Jose Sangrona

Description

I am a Chemical Engineer and English Spanish Sworn Translator that has spent the last twenty-three years working in, among other things, Translations, Editing, Interpreting, Voice-overs, etc. Ten of those twenty-three years up until Oct. 2018, I worked as a Project Manager & Senior Editor in the EN>ES/PT language pairs for the largest Translation Agency in Houston, TX, specializing in Technical Translations, mainly Oil & Gas, but also covering all sorts of fields for a wide variety of clients in the public and private sectors.

While working for the Translation Agency in Houston, I had the chance to learn Brazilian Portuguese through in-house classes from 2015 to 2017. I love Portuguese, but unfortunately don't get to practice it often enough to be able to work with it.

From 1978 to 1983, I lived in Boston for a year and then for two and a half years in Los Angeles, CA, while my mother was pursuing a Master's Degree. As a result, I attended kindergarten and 1st and 2nd grade, where I learned my English basics. After this, we went back to Venezuela and I kept my English by the regular curriculum taught in schools all the way up to High School.

After High School, I decided to enroll in college and study Engineering, and while I was a freshman in college I had the unique opportunity to attend for a whole week the US Space Academy - Level II in Hunstville, Alabama. I was expecting to have a summer camp-relaxing experience, but instead, it was a pretty intensive astronaut-wannabe training where you would get up really early and go to bed late at night after spending the whole day in classes, mission simulations, and hands-on activities related to Astrophysics, Celestial Navigation, Rocket Science, Crew Communications, Fighter Jet, and Space Shuttle Flight Simulations and Protocols. To me, this was not only extremely fun but an experience that had a profound personal impact on my life.

As a college student, I helped manage a small family business/carpentry shop in Venezuela. Through that experience, I learned about power tools, furniture design, drywall, assembly and installation for home and office, personnel management, customer service, quotations, wood supply chain, and construction materials.

In 1998, a Sworn translator friend of my mother was looking for a proofreader and thought I could be a good apprentice. She needed a native or near native-level English assistant with attention to detail in finishing legal and technical certified translations for automotive, oil & gas, personal documents, and other customers.

While in college, I started doing many casual translations for myself and others due to most books written in English. Also, I had a chance to train on PC maintenance and did a few gigs as a Computer Technician, but I have been learning and using computers since 1986 while still in Middle School. Other fields I explored through different courses while being a college student were photography, Drafting software (AutoCAD), and also became a member of the Astronomy Club participating in several lectures and astronomy observation events.

In
addition, I attended a Music Institute of Technology for two years and graduated in modern guitar studies, and a few years later was invited to be the lead guitarist in a rock band with other college friends. We traveled to a few cities and played in several music festivals. Later, I went on and auditioned for my hometown Symphony Orchestra and was accepted and pursued classical music studies for over a year.

Around the same time, my call to give back to my community led me to join a Volunteer Search & Rescue Squad. After one year of training to be accepted as a member, I learned about Emergency First Aid, Search & Rescue Techniques, Rappelling, Water and Wilderness Survival, Cartography, Mountaineering, and Firefighting. During the next four years, I would serve as a volunteer Paramedic in Emergency Rooms and Search & Rescue Operations as a Pararescuer/AHA Certified First Responder. Too late I realized how rewarding it is to help a human being in need, and that I could have been a terrific physician.

In Dec. 1999, along with a few other friends from the Rescue Squad, we worked as heavy steel structure assemblers/roustabouts of the aerial conveyor belt during the construction of the largest Fertilizer plant (FertiNitro) in Venezuela. This position allowed me to serve as a liaison/EnglishSpanish consecutive interpreter between German Engineers and my fellow workers, as well as to expand in my knowledge of power tools, blueprint reading, heavy construction, safety, and teamwork.

I learned basic French after being offered a student loan from the
Venezuelan Government to pursue graduate studies in France. Unfortunately, that did not
work out for me since the careers offered were not related to
Engineering, so I just spent 6 months in French classes before dropping out.

In 2005, I decided to get certified as a Sworn Translator to be able to certify my translations.

After moving to the US in 2006, I worked the first year as a janitor/houseman in the Hospitality Industry and as a Food Associate in Sports events.

Then I went on to work a whole year as a Paralegal for an Immigration Law Firm. I handled L1/H1/Asylum Visa applications/renewals, change of status, and other immigration petitions for businesses and individuals, which allowed me to build my experience in translating personal, legal, medical, and business documents. In addition, I also completed a few consecutive interpreting assignments in worker's compensation and car accident settlement cases.

As an Engineer, I have worked at various levels and departments in the Manufacturing (3M), Oil & Gas (TDW), Construction (CONTI), Environmental (Incineration Independent Consulting), and Food (Kraft) industries. Working several months as an Inside Sales & Operations Engineer, I gradually moved up to a Field Service / Project Planning & Control Engineer, then as an R&D Analyst, and finally as a Regulatory & Toxicology Engineer on long-lasting projects. In addition to this practical experience, I provided technical assistance, training, and sales support to customers and in-house cross-functional teams.
Currently, I work for a DSP in the Logistics Division of Amazon as a Dispatcher/Safety Manager while still handling translation projects on the side to maintain my client base.

Other interests/hobbies I enjoy are Scuba Diving, Table Tennis, Family Cycling and Pickleball, Swimming, PC modding/DIY builds, Home Theater Media Streaming, and Home Audio Recording (own studio).

A satisfied client and my family are
why I wake up every day to give my 200% to everything I do.