For Alix Aké Kob, Heat Treatment Specialist at Tenaris’s industrial center in Veracruz, Mexico, five years at the company already feels like a journey across processes, plants and perspectives. Her story is a reminder that, even early in a career, the steel industry can open doors to global learning, exposure to a variety of operations and the chance to lead.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Aké Kob studied Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Heat treatment was, from very early on, the subject that caught her attention. "It was the class I enjoyed the most at university," she recalled. That early interest would eventually shape every step of her professional path.
Before joining Tenaris, she spent six months in Stockholm on a scholarship to study sustainable materials development at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The experience, she said, expanded her understanding of what innovation really means. "I used to think innovation meant inventing a new machine. In Sweden I learned that innovation can start from an idea, from doing a process differently, from making a different decision." She also discovered the concept of circular economy: a system where nothing is wasted and materials keep circulating; an approach she still applies when thinking about her own process today.
Aké Kob joined Tenaris in 2020 as a trainee in Heat Treatment Operations, but, because of the pandemic, her first experience was almost entirely remote. In 2022, she entered the Global Trainee Program and moved to Veracruz, this time as part of the heat treatment technology team. "That assignment allowed me to see the process in person, in real time, and to truly understand it," she said.
A rotation to the rolling mill technology team marked one of the most defining moments of her career. "The first time I saw the rolling mill running, and the first time I saw a pipe being pierced, were among the most impressive experiences of my life," she recalled. "Because of the scale and the complexity of it." That rotation also reshaped how she understood the business. "In the rolling mill I understood how every process in the plant has a strong impact on the operation as a whole."
When she returned to heat treatment in 2025, first as Senior Analyst and later as Specialist, she came back with a broader perspective. "I felt like I was going back to where I had started, but I clearly wasn't the same person."
Today, Aké Kob coordinates shift leaders and technicians and spends much of her time on the shop floor. Her objective is clear: "My number one priority is making sure everyone goes home to their family the same way they came in," she said, adding that quality and on-time delivery come next, supported by daily decisions, communication routines, and constant alignment with technology and supply chain teams.
Among the experiences that have shaped her the most, she mentioned the Hot Rolling School, a TenarisUniversity training that took her all the way to Tenaris’s mill in Dalmine, Italy, where she trained alongside colleagues ranging from six-month Trainees to operators with 25 years of experience at Tenaris. "It was a very powerful way of sharing knowledge."
Looking ahead, Aké Kob knows where her passion lies. "I really enjoy hot processes — both rolling and heat treatment," she said. She sees herself leading an industrial process in the next few years, and is open to an international assignment. "I have an adventurous spirit, and I really enjoy working with new people."
Her advice to other young professionals echoes the way she has built her own career. "Don't lose the ability to be amazed. We work with fascinating processes, and sometimes we get used to seeing a pipe at 900 °C coming out of the mill as if it were normal. I always go back to the first time I saw it, because that's what keeps the passion alive." To that, she adds curiosity, her best tool for solving problems, and resilience. "There are things you can change with time, and others you simply have to adapt to." Wonder, curiosity and adaptability: the three qualities that have made her first five years at Tenaris feel like much more than a beginning.
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