Tecunuman Garcia Highlight

Tecunuman Garcia

Metallurgy Senior Technologist,

Sandia National Laboratories

I think it’s a natural instinct to want to get out and explore. It’s about who you are and what you need to do. Just roll with it.

About Tecunuman

I was born and raised on the Navajo Reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico.
My father left the family when I was very young, so I was raised by my mother—when I was four years old, we moved off of the reservation in order to find better opportunities.
After graduating high school, I attended the University of New Mexico for a few years, where I majored in medicine, but never graduated with my degree.
I was recruited to join the U.S. Navy, where I served as a combat corpsman specializing in emergency medicine for over nine years.
Got stationed in Japan for four years and was given the opportunity to build and supervise an emergency room in a remote area that met Joint Commission Accreditation Health Organization standards.
As I got older, carrying heavy medical packs was getting hard on my body and I kept feeling the urge to do something different, so I decided to switch over to the U.S. Coast Guard.
I spent the last decade of my military career in the U.S. Coast Guard, where I pursued my interests in electronics and technology by working as a senior electronic technician.
After retiring from the military, I got an opportunity to work at Sandia National Laboratories, where I’m currently a metallurgy senior technologist.