Fellow:Hector Garcia


Name Hector Garcia School (Cohort) Universidad de Ingenieria & Tecnologia (2022 cohort) Majoring in Mechanical Engineering Country Peru Email Special:EmailUser/Hector.garcia.g0207

Bio

Hector Garcia is a senior Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Engineering and Technology - UTEC in Lima, Peru. He describes himself as a constant learner, as he always looks for new learning opportunities, both academic and personal.

Hector decided to study mechanical engineering as he saw it as a world-changing major. He was always good at math and physics in high school, but he wanted his knowledge to be applied to solve problems in the real world. Moreover, he always had the "creative" bug. He loved, and still loves, playing and building new things with legos. As a child, he even created his own toys with what he had at hand. The "mechanical" part came by inspiration from his father, who always talked to him about machines and design.

Hector has always outstood academically. Since high school, he developed skills and values such as critical thinking, wayfinding, goal setting, team playing, commitment, responsibility, and many more. When he entered college, he had just one goa.l in mind, to be a great student. Even though he performed well academically, due to some troubles in the first years and the pandemic, he realized that grades are not everything and that a great student is not the one with the highest GPA, but the one who also contributes to the growth of his community and works actively for his improvement.

Since then, Hector has worked with a different goal in mind;

"To be a change agent in his college community, who generates opportunities for students and inspires others"

With that goal in mind, he joined the founding team of ASTM UTEC, the first ASTM student chapter outside the U.S, an organization that aims to foster standards, research, and industry networking among students. Furthermore, he re-founded the ASME UTEC Student Section, as he realized that the mechanical engineering department didn't have a representative organization and that it could provide students with tools, knowledge, and opportunities for their academic and professional life. Finally, as a way to keep getting involved and influence his community, Hector joined the Peer Mentoring Program at UTEC, where he helped to foster the integration of first-year students into the UTEC community, providing guidance and support during their adaptation process to university life

Hector knows that there is still a lot to improve, but he is, so far, going in the right way. He wants to keep learning in order to generate more opportunities for students. As a future fellow, he would like to foster early research opportunities and workshops that aim to develop problem-finding and design thinking skills among early-year students. In the coming future, he would like to take part in projects related to research, development, and innovation in new materials, advanced manufacturing, and mechanical design. He wants to continue being a change agent in his college community, even after graduation, and also influence in his workplace.

Contact Hector about...

Generating new spaces for I&E
Maker Space creation projects
Early development of soft skills in engineering students
Design Thinking workshops
Generating opportunities for students to get involved in their communities
Fostering research and development among first-year students
Getting to know about Peru: culture, people, food, and places
Materials, Manufacturing, and Design
Just to say Hi :D

A bit more about him (fun facts)

He is studying German as he would love to visit and work there in the future.
He wants to study Quechua, Peruvian ancient native language, as he feels it is a way to connect more with the roots and people of his country.
He is a big fan of The Lord of the Rings and all Middle Earth-related history.
He is a cold-weather type person. He loves autumns and winters.
He loves coffee, some would say too much. He wants to learn more about the science and art behind it.
He loves to travel, either short or long distances, he loves the challenge of being exposed to a different place, culture, and people.

His favorite music genre can be described by the songs of one of his favorite bands, We the Lion

Achievements

Best Peer Mentor (2022): He was among the group of best peer mentors in the 2022-1 term. [1]
ASTM Student Section Scholarship Award winner (2022): Due to his active involvement in the organization and academic record Hector was given this award [2]
Winner team in "The Battle of Galvanization" by Nexa (2021): Award is given to innovative proposals for the galvanizing market in South America. [3][4]
Current 2nd place in the ME major: Due to his academic record, Hector is current 2nd place in his major.
ASME SLTC UTEC representative (2021): Hector was selected from over 200 applicants around the world to represent UTEC in the ASME SLTC, the most comprehensive and rigorous student leadership training program ASME has to offer. [5]
Chair at ASME UTEC (2022): After starting a team of a group of students to restart the organization, he was chosen as Chair. [6]
Founding Team Member of ASTM UTEC (2021): He was part of the founding team of the second ASTM Student Chapter in the world. He served as a Steel Committee President and is currently secretary. [7]
UIA Imagine Global Scholarship Winner (2021): He was given the chance of studying for a semester at the Adolfo Ibañez University in Chile. [8]