Emiliano Katcoff shares his growth path at the company, from joining as a summer intern in 2019 to becoming part of the team that will oversee operations at Los Toldos II Este. For him, growth comes down to self-management and taking initiative.

With a knowing smile, Emiliano Katcoff, Facilities Specialist, laughs as he spots a San Lorenzo de Almagro sticker on a nearby computer and admits he’s a fan of El Ciclón too. He settles down at one of the tables in the lunch area, with the soft buzz of colleagues chatting and keyboards clicking in the background. Coffee freshly poured, his enthusiasm is easy to spot. For Emiliano, personal initiative has been the common thread running through his journey.

When he applied to join Tecpetrol’s Summer Educational Practices (PEV in Spanish) program, Emiliano was studying Electrical Engineering at the National University of Comahue and coming up to graduation. It was a decision that would mark the start of his path in the company.

“I was really eager to learn in a real-world setting,” he says. “University gives you a very solid theoretical foundation, which is incredibly useful, but I wanted to understand how a company as large as those in the Techint Group actually works.” For Emiliano, the internship felt like a first step in that direction. “It was a space to learn about day-to-day dynamics and also to start figuring out where I wanted to take my career,” he adds.

Over that summer vacation, he joined a team at Fortín de Piedra, but this wasn’t something he saw as a sacrifice. “I arrived at the field in January. It had only just got under way. I didn’t really know what to expect, and I was blown away by the sheer scale of the operation,” he says, describing the impressive number of people involved, “each one doing their part and contributing to the value chain.”

For the first few months, his days were spent walking the plant wearing a hard hat, notebook in hand. “My job was to compile lists of critical equipment, gather information, and cross-check data,” he explains. “Sometimes what I found was useful, sometimes it wasn’t. But what always stood out was the willingness and attitude of people to help.”

“From the very beginning, I understood that the dynamic here is self-management,” he adds. “It’s about taking initiative, thinking about how you can contribute, and reaching out to leaders so they can guide you. In the end, it really depends on you: you’re the one who sets your own limits.”

That same mindset is what’s now taking Emiliano into Tecpetrol’s most ambitious project to-date: Los Toldos II Este. “My goals are clear,” he says. “To take care of operations, optimize processes, and work closely on costs. If there’s one word that defines this, it’s challenge, on both a personal and professional level.”

Always on the move

Emiliano’s path took him from trainee to intern, a step that gave him new tools while allowing him to finish his degree. As a part-time PEO, or Ordinary Educational Practice, in Maintenance, he learned far more than just how to use SAP systems. He learned that context matters, and that being able to adapt is essential. This was a period shaped by the pandemic and remote work, which challenged many of the rules people took for granted in the working world.

Even so, there’s something Emiliano says clearly defines Tecpetrol for him. “There’s no one here who hides information or keeps what they know to themselves. People are always willing to explain and support you,” he reflects. “I met some truly great people, and for me that openness and willingness to teach are among the company’s strongest qualities.”

That constant learning mindset soon led him to tackle bigger challenges, from working with complex systems to designing practical processes for people in the field. Although everything was new, confidence in the path he’d chosen kept him on track.

“On the professional side, it was a big challenge to implement maintenance planning strategies that made processes more automated,” he explains. “I was managing complex systems and spreadsheets, while also working closely with the people who would later use those plans. Finding a way to make everything practical and easy to apply in their day-to-day work pushed me to learn a lot.”

Performance evaluations were also part of the learning curve in those early years. “Sometimes you agree with the feedback and sometimes you don’t, but what really matters is understanding the why,” he says. “Feedback should always leave room to improve, and the key is how it’s delivered. What doesn’t work is getting a three out of ten with no explanation. In the end, those are the rules of the game.”

Doubling down

Emiliano had given everything he had to the company, but at that point there were no openings for Young Professionals in the area where he’d been working. “I even started looking abroad, and I had interviews with energy companies,” he admits. In the end, the chance to rotate to a different area came up. “I decided to stay. I talked it through with my family and trusted my intuition,” he says.

That decision opened the door to new fields like Agua Salada and Los Bastos, where he worked on projects that required close control of costs, contracts, and equipment. It was there that he gained the experience setting him on a more structured path, with clear goals and defined timelines: Los Toldos II Este.

“It’s a huge challenge for both Tecpetrol and for me,” he says. “Being responsible for part of a project of this size is incredibly rewarding, especially working alongside a company like Techint E&C in such a remote location, with all the challenges that brings. The scale of the project really pushes me, both technically and in how I manage.”

The interview comes to a close and Emiliano gets up from the table with the calm confidence of someone who knows there’s still a lot left to build. Outside, colleagues, plans, and meetings are waiting, along with a future that excites him just as much as the football club he loves. Between laughter and the everyday buzz of the office, one thing is clear, just as he says himself: you set your own limits.