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UCLA Engineering Family:
Four Siblings Are Bruin Engineers
 (From
left): Rene BS '83, Henry BS '77, Melissa BS '92, and
Rosanna Martinez BS '84. |
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It's not often that four members of the same family earn their degrees
in one field especially an area as challenging as engineering. But
four Martinez siblings - Henry '77, Rene '83, Rosanna '84, and Melissa
'92 - can lay claim to a unique record: all four of them earned
undergraduate degrees in engineering from UCLA.
Henry, inspired by the early space launches that he watched on television
with their father, opted for engineering as his major, specializing
in digital electronics relating to computing and control.
"UCLA's engineering school seemed like a smaller college within
the larger university, and the Engineering Society offered a nice
way to meet other undergraduate engineers," he recalled. "When I
arrived at UCLA, the microprocessor chip was just coming out of
the laboratories. It was a wonderful time to be an electrical engineer
and computer scientist. And, as you can imagine our parents are
quite proud that their four kids are all Bruin engineers."
His younger brother Rene also opted for engineering, explaining,
"I picked engineering because I enjoyed math and science and the
ability to create and examine. When my older brother went to UCLA
I became a big Bruin fan. I watched the basketball games on TV on
channel 5 and would sometimes see my brother on TV. After all that
I couldn't go anywhere else."
Rene also participated in a summer engineering program at UCLA after
his junior year of high school. Created by Richard Stern, the Minority
Introduction to Engineering program sponsored students on tours
of several companies in Southern California to introduce them to
engineering.
Rosanna entered UCLA as a biochemistry major, but later transferred
to engineering, recognizing it as a field that would be not only
a challenge, but also useful and interesting. She noted, "I thought
engineering could prepare me for a career that would keep me updated
on the latest practical scientific developments and give me a chance
to contribute."
Like her older sister, Melissa (now de la Peña) changed majors -
from materials science to civil and environmental engineering after
her first civil engineering class, which appealed to her architectural
leanings. "UCLA really seemed like home, and I could see through
my siblings' experience, how fulfilling and well-rounded their education
and college-life was. The prestige of the faculty and university
didn't hurt, either," said Melissa.
Now Chief Technology Officer at Vision Solutions, Henry is in charge
of research, engineering, technical publications and product management.
The company, which produces software that ensures customers can
always access their data, was able to assist many businesses after
Hurricane Katrina. He holds two U.S. patents, and his brother Rene,
one. Over the course of Henry's career, he has worked at a number
of companies, including Pacific Enterprises, Excellon, Leviton,
Northrop Electronics, and Garrett AiResearch.
"Every time the space shuttle lands, it runs a computer program
that I wrote, long ago, for Garrett AiResearch," he noted. "When
I left UCLA, I was responsible for delivering digital controls for
many different kinds of things - turbine engines, solar power systems,
lasers, aircraft structures, and utility distribution systems. With
the broad-based knowledge I received at UCLA, I was able to design
optimal computer controls for each application because I already
had an awareness of its basic principles. This really distinguished
me and helped me quickly succeed in my career."
Added Henry, "I firmly believe that the Boelter-style curriculum
is very important in these days of off-shoring. As the world outsources
more and more commodity niche skills, the value of a broad engineering
background increases. This is because people with such training
are better able to synthesize solutions across a wider range of
problems and manage the components that comprise the overall project,
whether the work is done at home, abroad, or both."
Rosanna, a process specialist in photolithography on specialized
substrates at HRL Laboratories in Malibu, has always been involved
in microelectronics work. At UCLA, she discovered that "it helped
to learn to have the right problem solving approach but also have
the right attitude when dealing with difficulties and challenges
from day to day."
An assistant program manager at Northrop Grumman, Rene is responsible
for ensuring that the necessary hardware is produced to meet customer
requirements and delivery dates. Although he received the broad
engineering degree, his area of expertise was chemical engineering.
"The labs in chemistry and chemical engineering were very demanding,
with a lot of writing, tables, and graphs," Rene said. "It was there
that I learned how to plan and execute a project and how to analyze
the data - the lab experience has helped me throughout my career."
Melissa is a project engineer and group leader at CH2M HILL for
the Transportation Business Group in Los Angeles. She worked previously
at Parsons Brinckerhoff and Caltrans, where she gained experience
in many facets of the transportation field, from construction to
highway geometrics. "My class in design and construction of tall
buildings was most enjoyable, even though my model got crushed on
the way to my final presentation - in my sister's car," she laughed.
"Now she gets an SUV."
UCLA, though, was about more than just engineering. Rene's memories
include, "going to the Rose Bowl in 1983 and 1984 and watching UCLA
win. I also remember camping out for every basketball game - rain
or shine." Rosanna remembers, "staying up late studying with friends,
and then taking a break to go see a late show at one of the Westwood
movie theaters, and the Latin bands playing on Saturdays at Janss
Steps." For Henry, the Engineering Society was a "home away from
home, with a lounge on the 3rd floor where one could study or play
games." And Melissa recollects "the long walk to north campus for
some non-engineering vibes, stumbling into Kerckhoff for coffee,
and some amazing concerts on campus."
Since it welcomed its first class in 1945, UCLA Engineering has
been home to generations of engineers. But few outside of the Martinezes
can claim four Bruin engineers in one family.
- Marlys Amundson
Photos courtesy Henry Martinez
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