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Josie Giles, School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Contact Josie Giles josie.giles@chbe.gatech.edu
404-385-2299
External Advisory Board Profile - Carlos Barroso, ChE ‘80
Atlanta (July 16, 2008) — Carlos Barroso’s, ‘80, dedication to his career is equaled only by his passion for his family. Like many who pursue chemical engineering, he enjoyed math and science in high school. Yet unlike most, he also explored the “real world” of the profession prior to entering college. In his senior year of high school, he visited Bell Labs and met with several chemical engineers. “I knew immediately that it was the right choice for me,” he said.
Selecting Georgia Tech for his studies was a logical decision for Carlos because he received in-state tuition and it offered a program in chemical engineering. He appreciated the practical, real-world approach the Institute offered and credits that environment for contributing enormously to his successful career. As a member of ChBE’s External Advisory Board for five years, Carlos has had the opportunity to visit campus numerous times and learn more about the current ChBE program. He says that those same qualities that benefited him in the late seventies are still true today. “I think it’s a point of differentiation among the top engineering schools,” he said. Carlos is extremely impressed with how GT, the College of Engineering, and of course, the school of ChBE have grown in capability since he was a student and he is “very proud and grateful to be an alum.”
A pattern involving food and international enterprise was established early in Carlos’ career. Upon graduation, he was about to decline a job offer from Procter & Gamble until the recruiter, John Brock, ‘70, M.S. ‘71, inquired if Carlos would be interested in the coffee division. The possibility of applying his engineering training to the complexities of the food industry piqued his interest. Carlos says that he “loves the challenge of trying to marry the art of flavor with the science of category and processes.” After three years in Cincinnati, he transferred to Italy to work with P&G’s coffee business. Next, he worked for a few years in P&G’s paper division, which he says was a great experience and included more assignments that were international. However, Carlos says that his “heart remained in the food & beverage business,” so it was a natural fit when PespsiCo’s Frito-Lay division offered him a position in its international research and development group. Carlos started with the Latin American division in 1996, added the Asia Pacific division in 2000, and in 2002, he moved to his current position as senior vice president of research and development for PepsiCo International, which includes all of the company’s food and snack divisions.
In addition to serving on ChBE’s External Advisory Board, Carlos serves on the Board of Trustees for the Dallas Opera and has volunteered with Junior Achievement for many years. Although he travels a lot for his job, Carlos often travels for pleasure. He spends almost all of his free time with his wife, Kay, and their sons, Michael and Andrew, who all enjoy skiing, boating, and hiking. The family also enjoys trying new restaurants and Carlos loves all types of food, which, of course, is fortunate given his line of business.
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation's premiere research universities. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report's top 10 public universities, Georgia Tech educates more than 16,000 students every year through its Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech maintains a diverse campus and is among the nation's top producers of women and African-American engineers. The Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute. During the 2003-2004 academic year, Georgia Tech reached $341.9 million in new research award funding.