Stelco engineer reinvents career at McMaster
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/thekeeper.jpg” caption=”After being laid off David DiDonato came to McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business to reinvent his life and career.”]
var addthis_config = {
data_track_clickback: true
}
src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#pub=mcmasterdailynews">
>
David DiDonato's story is a familiar one in the city of Hamilton.
His father emigrated from Italy, settled in Hamilton and enjoyed a lifelong career at Stelco,
now known as US Steel Canada. His family prospered from the booming industrial
economy during the 1970s and upon graduation from McMaster's engineering program,
DiDonato got a job at Stelco as a metallurgical engineer.
But in 2006, when Stelco restructured, DiDonato chose a voluntary restructuring package
as a step toward a more prosperous future. After 22 years of service, he was 47 years of
age with no future prospects in the steel industry.
"My final year at Stelco was a time of great despair and uncertainty about the future,"
DiDonato explained. "The steel industry had been an integral part of my life, and this is
very characteristic of many families in Hamilton."
With thousands of workers competing for the few remaining manufacturing jobs, DiDonato
decided to start his career over. His personal experience, coupled with his past academic
achievements at both McMaster and Waterloo, gave him a unique perspective on future
trends in business and technology in North America.
"Being a part of the restructuring of Stelco and the Canadian steel industry gave me insight
into the challenges of global change we face in management," said DiDonato. "My gut
feeling was that business technology would play an integral role in the restructuring and
consolidation of North American industry."
With that in mind, DiDonato looked for new opportunities to re-tool his skill set toward
what he believed to be the future trend in business technology. In January 2006 he
discovered the SAP University Alliance program at McMaster's DeGroote School of Business.
SAP is an internationally recognized processing software used to enhance business
performance and provide optimization solutions.
"Through the part-time MBA program, I developed a critical understanding of how SAP
technologies are used to establish best practice, measure performance and provide
optimization solutions in business," said DiDonato. "SAP technologies allow virtually any
company the ability to integrate world class business processing standards into their
operations."
Thanks to the education he received at DeGroote, DiDonato has recently been offered a
position at Loblaw Co. as manager of program integration. He will be a lead manager on a
strategically significant supply chain project that will be fully integrated with SAP
technology.
DiDonato credits the SAP University Alliance program at DeGroote, as well as the personal
dialogue and coaching he received from faculty and staff, with playing a major role in his
achievement.
"Institutions like McMaster are critical to senior professionals like myself during periods of
economic transition," said DiDonato. "On one level, my story is about personal triumph, but
on a second level, my story is about a program and an institution that has the capability to
reinvent senior professionals and enable them to pursue new career opportunities."
href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php">Share src="http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share" type="text/javascript">
Stay connected
src="http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/images/facebook1.gif" border="0">
src="http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/images/youtube1.gif" border="0">
href="http://twitter.com/dailynewsatmac">
src="http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/images/twitter1.gif" border="0">
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcmasterdailynews">
src="http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/images/flickr1.gif" border="0">
