Engr. Richard Drix Piatos
“Begin with the end in mind. If you have a clear picture of what you want to be years from now, you can make sure that your choices …are in the right direction.”
True enough, Engr. Richard Drix Piatos had the end in mind even during his undergraduate studies. For Engr. Piatos, currently a Senior Automation Engineer and an MS Engineering Management graduate, having an answer to what one is trying to accomplish will help in the critical decisions such as taking a master’s degree or working in the industry.
He has gained experience in design and development of automated processes to increase the efficiency of operations. This gives him a wide latitude to other fields such as the integration of electrical engineering and mechanical engineering known as mechatronics.
Aside from his current work, Engr. Piatos has also been active at serving as guest speaker in seminars and workshops in different educational institutions to inspire the next generation of engineers.
Engr. Piatos credits DEE in helping him focus on learning and improving – from academic and industrial challenges and failures. To this, Engr. Piatos says that “DEE instilled in me to always think outside the box whenever a challenge comes upfront. This skill comes nothing short in the technology industry and helped me accelerate my career.” For Engr. Piatos, EE 120 (Digital Electronics), EE 126 (Industrial Electronics), EE 130 (Fundamentals of Instrumentation), EE 131 (Control Systems Analysis), and EE 165 (Microprocessor-Based Design) were the courses used in the field of automation and control.
Among the favorite memories that Engr. Piatos treasures is that he was part of DEE’s representative in the 12th SWEEP Excellence Awards. He adds that he enjoyed projects in the electronics engineering specialization courses, especially building a Star Wars BB8 robot and a Rube Goldberg Machine.
Engr. Piatos has definitely gone a long way from making projects for electronics courses to inspiring younger generations of future engineers.
The DEE Featured Alumni series is a series of articles that showcase the successes and accomplishments of the many BSEE alumni from UPLB. | Edward Joseph Maguindayao and Kyrstynne Ureta, March 2022