Our Industry Person of the Week is Getsemani Vazquez. Getsemani is an Engineering Project Manager for TDIndustries.
Q: How did you get started working in your field?
Getsemani: It all started with my passion for math and science in school. As a high school graduate, I started to really think about what I wanted to do in college. Several careers came to mind, “Doctor” “Math Teacher” “Science Teacher” “Nurse” etc. During college orientation, the counselor asked me again what major I was pursuing. After a few minutes of talking, she said “It sounds like you would like engineering” and she proceeded to tell me about the different engineering majors the school had available at the time. I arrived at the conclusion of pursuing a “Mechanical Engineering” degree, which was a perfect mix of math and science. The degree was challenging but it was eye opening, fun and satisfactory. While I was taking classes in college, I would dream about all the different career possibilities after graduation. My senior year, TDIndustries participated in a recruiting event. TD showed a video of The Cowboy’s Stadium BIM Model, and that hooked me. The summer before graduating, I was fortunate to do a summer internship with the engineering team at TDIndustries, a mechanical contractor. This really opened my eyes to the engineering side of the construction industry. The team was awesome to work with in the summer and I learned that construction had a lot of growth opportunities.
Q: What do you love the most about your job? What are you most proud of?
Getsemani: I love the diversity of projects we get to work on, which means we are constantly learning and growing. I love being part of shaping the building skyline, being able to drive around town and point to the buildings we got to work on. I also enjoy being able to teach interns, partners rotating through the engineering department and teaching new young engineers.
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering this line of work or new to the field?
Getsemani: The one advice I give new people is to be curious and ask a lot of questions. Most people like sharing knowledge, so don’t be afraid to ask.
Q: Can you talk about a project you recently worked on?
Getsemani: We are currently working on a chocolate distribution center. This core and shell warehouse is being transformed into the main distribution center for a new chocolate brand in the area. The customer has specific temperature and humidity requirements, which makes it for an interesting challenge.
Q: Anything Else you would like to add?
Getsemani: At TDIndustries, I’ve had the privilege to participate in multiple events where we’ve connected with multi-level schools throughout the years and we share what we do why we think “engineering” or “construction” is important. So far, in my 10 years at TD, I already had the privilege to hear from 1 student. He is about to graduate college with a mechanical engineering degree and is interested in the construction industry because of the “cool presentation he heard at TD”. I am excited and looking forward to hear from a lot more students. Another thing I am super excited about is the increasing interest of fellow women in engineering fields. When I graduated from college in 2011, there were only a handful of women in my graduating class and overall in engineering school. Now, the numbers have significantly increased and I am starting to see that in projects we are working on.
Connect with Getsemani on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
THANK YOU, GETSEMANI! WE LOOK FORWARD TO KEEPING UP WITH YOU THROUGH THE #PUMPTALK COMMUNITY!
KNOW AN AMAZING PERSON WHO IS MAKING VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS WITHIN INDUSTRY? NOMINATE THEM TO BE AN “INDUSTRY PERSON OF THE WEEK”!
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