Interview to Valentín Medina, Industrial Engineer

· What led you to choose studying an engineering?

- My hole family has always liked the kind of stuff where we had to use our hands. In fact, my father taught us a little about mechanics, carpentry, electronics, … That’s why me and my brothers developed a special ability for that kind of works.

Apart from that, I was born in Gijón where there is a very prestigious Industrial Engineering school so I entered it because I liked it and I thought it was made for me because of my background.

· What do you do nowadays?

- I am an engineer of a little town located in the province of La Coruña called Sada and my work aim is to build, improve and maintain the infrastructures of this locality. I am in charge of many different things such as working in roads, pavements, lighting, and water instalations.

· Is it really useful what you have learnt in the university in order to make your daily work?

- It was useful to get the needed base, organization and abilities to study. I learnt how to get information, obviously to make some calculus and what is essential nowadays to me, to draw. It is a universal language so we can communicate simply with the builder, with a manufacturer and the customer.

· It is said that law students, for example, must spend their hole life studying, do you really consider it should happen in the science fields?

- There is no doubt about it. Technologies are developed during these years very fast, new techniques are discovered so we have to get to know them and apply them into our assignments. There are some transversal sciences such as the environmental one that we must always have in mind and nowadays it is necessary to get up to date in what it is referred to computers and so on. That is why the continuous study becomes essential.

· In what way does the calculus field is basic in order to finish your work?

- It is really important because Maths are constantly present. Almost every day I must have in mind physical formulas, trigonometry, electricity relations and also in order to solve all of that, so we can build something in a safety way, we need to employ Maths. It gives us the certainty that our accomplish is going to be viable.

· Do you consider that the technical part of a professional is very important in our days when trying to get a job or does another factors affect in a greater way?

- It is very relevant to have the technical part when getting a job. However, in order to keep it, organization, business management and optimization of the resources are factors that influence even more. Works must be done in a determined time and provided a fixed amount of money whether you have a better design or not.

· Given that some degrees are becoming overcrowded, how do you see the engineering future?

- Specialization is fundamental in engineering. It must be like that as the challenges set in a job must be done with further studies focused on it. Those who reach it will have more opportunities but as you said many people is getting into them. There are some new engineering degrees which not many people know and that I find it is the future.

· What advice would you give new engineering students and those who are starting to get involved in this “little world”?

- I would tell them to study, to take advantage of their formation while enjoying university life. But also I would recommend them not to forget the study of languages, improving their communication skills and to focus into practices as much as possible. For sure, engineering would give them back all the effort put on it.