ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Craig Santos ‘95

Craig Santos ‘95 is the Senior Director of Training Services at MathWorks, makers of MATLAB and Simulink. A career that has taken him around the world began at UMass Dartmouth in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Santos is a New Bedford native and a veteran of the United States Armed Forces; a er graduating from New Bedford High School, he joined the U.S. Army in order to pay for college. He served in the Army for two years, then joined the National Guard where he served for four years while enrolled at UMass Dartmouth.

Today, Santos leads the training services division of one of the world’s leading mathematical computing so ware companies.

Tell us about your experience at UMass Dartmouth. How did that experience prepare you for your career and shape your future?

“My time at UMass Dartmouth made me an engineer and a leader. I got to work with and receive mentorship from the great faculty at UMass Dartmouth. Ray Laoulache, Alex Fowler, Sherif El Wakil, and Tesfay Meressi were some of the strongest influences on me.

“Outside of academics, I was involved in the student senate, and was the President of the Black Student Union. These activities helped me learn how to motivate people, and how to recognize and capitalize on people’s different skills and strengths.”

Do you have a favorite memory of your time on campus?

“The senior design project was a great experience. Alex Fowler was my project mentor during his first year at UMassD. The senior design project really brought together everything I had learned and been most interested in as a student (coding, programming, thermodynamics) and turned it into a final product.”

Tell us about your job at MathWorks.

“As Senior Director of Training Services I oversee approximately 170 people worldwide. We provide our clients with training on our mathematical computing so ware products in order to enable their success and help them do their best work. I provide leadership and coaching for all aspects of the business, including product development, business strategy development, operational management, service delivery, and success accountability.

“MathWorks has clients in different industries all over the globe. My job has given me the opportunity to travel the world; I’ve been to the UK, Germany, Japan, Australia –22 countries in total. In addition to international travel, my favorite part of the job is the opportunity to collaborate across disciplines and create something new by working together. There’s an incredible amount of technical diversity here. We work with people in higher education, medicine, neuroscience, energy production, industrial automation, aerospace, and more. There are always new and exciting problems to solve.”

Were there any unexpected turns in your career path?

“Originally, I thought I wanted to work in the automotive industry. But, when I joined MathWorks, I found I could work with automotive engineers as customers, developing automated driving and advanced driver assistance systems, or building virtual vehicle simulations. So, even though it wasn’t in the way I expected, I still got to be part of that world. And, rather than being limited to one industry, I get to work with customers in many different disciplines. It never gets boring.”

Any advice for current students?

“I would tell students to be balanced. Of course, you need to give time to academics to become a credible engineer, but it’s also important to learn how to be an effective leader and team member. Remember that no one achieves anything alone. Ge ing involved on campus is a great way to develop those skills in communicating and collaborating with different groups of people.”

Santos has one more special connection to UMass Dartmouth: his wife is also a UMassD Class of 1995 alumna. They live in Framingham, MA and are the proud parents of two sons. Santos currently serves on the College of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Council and the Board of Trustees for the Foundation for MetroWest. He has also served as a mentor for the REBLS Network, a multiinstitutional network commi ed to diversifying the STEM workforce.