About

I am an engineer at Intel in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, working on yield — finding out why wafers fail, and building the tools and models that make the answer arrive sooner. Before that, a master's in Nanoscience and Microsystems Engineering at the University of New Mexico, and before that a bachelor's in mechanical engineering.

That is the part that fits on a résumé, and it is kept separately if that is what you came for. The rest of it is this site.

Why I write

My working hours go to problems that resolve. A model converges. A defect gets classified. A control limit gets set, and the question is closed. The things I have thought about longest were never like that — they do not close, and treating them as though they should is its own kind of error.

Writing is where I keep them. Essays when a thought needs room, columns when it needs an argument, notes when a sentence will do.

Most of it circles the same ground: that we are busier than any generation before us and less able to say what we are busy for; that rest has been quietly folded into productivity; that the pressure to be positive, adaptable, and endlessly available is not freedom but a subtler kind of demand. I did not arrive at any of this alone — the reading list shows the debts.

Improv

I perform improv. It is the one thing I do that cannot be optimised, rehearsed, or prepared in advance. You do not arrive at a scene with a plan; you attend to the person in front of you and answer what is actually there. I have found that harder than most things I am paid to do, and better practice for the rest of life than anything else I know.

Volunteering

I led the University of New Mexico chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and spent several years tutoring engineering students in physics, mathematics, and programming. During the pandemic I manufactured and 3D printed face masks for immigrants and others who could not readily get them. I still mentor when asked.

Elsewhere

I read and speak English, Spanish, French, and Japanese. The most reliable way to reach me is LinkedIn.