An Electrical Engineering Internship in Santa Fe, Argentina

Bruce Rae (EE 98)

Many people find it odd that I would delay starting my new job, having graduated in May, to take an internship for the summer in Argentina. To me, however, it makes perfect sense. What better time to tie together all my studies as an undergraduate and put it all into perspective than right after graduation, and right before I begin my career?

As an undergraduate, in addition to studying Electrical Engineering and Spanish, I was part of the International Honors Program (IHP), directed by Dr. Miguel Medina. This program is designed for engineering students who wish to expand their engineering studies to include a more international curriculum. As such, that student chooses an area to study, and studies all aspects of that area, including the language, history, culture, and politics. Also, the student is required to either study or work in that area. Ultimately, the goal of the program is to prepare engineers to be able to operate successfully in the international world of engineering. With the expansion of global markets and the increased communications between countries and cultures, it is more important than ever for an engineer, or any person in the business world, to have an understanding of other cultures, and to be able to work within these cultures. This is important not only to be able to succeed in American firms as they begin to expand their operations internationally, but also to be able to work harmoniously within a workforce with a diverse makeup.

Coming to Duke as a Freshman, I already knew that I wanted to be part of the IHP program, and that I wanted to study Latin America, as I already had experience working there as a health volunteer, and basically fell in love with the culture, language, and people. I began taking classes related to Latin America, in addition to my Electrical Engineering curriculum. These classes ranged from the history and politics of Latin America to modern colloquial Spanish. While these classes gave me a very good understanding of the area, I don't think that I had a true understanding until I went to Argentina. Actually living and working in the culture, experiencing everything about it, helped me bring together everything that I had learned in each of my classes, and helped me see how each little thing that I learned fit in the greater scheme of things. While I did have previous experience working as a health volunteer in several countries in Latin America, this was my first experience actually working in the business world and interacting with people in a business environment. This gave me an entirely new perspective with respect to Latin America.

I spent about two months in Argentina in the city of Santa Fe, which is about six hours north of the capital and largest city, Buenos Aires. There, I lived with a family of five: three sons, a mother and a father. This family took me in and treated me like another one of the brothers, and made me truly feel like I was a member of an Argentine family. In the mornings I worked at la Empresa Provincial de la Energia (EPE), the local power company, and after the afternoon siesta (a cultural phenomenon which took very little time for me to get used to) I worked with a research group at the local technological university.

The first couple of weeks were difficult. While I did have a good understanding of the Spanish language before going down, I had a very difficult time adjusting to the new accent and local dialect, which sounds a lot like Spanish with an Italian accent, and a whole different verb conjugation from what I was used to. I began to adjust, however, and by the end it seemed to me that people from Latin American countries outside of Argentina had funny accents, and Argentina was the norm.

I also realized early on that the training I had as an Electrical Engineer was very different from my Argentine counterparts. While I studied mostly electronics and solid state devices, they studied and worked in power supply and distribution. As one coworker put it, I studied everything inside of the wall socket, and they studied everything outside of the wall socket. At first, this created difficulties at work because I did not have as much of a background on the work that my coworkers were doing as I might have liked. However, I was put on a project that allowed me to both learn about the power utility industry and the engineering behind it as well as produce a valuable research report for the company.

Working in Argentina, especially with a public utility company, made me realize that business is not done the same way everywhere. I began to understand the intricacies of working specifically in Argentina, and how they differed from the way business is done in the United States. I learned the importance of making personal contacts and connections with the people that you work with, and the importance of establishing a very personal rapport with a person before conducting business. These bonds were often strengthened over a cup of mate (pronounced "mah tay"), a local herbal tea which would be passed around a circle and shared.

What most surprised me in Argentina was the culture. Having been in other Latin American countries, I thought I knew what to expect. While every Latin American country has its own distinct culture, it always seemed to me that there was a common underlying Latin American culture that united them. However, I came to realize that there is a very strong European influence in the Argentine culture, due to large amounts of European immigration into the country, which makes it very different from every other Latin American country.

What left the deepest impression on me, however, were the people. The way that my coworkers, my host family, and others accepted me made me feel like I belonged. The kindness that even near strangers extended me, inviting me out for mate or a traditional Argentina "asado" (bar-b-que), was uplifting and reminded me of the way that I aspire to treat others.

While the experience itself was invaluable in terms of gaining experience working abroad and understanding how business is done in Argentina and Latin America, it meant more to me in so many other ways. For one thing, it helped me bring to a conclusion all of my studies at Duke. It helped me to truly understand and bring together everything that I studied in classes or in books, as true understanding is gained through experience rather than through indirect study. For example, instead of reading about the atrocities committed by the Argentine military government during the "dirty war" of the 70's and 80's, I had the opportunity to live and work with people who were directly affected by it, and understand how it influenced who they are and how they define themselves as a country. Things like this, although I was familiar with them through my studies before I arrived, really had no meaning to me until I saw people directly affected by them. Also, living and working with such wonderful people in such a beautiful culture was both refreshing and uplifting, and reminded me how I aspire to live my life. The friendships that I made in Argentina are ones that will last me a lifetime, and might be the most valuable things I take back with me.

I start my new job in three days, and I can think of no better thing to have done this summer than what I did in Argentina. Right now I feel more prepared in so many ways than I would have been if I started immediately after graduation. Not only will I feel more confident working with our Latin American clients (which is what I will hopefully be doing), having now had the experience working in Latin America this summer, but I also feel spiritually and personally renewed. I am thankful for the opportunity to have gotten to be with such wonderful people, and to experience a culture which was nothing like I expected it to be, and a part of which I know I bring back with me. However, now when I have a business meeting with someone, I hope that they are not too surprised when I insist that it be over a cup of mate.