NLE12: Diego’s Engineering Journey: From Venezuela to Steam Systems in Argentina and Spain

Jose and Tony interview Diego about his path in engineering and migration. Diego, a mechanical engineering graduate from Venezuela, moved abroad in 2017, first to Argentina seeking automotive work but joining Spirax Sarco in the steam and heat-transfer industry. He describes working in thermodynamics-driven steam systems across many industries, first as a project coordinator managing turnkey boiler and steam distribution projects from design through installation and commissioning, then later moving to Valencia, Spain. After a year in a fast-paced startup environment, he returned to Spirax Sarco as a field service engineer, troubleshooting boilers, instrumentation, and commissioning onsite with fewer resources and greater customer pressure. He shares a stressful boiler level-control commissioning case ultimately traced to a design sizing issue, and reflects on cultural differences, reinvention, flexibility, resilience, and advice to keep a vision while staying open to unexpected opportunities.

00:00 Meet Diego 00:47 Early Engineering Spark 01:59 Leaving Venezuela 05:03 Landing First Job 06:21 Steam Industry Basics 08:38 Mechanical Skills Applied 10:40 Back to Spain 14:05 Project Manager Life 18:25 Two Countries One Company 20:32 Reinventing Yourself 24:08 Startup Teaser 24:39 Startup Laundry Franchises 27:14 US Expansion and COVID Crash 28:48 Startup Business Model Talk 29:52 Engineering When Things Fail 32:11 Boiler Commissioning Nightmare 35:55 Root Cause Design Sizing 39:22 Career Advice Stay Flexible

41:44 Always Explore Opportunities 42:52 Thanks and Wrap Up

Music credit: DaFuq!?Boom! - YouTube

Show Notes NLE012 - Linkedln

Listen on:

Apple Podcast

Spotify

Amazon

PodBean