Our Mission
SHPE Houston Professional Chapter is a network of mentors, role models and leaders in STEM brought together to inspire, motivate and empower the Greater Houston Hispanic community.

Our Vision
SHPE's vision is a world where Hispanics are highly valued and influential as the leading innovators, scientists, mathematicians and engineers.

---

Statement of Values

• We are brought together by heritage, social responsibility and desire to improve the equality for all people through the use of science and technology
• We value excellence in education, professional pursuits and leadership
• We obtain excellence through integrity, empowerment, achievement, diversity and continuous improvement.

History
The SHPE Houston Chapter originated on November 12, 1985 and was led by Mr. Bill Othon, P.E. The SHPE National Board of Directors officially approved the chapter on September 19, 1987. In November, 1987, the SHPE Houston Chapter was formally introduced to the local engineering community. On July 5, 2005, SHPE Houston chartered the first Houston link to the Order of the Engineer, a national engineering recognition. In October 2008, the SHPE Houston Chapter was granted with 501(c)3 non-profit status. 

---

2019 - 2020 SHPE Houston Board of Directors

Executive Board

---

President  
Maria Isabel Rocca, McDermott

Maria Isabel Rocca is originally from Culiacan, Sinaloa Mexico. She grew up in Albuquerque, NM and upon graduation she moved to Houston for work.  She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico (UNM). She has over 10 years of experience in the Oil and Gas Industry and is currently working at McDermott International Inc. as a Senior Project Engineer in the Marine Operations division.

Maria has been a part of the SHPE Familia since 2002, however rejoined as an active professional member in 2016 and has volunteered at numerous outreach events where she has enjoyed representing the organization. She has a passion for outreach and throughout her professional career has volunteered during career day at several schools to present about her job duties to kids in elementary school and high school. 

​She enjoys her time outside of work with her husband Victor and her daughter Camila. Her current hobbies are running, CrossFit and volunteering as your SHPE President. She is extremely honored to serve as president of SHPE Houston Professional Chapter and to have the opportunity to connect with driven, energetic, aspiring Hispanic Engineers with the same goal to give back and inspire our Latino youth to pursue STEM Careers. She believes the time to give back is now and not wait until "mañana".

---

Vice-President - External
Gustavo Garcia, Jacobs Inc.

Gustavo is originally from Monterrey, Mexico. He received a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering with a Construction & Engineering Management concentration from Texas A&M University in 2015. He joined SHPE since his freshmen year in college and had the opportunity to serve in a couple chair positions. He is excited to continue his involvement in SHPE at the professional level and currently serves as the Marketing & Promotions Coordinator. Gustavo moved to Houston in 2016 to start his engineering career at Jacobs, where he is an Energy Services Civil EIT within the Buildings & Infrastructure line of business. At Jacobs he is part of the Jacobs Future committee as the Networking Director and the 2017 Safety Week Chair for the Houston Office. Outside of Jacobs he is a member of ASCE and YPE.
​
Gustavo’s passion to travel and to become a global citizen has taken him to 14 countries in 4 different continents. He is passionate to learn about other cultures and learning how to integrate diversity into his projects, as well as, his day to day life. He is involved with United Way of Greater Houston to fight the education gap of children in lower-income and minority families.

---

Vice-President - Internal
Adrienne Sanchez, New Tech Global Environmental

​Adrienne Sanchez, has over six years of professional experience in upstream oil and gas (O&G) and is
currently working as a Project Manager for the oil and gas consulting firm, New Tech Global Environmental (NTGE) where she develops remediation clean-up solutions for O&G clientele.

Originally from Houston, Texas, she received a Masters and Bachelors in Environmental Engineering from Texas Tech University (TTU).

Adrienne currently serves as Vice President Internal for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) where she has held various leadership roles both as a student and professional. As Community Outreach Coordinator she has led and mobilized hundreds of volunteers on several community engagement events where over 1,000 students, parents and university students have had the opportunity to interact with engineering professionals as they lead STEM activities. She is also a founding member of NTGE’s Greenspoint outreach initiative aimed to inspire and empower K - 5 students through STEM awareness.

In her spare time, Adrienne enjoys travelling, attending concerts, and spending time with her family in Houston.

---

Treasurer 
Justin D. Licht, Schlumberger

Justin D. Licht received a Bachelor of Science in Civil & Environmental Engineer from UW-Madison Wisconsin. For the previous 6 years has been a Technical Engineer for Schlumberger throughout Europe, Middle East and Australia for land & deep water oil fields. He has returned home to USA and working in Houston as part of Operation Planning & Control for Schlumberger. Justin has previously served on SHPE board as an undergraduate in UW-Madison and is excited to serve SHPE Professional Chapter for Houston. He has a strong passion for paying it forward and cultivating the next generation of STEM leaders. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling with his son & wife to visit family abroad.

---

Secretary 
Karen Cepeda, Entrepreneur/ Business Owner

My name is Karen Cepeda and I am originally from Bogota, Colombia. I have received a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering Tech from the University of Houston. Prior to my bachelors I have received two other degrees: Math and science degree and Graphics Engineering degree.

I have been a member of SHPE since 2016. During my first year at the University of Houston, I decided to open my own business to help fully pay my way through college. Currently I am very active and working in my business. I love challenges, and I enjoy growth. Being apart of SHPE enables me to socialize with others that have same similarities and connects me to what interests me, the art of engineering. My hobbies are traveling as much as I can, hike all national parks, yoga, running, volleyball, and being active at church.

---

Committee Chairs

---

Coordinator of Student Affairs 
Alam Quintero, Bechtel
​
Alam Quintero is an energetic risk management analyst for the project execution risk management group
supporting Bechtel’s OG&C and NS&E global business units. In his career he has worn multiple hats – risk analyst, structural and field engineer, SPMT superintendent duties at an LNG construction site, sales engineer, and peer mentor. Through perseverance he creates his good luck and he seizes opportunities; hence, his diverse record supporting teams in the office, at the module yard, on site, at the testing lab, and virtually. Engineer by trade, Alam is also achieved across other disciplines including managing client relationships and working with multi-cultural and geographically separated teams.

Alam holds a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A) from the University of Houston. In his collegiate years, he was a Gates Millennium Scholar, a Terry Foundation Scholar, and the recipient of the Dean’s Award of Excellence during his MBA studies. Similarly, he was involved with numerous organizations including the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE).

---

Social and Nominations Coordinator
Benjamin Gonzalez, Bechtel

​Benjamin Gonzalez is an Industrial Designer graduate from the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He graduated in June of 2008. A full-time position offer by KBR as a Process Designer, one year before graduating (2007), gave him the opportunity to start building his experience in the oil and gas
industry. He has had the opportunity of working at Foster Wheeler Mexico (former Northam Engineering) and for the past 4 years at Bechtel OG&C.

During his career he has worked as a Project/Process designer and as a Piping Designer, being part of engineering, FEED and EPC projects for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Clean Fuels, Refining, Deepsea drilling/extraction Platform, LPG Storage Facilities and Combined Cycle Power Plants.

---

Membership Coordinator
John Bernal, GM

John Bernal is a non-traditional engineer from Tucson Arizona.
After getting his Bachelors in Economic from Carleton College in Minnesota, he returned home to inspire the future generation of Latinos by teaching High School Math.

Wanting to do more for local community John ran for The Arizona House of Representatives.
Although he did not win the election, John realized STEM is the key to social and economic responsibility.
In 2016, after only three years John received a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arizona, and begin his journey in Texas. 

Always active within the Latino community, locally and professionally, John join the board for General Motors Latino Network as the Professional Development Lead and became Secretary of SHPE Austin Professional Chapter.
John looks forward to touching the lives of SHPE-Houston Chapter members.

---

Marketing and Promotions Coordinator
Jatziry Teran, Bechtel

Jatziry Teran is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from Texas A&M University in College Station. She
graduated in December 2018 and started working for Bechtel as a Project Controls engineer in February
2019. She previously served as President (2017-2018) and Director of External Affairs (2016-2017) for
the Texas A&M SHPE chapter. As president she helped establish the SHPEtinas program and a SHPE Jr
chapter in Bryan, Texas. She currently serves as mentor for the FIRST robotics team at Young Women’s
College Preparatory where she hopes to help inspire the next generation of female engineers. Jatziry is
an avid supporter of STEM, and women empowerment. She is excited to become more involved with
SHPE Houston and continue giving back to her community.

---

Professional Development Coordinator
Hector Eleazar Lopez Carretero, Bechtel
​
Hector Lopez is a Chemical Engineering graduate from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. He graduated in December of 2010 and has been working in Bechtel since. He started in Bechtel as a Project Engineer I and now has six years of experience with increasing responsibilities on Pre-FEED, FEED, EPC, and brownfield projects. His experience is mostly in LNG and front-end engineering for Coker Heater, Ammonia Fertilizers, and Ethylene facilities.While in school he as a member of SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) and AICHE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers), as well as, the Engineering Honor Society Tau Beta Pi. While in SHPE his love in sports drove him to represent his chapter in soccer, flag football, basketball, and kickball competitions; he supported the organization by participating on service events and projects, and also mentored younger individuals of the organization.

Outside of work, Hector enjoys traveling and the diversity of cuisines in the Houston area. He still loves sports and participates in multiple soccer leagues throughout the year. He also enjoys volunteering his time for stewardship and is a Design Lead in the EWB India Biogas project; this project will have an impact to ~1,500 people in a small village in Central India (Madyha Pradesh) called Chipiya by transforming cow manure into biogas that will be used for cooking in the village. He has also participated in other events like Junior Achievement and First Robotics.

---

Community Outreach Coordinator
Abraham Madrigal, Teksys

​Abraham Madrigal Padilla is Security Manager for Teksys Inc., A small local and family own technology company, and for the past 8 years has been integral in operation and growth of the business. Though the business is the field of Technology, Abraham holds a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering from San Diego State University earned in 2008. Originally from Tijuana Mexico, Abraham has call Houston home since 2010 and has been part of the Houston SHPE Familia ever since.

​

---

Scholarship Committee Coordinator
Chris Bell, Plains All American

Chris graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.  Upon graduation, he joined Plains All American Pipeline (Plains) as an Energy Management Engineer, focusing on improving energy efficiency in crude oil pipelines.  In 2017, he moved into the Integrity department at Plains, working to protect people and the environment through preventing oil leaks and spills.

Chris has long believed that teaching and volunteering are core to the education of future engineers and to the advancement of engineering as a profession.  He has volunteered with Engineers Without Borders for over eight years, most recently serving as the Project Lead for the Central Houston Professional Chapter Ethiopia Project, working to improve public health in Ethiopia.  In his volunteer work both as an undergraduate and as a professional, Chris has worked alongside many SHPE members, learning through them about the tremendous accomplishments and future potential of SHPE.  He looks forward to contributing to SHPE’s mission and to make STEM careers accessible to the next generation.

---

SHPE Junior Coordinator

  

---

Webmaster
Oscar Martinez, Forged Products Inc.

Oscar is a process engineer at Forge Products specializing in both process and quality engineering. As a
process engineer he is responsible for upholding to industry standards and meeting customer
requirements. He received his degree from the University of Houston in mechanical engineering, and
has been involved with SHPE since his freshman year of college serving as webmaster and vice president
for the student chapter. In his spare time, he enjoys edible horticulture and believes that with passion
and dedication anything is possible. Oscar looks forward to an excellent year with SHPE and continuing
its great work in the community.

---

Special Projects Coordinator
Aileen A. Tapia, Accenture

​Aileen A. Tapia is an alumna from The University of Texas at El Paso and holds a Bachelor’s in Industrial and Systems Engineering degree with a minor in Mathematics. Aileen is a Consulting Analyst at Accenture, based out of the Houston Office. She has previously served in the SHPE National Board of Directors as the National Undergraduate Representative, National Affairs Committee member, Region 5 Student Representative, UTEP MAES/SHPE President & Secretary.

As National Undergraduate Representative, she has helped develop a sustainable framework for the future NURs transition successfully to a strategic board. When she was RSR5 she used to oversee 30+ active undergraduate chapters and provided mentorship to their presidents and executive boards. And during her presidency, she chartered her alma mater as a Jr. Chapter, led the Science and Engineering Extravaganza, collaborated in 4+ local Noche de Ciencias, and sustained the Jr. Chapter Conference program that lead to multiple local, regional & national awards.

Aileen has developed a deep passion for STEM Awareness through community outreach, women empowerment and diversity and inclusion. She is happy to be part of SHPE Houston to keep advancing SHPE’s mission & Vision.