Let’s give a big College of Engineering hello to your fellow student, Antonio Hueso-Fernandez, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering. Antonio was born and raised in the town of Pajaro which lies in a corner of Watsonville, California. Watsonville is known in general for its agriculture, more specifically for its strawberries.
Antonio’s mother was born and raised in Michoacan, Mexico, and came to the United States
after she married his father. Antonio’s mother did not have an opportunity to pursue higher education here in the United States. His father was born and raised in Watsonville and did not initially go the college route but after getting married, he soon realized that higher education would give him the best chance at supporting a new family. Antonio’s father graduated from San José State University (SJSU) with a degree in electrical engineering in 2008.
“From an early age, both of my parents instilled the idea of higher education into my siblings and me. They made many sacrifices to give us the best opportunity to pursue a college degree,” said Antonio. His parents were delighted that he chose SJSU because of its proximity and the fact that his father also attended.
His father’s co-workers allowed him to shadow them which gave him insights into different types of engineering especially in mechanical engineering. “I enjoyed both the hands-on and computer-aided design aspects of mechanical engineering. Having the ability to see your creative mind go to work designing any object and seeing it physically is something that is truly magical,” he added.
This past summer Antonio interned at Nokia as a Mechanical Design Engineer, where he was given a detailed 10-week program from Jimmy Huynh, an employee at the company. This program consisted of various professional presentations and projects that helped the interns enhance their skills and learn some new ones. Antonio learned geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), conducting thermal and static loads with computational fluid dynamics (CFDs), and understanding multiple manufacturing processes in this training program. The opportunity gave Antonio unique insight into the workforce, shaping his professional career.
Antonio’s advice for someone trying to land either an internship or a new grad opportunity is to apply to as many as possible and to network with everyone! His internship at Nokia was a direct result of someone who got him in contact with the right person. He also suggests getting involved with student organizations, because that is where you can expand your professional network.
After he graduates Antonio plans on joining a company that is a global leader in its space but is open to all industries. He has aspirations of putting in the hard work and eventually becoming a CEO. With this goal in mind, he must first accomplish some milestones which include graduating from a master’s program in mechanical engineering, and then potentially pursuing a PhD program.
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