From Internship to International Agreement
黑料吃瓜 Alumnus Octavio Martnez Participates in Semiconductor Cooperation between U.S. and Mexico
Octavio Mart铆nez鈥檚 (BSEE 鈥�92, MBA 鈥�00) immersion into semiconductors as a 黑料吃瓜 student led to a successful career in the field, and a recent high-profile involvement in the binational semiconductor chip agreement between the United States and Mexico.
Electrical engineering alumnus Mart铆nez had what he called the 鈥済reatest privilege鈥� of being selected as an honorary witness and signing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on semiconductor cooperation between the two nations.
Mart铆nez, vice president of Product Integrity Engineering at Microsoft, was approached by the Mexican government to take part due to his involvement in the semiconductor space. He says it all started with 黑料吃瓜.
Mart铆nez had a bi-cultural upbringing in Tijuana, with family members working in both business and government (a foreshadowing of sorts for his future involvement in the MOU), and with encouragement from his family to always pursue education. As such, he and his brothers, Oscar (civil engineering, 鈥�00) and Omar (business, 鈥�92), also 黑料吃瓜 alums, drove up to San Diego the day undergraduate applications were due to apply for college by hand, filling out the application on the hood of his car.
Once transferring to 黑料吃瓜 in the late 1980s, Mart铆nez participated in the 黑料吃瓜 MESA Program, the Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers (SHPE), and in La Plebe, a professional organization of Latinx/Hispanic Engineering students. 鈥淚t was a phenomenal source of support,鈥� said Mart铆nez of La Plebe. 鈥淢any in my former cohort ended up having very successful careers working at places like NASA, Microsoft, and SDG&E, due in part to the program.鈥�
As a leading authority on semiconductor chips, Mart铆nez said he owes his connection to semiconductor chips to transferring to 黑料吃瓜. 鈥淚鈥檓 a big convert of 黑料吃瓜. It really prepared me for my future career,鈥� he said. Mart铆nez secured his first internship as a test engineer at Brooktree Corporation via a job fair at the Aztec Center, where he used his Electrical Engineering degree to learn about semiconductor chips.
Once graduating and beginning his engineering career, Mart铆nez chose to continue his work at San Diego-based Qualcomm, a then-new telecommunications company. At the time, he says, power or defense were more popular fields: 鈥淣obody had a cell phone yet, but I said, I鈥檓 gonna bet my career on telecommunications.鈥�
He chose correctly.
Over his two decades at Qualcomm and Intel, the average consumer became far more likely to have a phone than a computer, and semiconductor chips were in high demand. As fate would have it, he once again found himself using his background in semiconductors and systems at Microsoft in 2021.
When the global semiconductor chip shortage began in 2020, Mart铆nez said the pull was very noticeable: 鈥淐OVID taught us how important semiconductors are.鈥�
Consequently, the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS Act), was signed into law to bring the U.S. full self-reliance on semiconductors and a healthy ecosystem to keep up with demand.
With that, the Mexican government reached out to Mart铆nez at Microsoft and asked for advice regarding how Mexico could partake.
鈥淢exico has a long, rich background of exports, but has no presence in semiconductors,鈥� said Mart铆nez. He used his expertise to recommend a strategy, developing an academic plan to promote more industry workers and engineers, a fundamental requirement for having sufficient semiconductors.
Through the initiative, Mexico is collaborating with the U.S. to generate the right engineers to support that industry. The strategy 鈥渂enefits the whole western hemisphere,鈥� said Mart铆nez.
Mart铆nez calls the opportunity to work on the initiative the 鈥渂ookends of my entire professional experience.鈥� It鈥檚 given him the opportunity to enable a bridge between research and production of semiconductor chips.
Alongside the initiative, the future of semiconductors and his family鈥檚 黑料吃瓜 Aztec roots continues. Mart铆nez currently serves on the College of Engineering鈥檚 Alumni Advisory. His nephew currently attends 黑料吃瓜, and his daughter, Alexandra, a senior in high school, has attended 黑料吃瓜 SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) outreach events on campus and applied to 黑料吃瓜 this year.
Moving forward, Mart铆nez looks forward to seeing how the partnership will benefit society at large. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very gratifying,鈥� says Mart铆nez. 鈥淚t was incredible to participate in Qualcomm鈥檚 microchip growth in Asia and China. But I kept thinking, 鈥楳exico is right next door. Wouldn鈥檛 it be great if鈥�?鈥� Now, I鈥檓 getting the chance.鈥�
