What motivated Juan Manuel Alvarez to join the industry was his passion for working on anything mechanical. "Since I was a child, I enjoyed breaking my toys apart to understand how they operated and what made them work," he explained. "I guess growing up in an aviation community, my passion grew into love for aviation and ever since then, I cannot get enough."
When Alvarez joined NASA, he met Patrick Lloyd, Branch Chief of Aircraft Maintenance, NASA, who is his mentor and supervisor, and says, molded him into who he is today. "He guided me as a young intern who did not know much about aviation to who I am today," Alvarez said.
Alvarez was trained through NASA as a pathways intern, where he had the luxury of going to school and getting on the job training. "Everything I learned from the books at school, I was able to get a good grasp of in person on the job, which I personally thought was invaluable," he mentioned. He has also received advanced training on NASA’s ER2 and C20 aircraft.
Lloyd, who nominated Alvarez for this award said that his "knowledge, dedication, passion, eagerness to learn and the overall professional attitude he brings to the ER-2 Program makes him a deserving candidate for this Award. Alvarez started his NASA career in June of 2016 as an intern in engine shop and he immediately made a positive impression with his NASA coworkers."
Alvarez became part of the Pathways program in September of 2016 and was assigned to the ER-2 science platform in addition to going to school fulltime for his A&P license. He completed all his course work and successfully passed all the FAA tests the first time and received his A&P license. He was converted to a full-time employee in July 2018, where he remained on the ER-2 program.
"Juan continues to impress his peers he works with and has shown great progress in his knowledge of all aspects of aircraft maintenance," mentioned Lloyd. "Juan has shown flexibility by successfully working with DC-8 and C-20 crews while being assigned as a maintenance technician on the ER-2. In his short time on the ER-2 Juan has already played a key role in the success of several ER-2 deployments to Hawaii and Georgia. Juan is always the first to volunteer for any job, no matter how dirty or difficult. His great personality, sense of humor and work ethic make him a great crew member and very sought after by other crews when they need additional help. His technical knowledge and performance are far above his pay grade and his dedication, work ethic and can-do attitude are recognized by his peers. Juan's efforts are greatly appreciated and it’s very evident Mr. Alvarez is and will be a future asset to NASA. His potential to grow and advance are unlimited."
Alvarez says his career goals are to one day become the chief of maintenance at NASA and learn to work on as many aircraft as he can possibly can and be a part of as many X-planes as he can be a part of before I get there.
