Engineer climbs to the top
Jaime F. Argudo is no stranger to climbing to the top, whether it’s walking up the 1,665 stairs at the Eiffel Tower, scaling the San Pedro Cathedral in Rome or getting to a higher rung on the corporate ladder by landing GlenMartin’s lead structural engineering position overseeing the company’s Latin American engineering operations.
Argudo, 44, accepted his new position in July, and his responsibilities include overseeing the design and engineering of steel tower structures, providing technical support to GlenMartin projects in Latin America and conducting additional product research and development plans.
The structural engineer, who lives in Boonville, got a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Universidad Católica de Guayaquil in Ecuador. In 2002, Argudo moved to the United States to attend graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin, where he got a master’s degree in engineering in 2003 and a Ph.D. in 2006.
When Argudo was a young boy in Guayaquil, he knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up: an engineer. Argudo can vividly remember playing Legos on his parent’s living room floor.
Prior to working at GlenMartin, Argudo was an engineer for Walter P. Moore and Associates, a structural engineering firm of retractable roofs and high-rise building designs. WPMA is the designer of the longest retractable roof in the world for the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
Argudo gained extensive management experience as the head of the Research and Development at Universidad Católica of Guayaquil. In his position he oversaw over 20 members, including professors, researchers, students and administrative staff. Argudo’s research includes earthquake engineering, forensic engineering and structural assessment, repair, and retrofitting of structures.
When Argudo isn’t working, he enjoys reading, traveling, playing chess, tennis, soccer and spending time with his three children: Carolina, 16; Fernanda, 13; and Jamie, 10. Argudo has traveled to more than 30 countries, and when he visits a new place, he looks for the highest point he can climb to seize the view. Prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, Argudo climbed the Twin Towers in New York City, the Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador and, according to Argudo, a “not-so-difficult” peak in the Himalayas in Nepal. ϖ
Booneville company opens offices in China and Mexico
BOONVILLE – GlenMartin, a global tower solutions provider with its headquarters in Booneville, opened additional offices in Beijing, Mexico City and Tianjin, China.
GlenMartin’s information technology team has relocated computer networking resources and its high-speed datacenter in St. Louis, according to a release. Their goal, the release stated, is to enhance redundancy and availability of computer network resources.