Richard Velazquez was recognized in October 2000 as the 1st Puerto Rican automotive designer for Porsche in Germany.
15 Facts About Richard Velazquez
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Richard Velazquez then received a Master's of Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business in 2003 on a full-fellowship through the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management.
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Richard Velazquez designed utility truck bodies for the Brooklyn Union Gas fleet and competed in the Society of Automotive Engineers Mini-Baja East competition.
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Richard Velazquez worked on the designs of the 1997 Acura CL, 1998 Honda Accord Coupe, 2001 Acura CL and the 2001 Acura MDX.
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Richard Velazquez left Honda in 1999 to work for Porsche AG at a newly designed facility in Weissach, Germany to work on Porsche's first SUV, the 2002 Porsche Cayenne.
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Richard Velazquez went on to work on the designs of the 2003 Porsche 911 and the 2004 Porsche Boxster.
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In 2001, Richard Velazquez left automotive design to pursue an MBA at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.
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Richard Velazquez was later recruited by Microsoft's Corporate Marketing Group and relocated to Redmond, Washington.
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Richard Velazquez transferred to the Product Planning group at Xbox in July, 2006.
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Richard Velazquez served as guest lecturer at the University of Washington in the areas of Marketing and New Product Development and Design.
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Richard Velazquez founded the Columbus Chapter of the SHPE and was president until leaving for Germany.
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Richard Velazquez was inducted into the Latino Leaders Magazine Club Leaders of the Future for New York in 2012.
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Richard Velazquez was inducted into the Diversity MBA Magazine Top 100 Under 50 Executive and Emerging Leaders in 2011.
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Richard Velazquez was recognized as a Rising Star for the NSHMBA national organization in 2009 and received both a Brillante award and Distinguished Lifetime Leader award from the same organization.
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Also in 2009, Richard Velazquez was selected as a Puget Sound Business Journal 40 under 40 Honoree.