Dr. Ray Aguas (BSME 1990) recognizes that the economic sector is important and needs good people, and that’s why he chose to teach. He felt there was a greater need for him to help shape students who are interested in pursuing a career in corporate.

Photo shows Ray with his mother Flory, who passed away on 4 March 2020 at the of 90 years old.

Why did you choose a career in education?

The corporate sector is important and needs good people there who can bring their values to bear. And we need good people in education to help form the people who will go to corporate. People will tend to gravitate towards corporate because of economic reasons. I felt there was a greater need for me in education.

How are you able to apply the lessons you learned in ME in your work?

There are a lot of inefficiencies, whether in meetings, or memos, or syllabi and curricula. A lot of what is done is simply because “that’s how we’ve always done it.” But once you can show people a better, more efficient, more rational way of doing things, change can begin to happen. So we’ve streamlined our operations in things like assigning sections, reducing class sizes, hiring, etc. at least in our department.

What advice can you give young ME students and grads?

You won’t make as much money as you could elsewhere. Nowhere near. But there are advantages to being in education. Time is a big thing. I can basically fix my own schedule for when I teach. Plus you get sem break, summer break, etc. And the psychic income is huge.

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