Victor M. Guzman SHPE San Diego familia,
It is my please to announce three new additions to the SHPE San Diego professional chapter’s board! We have Natalia Torres ( Civil Engineer ) assuming the executive board member position of Secretary, Ileana Figueroa ( Chemical Engineer ) taking on the Community Outreach Chairperson position, and Reyna Rendon ( Civil Engineer ) taking on the Membership Recruitment and Retention Chairperson position. We are very excited to have them on the team and look forward to the great work we will be able to accomplish with their passion and commitment to the Latino community! Read on for short biographies of our new board members.
Natalia Torres – Secretary
Natalia grew up in San Diego, California and graduated from Hilltop High School in Chula Vista. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from San Diego State University in 2010. Although she was not involved with SHPE during college she shares the passion in fulfilling SHPE’s vision of Latinos being highly valued and influential as the leading innovators, scientists, mathematicians and engineers.
Impressed by the professionalism and dedication the current SHPE members have for the organization, both at a college and professional level, Natalia has been inspired to be part of an organization that, in her own words, “is dedicated to help younger engineers become the future of the engineering industries. By sharing our stories, not only do we as professionals set an example to others, but also help ourselves self-analyze and motivate our careers.”
Ileana Figueroa – Community Outreach
Ileana grew up in Tijuana until the age of 16 when she moved to Chula Vista and graduated from Castle Park High School. She attended UC Riverside earned a degree in Chemical Engineering on June 2013 and now works for Synergeyes as a Chemical Process Engineer. While at UCR, Ileana was very active in SHPE and most recently served as the chapter president. As chapter president, she helped organize several outreach events such as Noche de Ciencias, MESA Day, MESA Night, and Engineering Week.
Ileana’s passion towards SHPE grows every day as we work towards fulfilling our mission and vision of impacting the Hispanic community. In her own word, “I believe that by sharing some of our time and experiences we can inspired the younger generation to not only become the best that they can be, but to also guide them and help them through their journey to success.”
Reyna Rendon – Membership Recruitment & Retention
Reyna was born in Tlaxcala, Mexico but grew up in San Diego where she graduated from Monte Vista High School in 2003. She attended San Diego State University and received a degree in Civil Engineering in 2008. She currently works for the City of San Diego as a Project Engineer in the Right Away Design Division Transportation and Street Design Section. Reyna has been a part of SHPE since 2004 where she held several board member positions at SDSU.
although Reyna has been dedicating her time to her career and personal life recently, she has been inspired by the professional chapter’s professionalism to giving back to the community as she did while in college. In her own words, “As a student I strongly believed in SHPE and saw the great impact it had on our careers. Now I would like to give the same support to the student chapters by recruiting more professionals and making sure they are strong in their commitment.”
