Laura Rivera

University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business

“I’m an engineer passionate about business and technology innovation in the energy sector.”

Hometown: Bogotá, Colombia

Fun Fact About Yourself: I speak Spanish, English, and German and have lived in 13 different cities.

Undergraduate School and Major: B.S. Mechanical Engineering from UT Austin; M.S. Mechanical Engineering and MBA Candidate at UT Austin, Class of 2027

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: EthosEnergy, Senior Project Manager

What makes Austin such a great place to earn an MBA? Austin is a growing, welcoming city. It has a vibrant startup scene, some of the best Texas geography (in my opinion), and some of the best BBQ in the state. There’s a community here for everybody.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of Texas McCombs’ MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Texas McCombs was one of the few MBA programs that offered the dual-degree with mechanical engineering that fit perfectly with my goal to lead in energy sector. Texas is the energy capital and the University of Texas at Austin is a top-tier research university working to solve society’s energy challenges.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Texas McCombs? CleanTech Group and the CleanTech Fellows program. They provide an incredible opportunity to collaborate with top-tier companies tackling real world challenges while building expertise and connections in this space.

When you think of the University of Texas, what word comes to mind? Why? Longhorn-state-of-mind. For me, this means that once a Longhorn, always a Longhorn. Beyond receiving a top education, you join a community committed to leaving every place better than we found it on campus and in the broader world. Even before McCombs, UT alumni have been supporting me to meet my goals and make a positive impact, both personally and professionally.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment has been leading the growth of the project management team at the EthosEnergy Houston Service Center. It was equally challenging and rewarding, and I was proud to help develop our team’s talent, improve execution, and rebuild client confidence in our performance.

Looking ahead two years, what would make your MBA experience at McCombs successful? I look forward to forming lifelong friendships, expanding my network across the energy ecosystem, and developing the leadership skills to drive sustainable change in the industry.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE TEXAS MCCOMBS MBA CLASS OF 2027

© Copyright 2026 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE.