Francisco Castillo This is Me

Education

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1. 1. www.eaop.org

   www.eaop.org/alumni/castillo.h - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/8/2008   Last Visited: 6/8/2008

   Francisco CastilloEAOP - Alumni Profiles - Castillo
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   Francisco Castillo
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   Francisco Castillo
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   A native of Nicaragua and first-generation college student, Francisco earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in structural engineering from UC Berkeley, where he graduated with honors.He is currently a partner in FTF Engineering in San Francisco, California, where he designs multimillion dollar commercial and residential buildings.
   
   While many of the teachers at Mission High School were supportive of his desire to learn, Francisco recalls that most people in his neighborhood believed college was not within their reach."That's the culture I grew up in. College was not a reality.Then, EAOP showed up to help me."
   
   Francisco recalls his experience in the Berkeley EAOP Pre-College Academy (PCA) summer program as a turning point in his life."Like most of my classmates in high school I knew of UC Berkeley, but the idea of attending the University seemed more like a dream than an actual possibility.I still remember being in the 10th grade and going with my Dad on a Saturday to the PCA orientation meeting on the campus.I fell in love with UC Berkeley and I knew that was the place where I wanted to study civil engineering."
   
   In addition to attending the Berkeley PCA two summers in a row, Francisco also participated in Saturday SAT preparation workshops-offered through EAOP on the San Francisco Community College campus-and attended special sessions where his EAOP mentors read and critiqued his college essay.EAOP did more for Francisco than give him the information about how to apply to UC, it provided inspiration as well.
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   Throughout high school, Francisco looked up to his EAOP advisors as people who had achieved his goal of graduating from college in the United States.Even more, they were helping those who wanted to follow in their footsteps."They served as an example to me, that in order to be truly successful, you need to achieve your own goals and then help others achieve theirs.This realization awoke in me the desire to help students achieve their goals of higher education."
   
   To this day, Francisco stays active helping students with similar backgrounds.He has worked as a mentor and advisor for the Charles Tunstall Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP) at UC Berkeley.He serves as a motivational speaker for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF).He also returned to his roots in Berkeley PCA by serving as a speaker for that program as well, talking to students about his work and experiences.He's looking forward to working as an instructor for the Academic Talent Development Program (ATDP) sponsored by the Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley this summer (2007), where he will teach an introductory course in engineering to high school students.
   
   In his motivational speeches for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Francisco assures parents that there will be a way to pay for college through numerous financial aid opportunities."When parents ask me how they will pay for college, I tell them to focus on getting their students to apply.Don't worry about the money; there will be a way to pay for school."
   
   Francisco has advice for students as well: "Don't be afraid to ask for help.
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   Francisco achieved his college dream of attending Berkeley.Once on campus, however, he faced questions from fellow students about whether he belonged there."Any time a minority student enters any college," Francisco notes, "there is always a question about how he or she got there.Some students handle that perception issue better than others."Francisco's approach was to prove through is performance that he belonged."People can criticize and question anything but results.My grades and the quality of my work spoke for me and proved why I was at UC Berkeley."
   
   Francisco honors his parents-Jose and Indiana-for their emotional and financial support in putting him through college.They worked tirelessly to help put him through school and provided him with the work ethic that made his success possible.His father worked 14-hour days as a dishwasher and his mother 7 day-weeks as an in-home care-giver."They have always been my main motivation and moral compass.They are without a doubt the reason I got through college."He also drew inspiration from his Aunt Gladys, who told him that college was his destiny."She always believed in me and taught me and trained me to be the best student I could."
   
   Francisco presently draws his inspiration and support from Sonia, his wife of three years.Sharing a similar background, Sonia's parents worked picking fruit in the fields near Santa Cruz.She shares Francisco's passion for engineering and his work ethic.

2. 2. FTF Engineering, Inc. - About Us

   www.ftfengineering.com/aboutus - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/7/2007   Last Visited: 6/7/2007

   Click here to send mail to Francisco Castillo Francisco Castillo earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in structural engineering from U.C. Berkeley where he graduated with honors. For the last 5 years he has practiced structural engineering at Middlebrook+Louie, OLMM Consulting Engineers and at Structural Design Engineers where he held the title of Associate.
   
   He has worked primarily on large steel and concrete buildings, including retrofit of existing structures. Some of the projects he has worked on include the Moscone West Expansion Project (an 800,000 sq ft convention center in San Francisco), the dorms for the California College of Arts in Oakland, the Police Facility in the City of Lodi, Richland Memorial Hospital in South Carolina and a Ford dealership in Walnut Creek.
   
   Francisco's past experience has taught him that the key to a successful project lies in communication. Listening and understanding the needs of the owner, architect and contractor helps anticipate and avoid many possible conflicts during the life of a project.
   
   He now brings his experience and communication skills to FTF Engineering to complement an already talented staff.
   
   In addition, Francisco is also passionate for helping in his community. As an Hispanic engineer he helps others like himself through programs such as U.C. Berkeley's Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP).

3. 3. www.eaop.org

   www.eaop.org/outcomes/hist_suc - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/15/2005   Last Visited: 6/8/2008

   Francisco Castillo, Engineer and Partner, FTF Engineering, Inc.