Meet our MSc OSH Alumnus Néstor Machado-Susseret from Argentina
My name is Néstor Machado-Susseret and I am from Argentina. I live in the city of Mar del Plata that is located on the Atlantic coast. I am an architect and I also have a degree in Occupational Safety and Health with specialization in Construction Safety.
Before starting my Master's Degree, I worked in Occupational Health and Safety advisory services in construction for different construction companies and in educational prevention of accidents and diseases training projects.
The Master's Degree in International Occupational Safety and Health allowed me to achieve a level of excellence in my academic training. Throughout the course, I was able to broaden my knowledge and the range of tools that are important to me as a professional and as a teacher.
Scientific rigor and the incorporation of novel teaching techniques applicable to other practices had a high impact on my professional training. I was able to improve the educational projects I led and I was also able to carry out new training projects based on the research done for the Master's Degree.
I have now revised the didactic project for all my classes at the university, and I am co-founder and director of a Permanent Training Institute of the Center of Builders and Annexes of Mar del Plata. I was able to consolidate this project after doing the MSc OSH. Educational projects have not been interrupted during the pandemic, with 6 on-site and 8 virtual courses taking place since 2018. This courses are focused on the prevention of diseases and accidents in the construction industry. Nowadays, I am preparing the doctoral thesis project on the impact of psychosocial factors on the health of the different players involved in the construction sites.
Meet our Alumnus Sebastián Ilardi Lazcano from Chile
My name is Juan Sebastián Ilardi Lazcano, from Puerto Montt, Chile, and I was part of the 2013 (to 2015) promotion.
I started my professional life as a kinesiologist (aka physical therapist) in Santiago, Chile. And after a few years in intensive care units, teaching and studying a diploma in ergonomics, there was a job offer in Puerto Montt as a full time ergonomics consultant. By the time I started this new job, I was also studying in the University of Concepcion for a Master in Science of Ergonomics program, because... why not? right? ... An ergonomics consultant with just a diploma, I thought it was a good path to go.
After finishing this program, an important number of my colleagues were applying to something called "Summer Schools in OSH". They told me how great the experience was. That brought to me the idea of joining these "schools", and I wanted to get in, but I also heard that there were few chances to get accepted. Then, a very good friend told me that if I applied for the IntMOSH, and not only to the summer school, there were greater chances to be accepted.
At first I felt that it was a great opportunity to keep on improving some skills and to learn a bit more, but, ¡surprise for me!, this programa happened to be one of the biggest things I signed up for in my professional life. The people I met, the places I visited, the experiences I lived and all the things that came along this way were beyond my expectations, and I can't be more grateful for all that. These sums to my skills in Human Factors allowing me to open myself into OSH. So then I started my search for a job where I could contribute with all this new set of skills.
Today I work as "Leader in Occupational Health" in a very important company in the food industry. I hope this doesn't stop here. I feel there's so much to contribute, here in the south of Chile, but hopefully, across these borders too.