Miguel Galera, Logistics Manager of the Southern Area Logistics Center at Techint Engineering and Construction, has been with the company for 21 years. Since he was a child, he has maintained a close connection to the sea and his life is marked by surfing.

Since his childhood, the story of Miguel Galera, Logistics Manager of the Southern Area Logistics Center at Techint Engineering and Construction, has been marked by the sea. With Spanish and Italian ancestors who were sailors, and a merchant marine father who allowed him to travel and visit the country's main ports, the sea became “the backyard of his house,” where he played, fished, snorkeled, among many other adventures.

He spent his adolescence in Mar del Plata (Province of Buenos Aires), where a group of more advanced surfers adopted him as an apprentice and taught him the first steps of the sport that would change his life: he built his first surfboard, learned to study the waves like never before, and delved into a world that would never cease to amaze him. Since then, surfing has been his great passion.

From teaching to construction and to the office

It was the year 2001-2002. Miguel worked as a professor at The National University of Mar del Plata, and already had his own Industrial Design studio. The economic and social crisis in Argentina at that time motivated him to seek other paths, and that was how he accepted to work for three months on the Camisea Project in Peru for Techint E&C. “When I arrived, I had a very big surprise, it was a gas pipeline that crossed jungle, snow-capped mountains, and desert, and reached the sea. I felt part of that challenge from the very beginning. It was a great experience for me, very demanding because I had to be away from my family, but very enriching. I realized that I enjoyed working on construction sites, traveling, and getting to know new work teams.”

His time on the construction sites had an expiration date, and it was when his family's request, with teenage children who needed to have him closer, motivated him to move to the logistics center of Tepam, in Pacheco (Province of Buenos Aires). From there he could travel every weekend to visit his family, who lived 400 km away in Mar del Plata. “I left early on Monday for Buenos Aires and returned home on Fridays. It was a tough time, but it allowed me to be closer to my children and wife, so it was the best thing for that moment,” he recalls.

Big opportunities surfer

Miguel remembers it was his father who taught him from a young age something that would cross him for life: “The sea must be respected because it is a very powerful force against which no one can stand, we can only accompany its force and harness its power. That's why you have to learn to read it, to know how to use it,” describes Miguel.

This teaching was key for Miguel from his first day at the company. He always started from the premise that there are forces that should not be confronted or fought, but harnessed. “In construction, there are daily challenges that must be learned to surf. Like when you face a wave, you have to analyze what can be used to move forward, and everything must be measured in a fraction of a second, with a lot of concentration. In projects, you must make quick decisions because you can't stop, taking all safety precautions, and evaluating many factors to do the best you can at that moment. You have to have everything planned in advance and, if possible, have the best team, which is like having the best surfboard and safety accessories for that wave,” he states.

Moving constantly

Currently, after 21 years with the company and with his children grown up, Miguel values every second he can surf a wave. He recognizes that, at 60 years old, physical activity is essential to stay flexible, and practices yoga to strengthen his balance; always with the focus on being able to continue developing that passion that he enjoys so much.

He advises the new generations to do what he does: to always work to achieve their goal because the only limit is the one each person sets. For Miguel, searching for the perfect wave was what motivated him from the beginning: both in surfing and in his work life, it was the goal that allowed him to surpass himself every day. Because the perfect wave exists, we just have to be ready to find it, and be ready to surf and drop it.