Today’s guest: Juan Alfredo Fuentes

Guest Bio:  Juan Fuentes graduated from UNC Charlotte in the Fall of 2014 with a degree in Systems & Industrial Engineering and Mathematics. Upon graduation, he started working for CTL Packaging, USA as a Project Engineer for cosmetic plastic packaging clients like L’Oreal, and Alba Botanica. For a brief period right after graduation, he worked with Dilliard’s Corporation. Juan then transitioned to work for Duke Energy as a Jr. Project Manager for the Coal Ash Basin Closure Projects before finding his way to working at Coca-Cola Consolidated as a Manufacturing & Production Analyst for Bishopville and Nashville Production. His work with Coca-Cola Consolidated has expanded in his role with Product Supply by working with Production Planning, as well as implementing data analytics during extended downtimes, and out-of-source optimization.

Juan enjoys spending time with his wife Kayla and three-year old Cockapoo, Remi. You can find him watching sports, running through the City of Charlotte, cooking, playing music, or traveling, he is a Colombia-born native, raised in Miami, FL and has been living in Charlotte, NC for the last 12 years.

Show notes: I (Linda) met Juan when he was an undergrad engineering student at UNC Charlotte. While working towards his degree, he also worked as an Orientation Counselor or “OC” during university orientation. Orientation is a program offered by a college or university to help new students and their families make a smooth transition from high school to college life.

Juan mentions bringing your genuine self to your STEM field. This can be challenging because of the stigmas attached to being a student studying STEM topics. What do you think this mean to you as a student?

Here’s a link to the Pew Research I shared in the introduction: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/09/7-facts-about-the-stem-workforce/

He also talks about what it means to be a systems (or industrial) engineer. Here’s more about this relatively new STEM field of study:

• From NASA
• From YouTube
• From ICOSE, International Council of System Engineering

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Show Sponsor:

STEM Dreams podcast is sponsored by Wildlands Engineering, a water resources engineering firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wildlands is dedicated to increasing diversity in engineering and environmental sciences like geology and ecology.

Wildlands, thank you for helping us help the next generation of STEM dreamers.

Credits: Show sound effects and music was sourced from FreeSound.org.