Interview with Robert Stelly (Ch 197), Shasta committee member and Shasta mentor

AFAM: Hello, Robert, and thank you for your time and for agreeing to talk to us. We invited you to participate in our “Giving back to your community” interview series to  talk about your role within AFAM and the motivation that led you to this role. But first of all please tell us a few words about yourself. Where do you live and what are you doing in life?



Robert: Sure, hello Albina. I am living in Houston, TX. Before that I was living in the North of France and even before I was born and raised in the countryside of the great city of Nancy in Lorraine. In 2019, I was invited to move to the US to speed up the development of new businesses involving digital components. My company is a worldwide group manufacturing heavy mechanical components for the energy sector traditionally oil, gas, geothermal and more recently involved in CCUS and hydrogen. I have been working in this company for almost 16 years. Previously, I was working many years in the railway industry for the biggest North American train manufacturer that was recently acquired by Alstom. I am married to my awesome wife Sophie. We are having an intense life, among others we enjoy gathering with family or friends, traveling but also cooking. On my end, I am specializing myself in baking sourdough French baguettes, croissants, obviously petit pate lorrain and other puff pastries that make me famous in the neighborhood.

 

AFAM: today you live and work in Texas, did you meet gadz’arts community there? Could you tell us more about gadz in Texas?

Robert:  Texas is a big state with scattered cities: Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, College station, Lubbock, to name a few. Rather challenging to gather people in one single spot. We gather in smaller groups usually by affinities and/or location. As far as I am concerned, I meet with the Gadzart community of Houston. Good food, good wine and good vibes are always around the corner.

 

AFAM: Currently, you are one of the Shasta mentors and one of the  members of the Shasta committee at American Friends of Arts et Metiers. Please tell us about it. How did you join the committee? What was your motivation? How do you see your role as a Shasta mentor and a committee member today?

Robert: Good questions, thank you for asking. Actually, before I moved to the USA I was used to traveling a lot and working around the globe with limited time to do something else for my community. And Covid happened, it gave me the opportunity to think about the direction my world… our world is going to. Among others, I realized the drop of industrial jobs in France since the 2000’s: from 25 to 10%, a very limited number of French university in the Shanghai ranking, the national ranking of the Arts et Métiers is better than it used to be, still lagging behind the top 10, no champion in “the tech” really competing at the same level as GAFA. Putting these facts in perspective, I was wondering what I could be doing at my level. Not much maybe, however, thanks to my various experiences in working in many countries like Japan, Germany, China, the Emirates, Mexico, Scotland, England… and now based in the USA, why not giving few hours of my time in helping students at developing their hidden desires, giving them few tips on their resume and obviously to look outside of the French territories. Digging down with the gadz’art community in Houston, I came across the Shasta program from AFAM, a great tool in connecting students and their elders located in the USA. I am honored to be seated at the AFAM committee and do our best to address the mentees' needs.



AFAM: Do you have any previous experience helping non-profit organizations? Any non-profit you knew of and helped when you were a student at Arts et Metiers?

Robert: Back in the day, I was leading a small group of the Union des Élèves, called Cvis . The goal was to provide a wide range of services to the 1,000 students. At this time, the vast majority of students were based in Paris for the 3rd year. I also remember my contribution to the Shell Eco marathon. Under a non-profit, I was also giving some training courses to prisoners for a couple of years.

 

AFAM: Anything you’d like to wish to AFAM?

Robert: From Boston to LA, from Miami to Seattle, there are some gadzarts, living and working. They are involved in many fields and activities that it is simply not possible to summarize. I am in touch with some of them, many of them if not all are eager either to support the Shasta program or want to welcome students as interns/trainees in their company. Of course, I wish the best for American Friends of Arts et Métiers and the different initiatives that are embedded to leverage this amazing  footprint. I wish these programs will be massively communicated to the students at the earliest stage of their scholarship in our great school Arts et Métiers. I know everything is done in this direction and that you, Albina, are instrumental in that respect.

 

AFAM: Thank you, Robert!

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Picture: courtesy of Robert