Pioneering NVC 1999 Graduate Found Success in Semiconductor Field

This year Northwest Vista College (NVC) celebrates its 30th anniversary!

On April 18, 1995, the Alamo Colleges Board of Trustees officially approved the establishment of Northwest Vista College (NVC). Among NVC’s pioneering students was Ruben Castillo, who earned an Associate of Applied Science in Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology in 1999. Castillo continued his education by getting an Associate of Science in Engineering from San Antonio College in 2004 and a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in Project Management from Texas A&M University-San Antonio in 2015.

He credits NVC with helping him expand his knowledge in the semiconductor field and providing him with a well-rounded education. While attending NVC, Castillo worked and had an internship at Philips Semiconductors. “This experience was very helpful to me because thanks to it, I was able to obtain a position in the company's Failure Analysis Engineering Group,” he said. Castillo noted that earning his degree from NVC made it possible for him to get a better position at Philips Semiconductors, and it helped in his career later in life.

He said some of his most memorable moments at NVC involved being a part of the degree program that was created in conjunction with Sony and Philips Semiconductors. He enjoyed being in small groups with classmates who worked at the companies and having teachers who were experienced engineers also working at the same companies.

Castillo advises future graduates to try to get work experience via a job or internship in their field of study to make it easier to find a job related to their degree program.

That strategy paid off for Castillo, who after graduating from NVC, went on to work in the semiconductor field for 11 years, first at Philips Semiconductors as an engineering technician and later at Maxim Integrated Products as a yield engineering specialist. After Maxim, Castillo took a position at San Antonio-based EControls as a quality assurance technician for Quality Engineering. He has worked at EControls for more than a decade and is currently a production quality inspector in its Electronics Assembly Group.

NVC’s impact extends across generations in the Castillo family. Beyond Castillo himself, his two sons have also earned degrees from NVC. Son David has earned an Associate of Science. Another son Gabriel has earned an Associate of Arts in Teaching and transferred to Texas A&M University-San Antonio, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English.

“My advice to future students is to consider community college because, from my experience, the classes are smaller and there is more direct interaction with the faculty,” Castillo said. “The education is more personalized than in some universities and, of course, the community college is less expensive.”