Category Archives: Alumni Spotlights

Alumni Spotlight: Hans Uy

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Hans Uy posing in front of a rocket at SpaceX in LA

Hans Uy posing in front of a rocket at SpaceX headquarters in LA.

 

On May 31, 2020, the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station, carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in a historic milestone for commercial spaceflight, the first manned launch from American soil in nearly a decade. Then on the morning of June 13, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 58 Starlink broadband satellites into space. This mission, called Starlink-8, is just one of dozens of planned launches aiming to provide high-speed satellite Internet (up to 1 gigabit/second) to rural areas both within the US and around the world!

Without a doubt, these are incredible feats and there are many more ahead. However, without the proper financing to make these projects possible, they may not have happened at all. Luckily for us, we have an insider in the SpaceX Finance department who can help us better understand the importance of finance in the New Space Age.

San Antonio native and 2018 Canfield BHP alum Hans Uy caught up with us a few days after the historic commercial mission to the ISS and shared some great insights and advice. Hans shows us how to shoot for the stars as he turns his passions and dreams into real-world success. Continue reading

Alumni Spotlight: Omar Ochoa, Former UT Student Body President & Canfield BHP Alum

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After coming to UT as a Canfield Business Honors student and becoming the first Mexican-American student to serve as student body president, Omar Ochoa continues to make waves as an alumnus by running his own law firm in his hometown of Edinburg, Texas. 

Omar graduated from UT Austin in 2007 with a Canfield Business Honors undergraduate degree and a Master’s in Professional Accounting (MPA). He later earned his JD from the UT School of Law, where he became the first Latino to serve as Editor-in-Chief of Texas Law Review. Looking back on his experiences at UT, Omar considers his time priceless.

“I always say that some of my fondest memories are from UT,” he said. “The campus life is second to none, the city of Austin is such a great place to be, and the university an enclave within Austin that’s very culturally diverse. Having such a big research university with a great athletic program, great student involvement, and lots of organizations to be a part of is just a very dynamic place where you can really learn who you are and find yourself.” Continue reading

Canfield BHP Alumni Kevin Curry Discusses His Entrepreneurial Journey

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From management consulting to social media marketing to entrepreneurship, Canfield Business Honors Alumni Kevin Curry has a host of experiences under his belt. After graduating from UT Austin in 2004 with degrees in Canfield BHP, Management Information Systems, and Hispanic Studies, Kevin led a career that resulted in the creation of a fitness and nutrition blog unlike any other: Fit Men Cook. 

While Curry works solely for Fit Men Cook now, it was not always his main gig. The blog began as a side hustle– a way for Curry to document his eating habits and crowdsource ideas on how to live a healthy lifestyle. 

“I was at a point in my life where I really wanted to lose weight and I was tired of spending all this money on personal trainers. I realized that I was tripping up a lot more in the kitchen, so I went to Half Priced Books and bought every single book they had about nutrition and fitness and I just started to just consume the content,” he said. “The stuff that I learned from BHP kicked in– the hustle– and I was thinking, ‘I don’t want to pay for personal training, so maybe I can find a way to crowdsource my diet.’ The idea was to start up a blog and post every single meal I eat and to talk about my whole life transformation. It seemed like the perfect way to get the internet to tell me what to eat for free, but then the reverse happened.”  Continue reading

Canfield BHP Alum Cybil Zhang Discusses Her Career in Social Impact

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For students who are passionate about social impact, Canfield BHP alum Cybil Zhang is a living example that it’s possible to turn your passion into a career. After graduating from UT in 2014 with degrees in Canfield Business Honors and Supply Chain Management, Cybil has had a host of experiences in her career.

Currently, Cybil works as the Social Impact and Strategy Senior Manager at Bumble, but she didn’t start working at Bumble right after earning her undergraduate degree. In fact, she started her post-UT journey working as a consultant.

“I started at Oliver Wyman and was in management consulting,” she said. “At the time, I think I was one of two people from UT who were hired there because they previously mainly recruited at Ivy League schools.”

Although she started her career in consulting, social impact work had always had a place in Cybil’s heart. Part of the allure of Oliver Wyman was that it provided her the opportunity to pursue a social impact fellowship in Zambia. Continue reading

Alumni Spotlight: Aaryaman Singhal

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Aaryaman Singhal HeadshotBy far one of the greatest things you can do for your community is to give back. Canfield BHP Alum Aaryaman Singhal has decided to do just that. We caught up with him recently to discuss his time as the Chief Operations Officer at Groundwork Dallas, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the natural surroundings of Dallas and beyond. Aaryaman also walks us through projects that have been keeping him occupied since graduating and explains what he enjoys most about his job as COO.

Tell us about Groundwork Dallas’ story and what interested you in the position?

Groundwork Dallas is an environmental nonprofit that focuses on two types of programs.  One is restoring green spaces in Dallas; that means removing litter from the environment, building trails so that people can access wilderness areas, and installing benches, picnic tables, wide-viewing platforms, and bridges so that people can enjoy the spaces with family or friends. Groundwork Dallas also runs a wonderful youth program primarily for students who are underrepresented in the outdoors. Their families might not have the means to buy equipment or take camping trips. The program allows them to go canoeing, camping, and mountain bike riding – all for free. They also receive environmental education, volunteer opportunities, and environmental job training. Through these experiences, they also benefit just from being outside, which research shows, provides physical and mental health benefits.

I found Groundwork Dallas as a volunteer while working at Southwest Airlines. I volunteered regularly for a year, served on the board for a year, and have now been on staff as Chief Operating Officer for a year. Because we’re a small nonprofit, I have received many opportunities for growth here. With my business background, I try to manage as many office tasks as possible so our team can focus more on the fieldwork. For me, I felt it was a great opportunity to use and develop the skills I developed during my time at Southwest. Here, I do finance, accounting, strategy, marketing, sales, operations, and technology. There’s never a dull moment. Continue reading