA. Dan received his MSCE with an emphasis in structural engineering and joined the company full-time as a structural engineer in 2009.

 

"I hope that other Hispanics realize the great opportunities that CH2M HILL offers, from networking within its internal Hispanic community (ENLACE) to the opportunities to work on international assignments and use our rich heritage and multi-cultural background for the benefit of our clients and the communities that we serve," said Dan. "Through its enterprise-level partnership with organizations such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB), Hispanics also have a unique opportunity to make a difference in Latin America by using our engineering, language and cultural skills to build key infrastructure and provide clean water to developing communities."

 

Dan is active in the firm's Hispanic employee network group, Enlace, he's a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and is also involved in EWB. Dan recently returned from his third trip to Guatemala, where he worked on pedestrian and vehicular bridges.

 

"CH2M HILL is a big supporter of EWB, and that kind of philanthropy is one of the reasons I joined the company," said Dan. "This isn't just something the firm does to put on the website. It's a very intrinsic part of the company. It is so exciting to see CH2M HILL employees featured in the Diversity/Careers magazine. I take pride in working for a global company where my colleagues come from diverse walks of life, different cultures and different experiences. This greatly enriches our working environment."

 

"Dan is currently doing an outstanding job on one of TBG's international projects in Costa Rica," said Pablo Mancheno, Dan’s supervisor. "His technical skills, diversity and bilingual skills make him very well adept to this type of work. His strong communication skills are outstanding, and he is very articulate in both English and Spanish with a great understanding of the American and Latin cultures. Those unique skills help support projects in the U.S. and Latin America a great deal."

 

Read Dan's full profile in Diversity/Careers magazine.