Meet the newest summer intern for International Truck & Engine’s Logistics department!  Pedro Castaneda Ibarra is a first-year Illinois MBA student from Guadalajara, Mexico.  This summer, his internship will deal with the operational aspects of all the plants in both North and South America, including Mexico. 

With an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering, Pedro began his career at Cerraduras Tesa, a Swedish owned corporation with over 100 companies around the world.  Cerraduras Tesa is a member of Assa Abloy Group, a corporation that manufactures and supplies locking solutions for the purposes of security, safety, and convenience.  Pedro began as a junior buyer, and received several promotions.  Before leaving his job to join the Illinois MBA program, he was a senior galvanic process planner and was in charge of the whole supply of galvanic products to the company. 

Now, Pedro spends his days participating in discussions during class, meeting with his teammates to complete assignments and to study for exams, and helping the admissions office to recruit next year’s class.  But he still finds time to relax – he enjoys playing sports, especially basketball, and he also participated in the Illinois MBA weekly bowling league last semester.  As President of the MBA Latin American Society, he recently gave salsa lessons to his classmates as part of the celebration of International Week.  He also spends time hanging out with his wife, Gaby – in fact, Gaby and Pedro just celebrated their first anniversary this year. 

Though he was accepted to a number of MBA programs, Pedro joined the Illinois MBA program because he felt so welcome when he visited campus for his interview.  Now that his first year is almost over, he is still impressed by the warmth and friendliness of the staff, faculty, and his classmates.  He also claims to enjoy the variety of seasons – although that’s easy to say now that winter is over and the weather is warmer. 

With his professional experience at Cerraduras Tesa and his upcoming internship with International, Pedro is well equipped to find a position in operations for a major manufacturing corporation.  He plans to graduate with concentrations in Operations and Finance, and his favorite class is Operations Analysis with Nick Petruzzi.  Don’t be surprised if you pick up the Wall Street Journal one morning on your work and find an article about Pedro and his success as a COO.