Industrial engineering alum comes full circle as capstone mentor

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M. Cecilia Lluria-Gossler joined the Interdisciplinary Capstone program as a mentor in August 2025. She brings more than a decade of teaching experience and another decade of industry expertise. 

Lluria-Gossler graduated from the University of Arizona College of Engineering with a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering in 1987 and a Master of Science in 1991. She went on to intern at Hughes Aircraft and work as a project manager for Burr-Brown Corp., among other roles.

In 2015, Lluria-Gossler began teaching the Engineering 102 High School course at Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, Arizona. The dual-credit course, done in collaboration with the college, helps students get a head start on their first year as engineering majors.

Did your student experience in the capstone program prepare you for your career and continued studies?

Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to do a multidisciplinary project, so I was not as prepared as my current students. As a young engineer, I had to quickly get up to speed on other disciplines and technologies and learn how my skills could be applied to the world of electronic manufacturing. I would have greatly appreciated and benefited from the project management skills and team collaboration taught to students in Engineering 498.

You have been teaching Engineering 102 for a decade now. Why? How does the course prepare high schoolers for college?

It's been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. The course is designed to inspire students to take on the challenges of engineering and allow them to explore a variety of engineering disciplines. In my course at Salpointe, in addition to the required University of Arizona curriculum, students complete a high school-level capstone project guided by EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service, developed at Purdue University) to solve real-world problems. Engineering coursework is challenging, and I want them to be inspired to do the hard work because it’s purposeful and of service to our community.   

What inspired you to become a capstone mentor?

My son, Bret Gossler, who also graduated from the College of Engineering, participated in the capstone program, and I went to see his project at Design Day. It was so inspiring to see college students do sophisticated and meaningful engineering work.  
I was inspired to apply to be a mentor by Jim Sweetman, who is currently a mentor. I loved the idea of mentoring college students and I suspected that, like my high school students, they would provide me with opportunities to keep my skills relevant and continue learning.

Why do you think it's important for seniors to do capstone projects?

It’s important to learn to collaborate with other engineering disciplines, other professions, and really other people. They learn project management skills, which gives them a methodical and analytical approach to handle complex projects. Capstone projects also give them the confidence to solve difficult real-world problems with a team of professionals.

What challenges have your teams overcome? What were they, and what was your approach to helping them toward success?

When I was a young engineer, a lot of my mentors used to remind me that the easy part of completing a project is understanding and applying technology; the hard part is working with people. While all the projects have technological challenges and students are well-prepared to manage those challenges, they, of course, struggle with how to manage each other and the high expectations of their project sponsor. My advice is simple: communicate often and on a regular basis with everyone. Deliverables, expectations, and tasks to be completed should be agreed upon in writing. Basically, leave nothing to interpretation.

Seniors typically undergo a lot of stress in their final year. How do you navigate stress, and what do you tell your students if they start to feel the pressure? 

Planning and consistent daily effort are the keys to stress management. Avoiding difficult tasks just adds to the stress. I also take the time to pray, exercise, and make it a point to get outside every day. We all feel overwhelmed at times, but during those times, I take a few minutes to be grateful for what is most important in my life: family, friends and my dogs.  

Any fun facts about yourself to share? 

I come from a large Cuban-American family. As a group, we are a bit overwhelming, and so my daughter aptly named us the “CubanTornado.” My son Bret, my daughter, Isabel, and my husband of 37 years, Ken - we all graduated from U of A. Bret is an engineer, Isabel and Ken are MDs. My mom also graduated from U of A as a civil engineer. She was my mentor and inspiration.