Cesar Mapeli is used to big transitions. He grew up in Brazil and came to the United States on a basketball scholarship without speaking a word of English. After earning a bachelor’s degree at the Colorado School of Mines, he pursued his newfound interest in petroleum engineering to a graduate degree in petrophysics. From there, he joined Chevron as a data analyst in Houston. Now he’s moving to Cambridge to pursue a second master’s degree at MIT SDM. “My career has been shaping towards a technical leadership track, so SDM was a good fit,” he says.
What is the last thing you have been doing before coming to SDM?
I was a product owner at Chevron. My last project was focused on enhancing our data gathering capabilities for air and greenhouse gas emissions reporting. I managed a team of five people in the IT space, building the infrastructure to collect and manage that data over time.
You already have a master’s. What made you decide that a second degree was the right choice?
My first master’s degree was focused on petrophysics. I was in the lab the entire time just looking through data. The SDM master’s is closer to an MBA where I can learn from a technical perspective how economic aspects impact my business. My first master’s was about getting as close as I could to a tiny problem and seeing if I could get some insight. Now I’m shifting my focus to learn how to examine things from a distance and better understand how things work as a whole.
How do you think a systems approach is going to help you in your work?
Learning a systems approach will provide me with the right tools to be able to look at problems at a higher level, understand the “how,” and broaden my visibility—not just from a technical perspective, but foundationally. How do people see your product not just within the workplace but outside of it? How do we impact society? How do they perceive how we impact them? There are a many perspectives and topics that I’m eager to explore and discuss.
What’s one thing you’re really hoping to get out of the core class?
I hope to learn how other people tackle similar problems to the ones I have faced. I’ve spent my entire professional career within Chevron. I’m excited for the opportunity to collaborate with people from other countries, cultures, and industries and understand what they do, how they do it, and be exposed to some of their problems and solutions.
What’s something that excites you about meeting your new classmates?
It’s always interesting to learn about other people’s journeys, each shaped by unique experiences, opportunities, and decisions. Some people have decades of experience and are starting something new, some are early in their careers and taking bold steps, and others have built companies from the ground up. I’m eager for the chance to build strong relationships while working alongside my new classmates. The connections we make today can lead to doors that open in the future.
What subjects are you interested in learning more about?
AI is a topic that’s extremely important for every industry right now and I’m excited about being exposed to it on a higher level. Even though I’ve been working in the IT space, I’m still a petroleum engineer and the energy industry is still interesting to me. I’m excited about the energy transition classes. The management classes really sparked my interest. One of them is People, Teams and Organizations. I enjoy Brene Brown’s approach to leadership, and I would love to learn more and to further develop my ability to be vulnerable and to “rumble” with my peers. I have seen firsthand how impactful good leaders can be to an organization and I aspire to become one myself.
What are you most looking forward to doing when you’re in Cambridge?
This is my first exposure to the northeast, so there’s so many things! I’m a foodie and look forward to trying regional food. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I will try everything at least once. I’m really into Halloween so I’m excited about being able to visit Salem. And I’m looking forward to seeing the fall colors again, which we don’t see in Houston. In Colorado the fall was massive and I am thrilled to be back in an area of the country where all four seasons are so defined.
