Roberta Talarico Galeno Cavalcanti, Application Engineer, Mitsubishi
Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Centro Universitário da FEI, Brazil
Master of Business Administration in Marketing, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brazil
Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology — Automation and Robotics, Centennial College, Canada
I graduated from Centro Universitário da FEI in Brazil as an Electrical Engineer and later received a marketing degree, post-graduation, from FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas), also in Brazil. Then, I studied Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology – Automation and Robotics at Centennial College in Canada. I started my career as a Field Service Engineer supporting CNC machines, then moved to sales, holding positions as Product Manager and Product Engineer. I then moved to Canada to start my career working as an Automation Technician in Maintenance, which led me to my current position as an Application Engineer.
Talk about the culture at your company. What makes it inclusive or supportive of diversity in engineering and automation? What efforts does your company (or individuals at your company) make to recruit or support people from backgrounds currently underrepresented in engineering and automation?
Being a female engineer is not as common, and unfortunately, very few of us opt for a technical career. However, at Mitsubishi Electric, I feel that regardless of my gender, race, or age, they treat everyone fairly and with respect, and everyone has access to the same opportunities. The Mitsubishi Electric culture fosters teamwork so everyone is approachable and willing to collaborate and share knowledge, which makes for a comfortable work atmosphere.
Describe a recent company project (in which you were involved) that went particularly well. How did you and your team go about ensuring success?
As an application engineer, I had the pleasure of contributing to several different projects, supporting end users and OEMs. But one interesting project that went really well was the deployment of Mitsubishi Electric servos to activate a hydraulic actuator. In this project, I worked with some brilliant engineers and experienced our servos’ capabilities. The key to the success of this project was to understand the customer’s needs and to have very experienced engineers involved.
What first drew you to engineering and/or the automation and manufacturing industry?
I loved math since a very young age, and in high school, I was fascinated by physics. However, I was a bit apprehensive about entering a male-dominated career, and I had no idea if it would be possible to work in this field after graduation. Many members of my family work in healthcare, so at first, that seemed like the obvious choice for my career path, and I almost enrolled in medical school. However, at the very last minute, I decided to study engineering.
Describe your biggest career challenge. How did you solve it — or what was the outcome or lesson learned?
My biggest career challenge was moving to Canada and starting again from scratch. It was a difficult decision that took me years to research and understand the process. But when the time came, I did not make any big ambitious career goals. I had small, short-term goals and always chose to work and study what I loved. And suddenly, everything started to work accordingly.
What career advice would you give to your younger self?
Study and do work that makes you happy. Also, be persistent; don’t expect to know everything at once, the knowledge comes gradually.
Filed Under: Engineering Diversity & Inclusion
