As a senior at Carl Hayden Community High School in Phoenix, Oscar Vazquez couldn’t have anticipated one class would change the course of his life. Yet two dedicated teachers, the ingenuity of four students and one robotics competition did just that. In 2004, Vazquez and three high school classmates won a prestigious national underwater robotics competition sponsored by NASA and the Office of Naval Research. They beat high-flying college teams including the reigning champions, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The accomplishment propelled Vazquez into a technical career, and this year he joined BNSF as a locomotive foreman in Glendive, Mont. “I had no idea how this competition would affect my life. It helped me to be able to go to Arizona State University and get my degree. I also found out that I really liked engineering and technology.” After college, Vazquez went to Mexico and worked in the auto industry, then came back to serve in the U.S. military. For his next career, a veteran recommended he apply for a position at BNSF, and he was hired as part of BNSF’s Experienced First Line Supervisor (EFLS) Program. Read the full story on the Friends of BNSF website bit.ly/1AWicf9
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 14:53:50 +0000
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