Even at a young age, David Diaz found great satisfaction in helping people. No matter if they were family, friends, neighbors or strangers, David felt good when he could support someone else and make their circumstances better.

As he began to develop computer technology skills and career interests around process improvement, he found he could marry those with his passion for making life better for others. That may seem like an unlikely pairing for an applications engineer. But it was a natural blend for David.

He has worked on projects that have spanned the world including to the country of Algeria in north-central Africa. It’s in the Sahara Desert where water is quite scarce, but essential to support life. His client needed his help with its water reclaiming efforts for steam generation. Its goal was to expand current power generation in the North African country.

A program like steam generation in the dry desert is quite complex and involves many operations such as research, water collection, chemical applications, filtration, storage and distribution. These require lots of people, cutting-edge technology, small and large equipment, and precise accountability for every step. David’s roles included engineering and selection of control valve elements and was responsible for documenting many of the processes to ensure the equipment was suitable for application.

David thrives in these situations because of his skills, his reliability, his high personal and professional standards and his love for giving hope and better circumstances to people without the ability to do so by themselves.

“I’ve always liked helping others and I love science. This job provides me with the opportunity everyday to meld the two together,” David said. “I enjoy advising and increasing efficiency and output for companies that are doing important work for the communities they serve.”

When COVID-19 was discovered in 2019, thousands of people became sick. It soon became a worldwide pandemic causing people to die every day. The world was desperate for relief from the disease. David’s company engaged with a biochemical company which was on the path to creating a vaccine to help stop the spread of the disease and save millions of lives.

His client had the technology and scientific knowledge to create medicine, but it needed added expertise to make its process of producing its product much faster, more efficient and with precise accuracy. As an applications engineer, David handled process control optimization which was essential to improving his client’s processes to get their medicine fully developed.

David’s talents and accomplishments have solidified the value of his work and his marketability in the industry. But he recognizes he had help along his journey of success. The 2014 graduate credits Brighton High School for preparing him with knowledge, goal-setting abilities and the fortitude to attain his goals.

“All of the advanced placement (AP) classes I took during my time at Brighton High truly did prepare me for college,” he said. “When I got to Colorado School of Mines, I had already gone through all of the basics and touched all of the bases with the AP classes I took in high school.

“Furthermore, I had already gone through the motions of dealing with the stress of having a large workload with deadlines to meet, so I didn’t feel overwhelmed when I was met with this in college.”

David graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. After college, he was hired by Applied Control, which is the process control company where he still works today.

David’s high school experience helped shape his character and determination. The school and teachers challenged him academically, and instilled in him the value of creating his own opportunities rather than waiting for something to just be handed to him. His teachers nurtured his talents and set expectations for him to take the initiative when it came to pursuing his goals.

Diaz remembers one teacher in particular — Kristy Hoel.

“Ms. Hoel was an influential figure in my life during my time at Brighton High. She would take the time to give me and other students encouraging notes when we had a lot going on. She, as well as many other teachers, were also our biggest supporters, being those positive voices urging us on, to make it to graduation, and pursue our dreams afterwards.”

Today, David can say he’s meeting his goals through his job as an application engineer and he thanks Brighton High School for playing an essential role in getting him to this point.

“I believe in 27J Schools because they help students understand the need to determine what opportunities they deserve, and the ability to make those opportunities a reality.”