Q&A: Alum Brings Industrial Engineering to the World of Wine
Angelica Gutierrez, who earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in May 2021, is thinking big. She balanced her studies, clubs, internships and even playing in a mariachi band while attending the UA. Now, she’s just as busy laying it down in California’s wine country at E. & J. Gallo Winery, headquartered in Modesto. The world’s largest family-owned winery boasts 20,000 acres of vineyards and a multibillion-dollar annual income.
What brought you to the University of Arizona, and why did you choose industrial engineering?
I was born and raised in Tucson, and almost all of my family has gone to the University of Arizona. My uncles are electrical engineers at Raytheon, and so was my father, who passed away in 2004.
I had my mind set on electrical and computer engineering, but after my first programming class I realized it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. I did some digging into the different majors and found myself interested in industrial engineering. Once I started taking classes and looking into career paths, I knew it was the right fit.
How did you wind up interning at a winery?
I found out about E. & J. Gallo Winery when they were recruiting for their Sales Development Program in a management class I took. The idea of working in a fun industry that creates products for a diverse range of customers interested me, so I looked into their career website and found some internships for the process technology department.
The six-month internship was an opportunity to get more in-person experience after being virtual in school for over a year, plus doing a virtual internship at W.L. Gore. Once I got there, I realized that I really enjoyed working in the wine industry and with their Winery Systems Engineering team. You don’t think engineering would be required for manufacturing a product like wine, but engineering is vital for a company of Gallo’s size.
What about in your new role as an employee?
Now I’ve joined Gallo’s Technical Development Management Program, a three-year rotation program for engineering graduates to develop management experience. For my first rotation, I am a business relationship manager in our Modesto headquarters IT department, where I’ll continue working on digitization. Since the position is new, I have some flexibility, but as of right now I will be focused on starting up new solutions that digitize processes and information collected.