2021 Engineering Leader Under 40: Nayeli Castruita, 36

Sr. Controls Engineer, Wunderlich-Malec Engineering, Houston, TX, United States, BS Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio

By CFE Media September 8, 2021
Nayeli Castruita, 36; Sr. Controls Engineer; Wunderlich-Malec Engineering; Houston, TX, United States; BS Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio

Nayeli Castruita, 36
Sr. Controls Engineer
Wunderlich-Malec Engineering
Houston, TX, United States
BS Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio

Why should this person be recognized for this award?

Throughout her 14 years of Engineering, Nayeli developed technical, people, and management skills. Nayeli enjoys a good challenge and always willing to take the lead on any project, especially when pushed outside of her comfort zone. Anytime her co-workers need help, Nayeli makes herself available to troubleshoot issues with them. She also enjoys training new engineers in different control platforms. She does all that while maintaining a very positive attitude, and balancing health and family. For Nayeli, her career is part of what makes her enjoy life to the fullest and her co-workers and clients soon become family to her.

Achievements, Advancement & Career-related Industry Contributions

Nayeli came from Mexico into the U.S. when she was 16, to complete High School, followed by her Electrical Engineering degree. Her personality and love to travel allowed her to participate in great opportunities that broaden her view in life as well as engineering. She focused on start-ups and emergency calls locally and internationally, allowing her to travel to countries such as UAE, Russia, Finland, Bahamas and Canada. She strongly believes the international trips propelled her people and troubleshooting skills where, to be successful, she embraced working with new teams that spoke different languages without Internet or phone service. Nayeli has worked on several industries ranging from Oil & Gas, Food & Beverage, Aggregates, Entertainment, Automotive, Packaging, Energy, and Nano-Technologies. Nayeli has spent the last couple of years successfully managing a growing team, multiple projects, and global clients. Nayeli is ready for her next challenge and has recently applied for the Master’s in Engineering Management program.

Non-work-related Activities & Hobbies

Now that Nayeli has a 4-year-old daughter, her priority is to raise a strong, confident, and independent woman. Nayeli has been teaching “Baby,” as she calls her daughter, Amy, about automotive maintenance (changing the oil in her car). Nayeli has also been learning about survival and primitive camping. She started camping out with Baby in her backyard and has graduated to camping at their nearby park. Amy ended up loving the outdoors and slowly but surely, they are taking classes and adventuring together. Their next goal is to do their first primitive camping weekend trip.

Interesting Details

  • Nayeli has been doing gymnastics since she was 3 years old and is very hopeful Amy will love it as much as Nayeli does. Against all doctor recommendations, she continued doing handstands throughout her pregnancy with her last handstand being the day Amy was born. Nayeli’s reasoning was that the Operating Room was already booked for her, so if anything went wrong, they could head directly to the OR.
  • Nayeli has also completed several running races at 5k, 10k and half-marathon distances.

Why did they choose this career?

Growing up Nayeli’s house, like most of our homes, had an old TV with channel and volume knobs and a big shiny long antenna. When they bought their first TV with remote control, the main puzzle in Nayeli’s brain was, “How do remote controls work?” Nayeli started taking apart all electronics in her house and putting them back together as if they were puzzles. When she was 8, she knew she wanted to be an Engineer and never questioned it again. She describes her career as a lifelong of solving puzzles.


Author Bio: Since its founding in 2010, CFE Media and Technology has provided engineers in manufacturing, commercial and industrial buildings, and manufacturing control systems with the knowledge they need to improve their operational efficiency. CFE delivers the right information at the right time around the world through a variety of platforms.