Focus, Sacrifice, and Staying on the Leading Edge

Alex grew up in El Paso, Texas and, from an early age, he knew he wanted to start his career by learning a trade. When it was time, he chose Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology where he attended a 12-month accelerated program. After completion, he went on to work at a refinery in his hometown of El Paso. For the 3 years he worked there, he learned plenty and enjoyed the camaraderie, but was ready to make a change and advance his career. Several job offers came in, and he and his girlfriend chose sunny Florida, which gave him an opportunity to work with and learn more specifically about Phased Array.

Alex understands and appreciates sacrifice. In exchange for this new opportunity, he would have to make a big sacrifice in the form of constant travel from his new home-base in Florida to Virginia. At this point, having two young children, it was tough being away from his family, but Alex isn’t one to shy away from a difficult short-term situation if it means overall long-term gain.

During this time, he learned Automated Phased Array while inspecting pipes for submarines and aircraft carriers but, once again the time came for him to search for another career path. Wanting the best for his family, he began looking for new and more challenging opportunities.

Alex landed some very impressive offers, one of which was at SpaceX in Los Angeles. In the end, he chose to accept an opportunity to return to his home state of Texas; this time to work in San Antonio with IIA. Alex “works with a lot of people who have an amazing amount of experience,” and says he enjoys the challenging environment.

Alex’s day-to-day activities as an IIA NDE Technician vary widely depending on where the team is at on any given project but mostly involve Advanced UT, complex geometries, and matrix probe projects. These days, he is the go-to NDE expert technician for a United States Government project where he creates and qualifies procedures for flaw detection and characterization. Once the procedure is qualified, he then puts together a training program to teach other analysts how to effectively and efficiently conduct the procedure for detecting and sizing flaws, as well as gathering and analyzing data.

Alex helps train, test, grade, and certify personnel on the procedure, with the end goal being that they can then conduct the analysis of data without assistance.

One of Alex’s proudest moments at IIA was recently when he passed the prequalification exam for a coveted international project. This is an extremely difficult industry exam, and he admits there were moments when he felt perhaps he didn’t quite have enough experience and knowledge yet to pass this particular exam. But, he worked hard and said, “I just did my best.” Alex passed with flying colors. Demonstrating this level of mastery and expertise has opened more opportunities for Alex, and he is both proud and excited to be able to conduct work internationally.

Alex enjoys his role at IIA and says the best thing about his job is working with new technologies in the lab while spending many hours solving problems, developing theories, and finding better ways to do our jobs. His advice to others is to make education a priority, don’t become complacent, and always keep trying to advance. He describes this tenacity and fortitude as, “staying on the leading edge.”