The Kleinfelder Blog

Kleinfelder’s SoCal Area and Los Angeles office is pleased to both welcome Kevin Barrera Mejia as a new associate engineer and also celebrate Kevin’s Guatemalan roots during Hispanic Heritage Month.

In his new role, Kevin focuses on analyzing natural gas system integrity for a major energy company and provides valuable insight into the safety of their systems.

“Kevin has great curiosity for the projects we are working on, and we are excited to have him on the team,” said his manager, Tom Cunningham.

During Hispanic Heritage Month, Kevin shared with us how his Guatemalan heritage played into his becoming an engineer.

“Growing up in a Guatemalan household, I was always encouraged to pursue higher education and take opportunities my parents never had,” he said. “While my parents were always there to support me, it was difficult for my sister and I to navigate college and our career as first-generation students.”

Kevin said that his 2020-21 school year at UC Santa Barbara brought more difficulty, as classes were solely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When he was able to attend in person his second year, he joined Los Ingenieros (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers), an organization that focused on helping Hispanic students in STEM majors.

“I felt at home with Los Ingenieros, where they provided me social, professional, and academic aid,” he said. “I became Academic Chair my junior year and Co-Chair my senior year. As Co-Chair, I made sure to mentor all the underclass mechanical engineers and provide them with the advice and resources I wish I had.

“I also made sure that everyone in our organization felt heard and part of our ‘FamiLIa.’ A huge part of our culture is that we are very family oriented, and I wanted to carry that message within Los Ingenieros. I always felt that mentoring within the Hispanic Community should be a priority, as a lot of us don’t have experience in STEM fields or even life within the U.S. My dedication to Los Ingenieros became very apparent when many of the members attended my graduation and not only congratulated me, but also thanked me for what I was able to give to them. I hope to continue this influence so that one day, another first-gen Guatemalan student has someone to look up to.”

Kevin added that one of the things he most appreciates about his Guatemalan culture is how closely it’s tied with Mayan culture — so much so that they’re known as the Mayan capital of the world. Kevin added that his parents and grandparents not only speak Spanish, but also K’iche’ (Quiché), one of the many Mayan dialects.