In 1983, when Patricia Acosta Barba walked through the doors of Tamsa, Tenaris’s industrial center in Veracruz, Mexico, she entered a world where women in industrial roles were nearly unheard of. Forty-two years later, as she prepares to close her professional journey at Tamsa, she reflects on a career that helped pave the way for greater inclusion and lasting contributions to the plant’s operations.
Originally from Puebla and a graduate of the Instituto Tecnológico of Cholula (Itech), Acosta recalls her early years at Tamsa as both demanding and formative. Now supervisor of the General Workshop, she began her career as a technician at Pipe Mill 2, which was just launching its heat treatment and rolling areas.
“I worked eight years rotating shifts, often as the only woman on duty,” she said. “I decided to face the challenge and do the work. If the furnaces shut down or there was any contingency, there were just two of us covering equipment.”
Support from colleagues and supervisors, combined with her own determination, helped Acosta adapt and grow. She also witnessed how the workplace evolved to include more women. “Today, women benefit from new spaces like nursing rooms,” she said.
Patricia and her fellow collogues in Tamsa, our industrial center in Veracruz, Mexico. Tenaris
Her career path took her through quality assurance, spare parts programming, mill maintenance planning, and, beginning in 2008, responsibility for extraordinary maintenance projects, known as REX. She participated in major REX projects for Pipe Mills 2 and 3, coordinating between 2,000 and 3,000 people.
“The REX projects from 2008 to 2015 were the most challenging,” she said. “But we achieved our goals, launched on time, and worked together across departments.”
When asked how she hopes to be remembered by her colleagues in Tamsa, Acosta is modest. “I’d like my colleagues to remember me as someone who contributed something, improved something, or helped in some way.”
For younger colleagues starting their careers, she emphasizes perspective: “Be objective. When you see things objectively, work flows, relationships flow, everything flows better. When we take things personally, that’s when we get lost.”
Acosta’s four decades at Tamsa stand as a testament to perseverance and adaptability - and as an example of how one person’s commitment can open doors for those who follow.
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