The Trials, Tribulations, And Triumphs of Itzhel Dimas
By Marisa Demers
Beverage companies look to Itzhel Dimas (’17, industrial engineering) to solve their biggest problems. From integrating new customers, to launching new products and to developing new, innovative ways to streamline supply chain processes, Dimas oversees a team that focuses on creating the best operating models that work internally and externally within a business. Barely 30 years old, this supply chain integration manager at Niagara Bottling makes climbing the corporate ladder look easy.
Yet, Dimas’s life has been anything but easy. Since she was a teenager, the industrial engineering alumna has been tackling some of life’s biggest challenges.
“I was just so angry at the world.”
In 2009, a border divided her family after her stepfather was deported to Mexico. Heartbroken by the sudden separation, Dimas’s mother and two sisters faced a financially destructive up coming years.
It was just Dimas, her undocumented mother, Rosalina and two sisters trying to survive in one of the most expensive regions in the country. Without her husband’s wages, Rosalina could not manage. Her truck was repossessed and the family was evicted from their Section 8 apartment, rentals for extremely low-income households. Feeling overwhelmed and defeated, Rosalina sunk into depression. With her daughters’ consent, Rosalina and Dimas’s youngest sister, Nicole, moved to Mexico in 2011 to be with her husband. Dimas and her other younger sister, Elizabeth, had to fend for themselves.
“At the time, I thought ‘How come other kids get to go to the movies and have fun and I’m here figuring out how I’m going to afford to eat and survive?’” - Itzhel Dimas ('17, industrial engineering), supply chain integration manager, Niagara Bottling
Using child support payments from their birth father, the sisters rented a room at their aunt’s home. There, they had shelter and little else: not meals, transportation, or even kindness. Dimas cleaned houses and worked catering jobs to earn money for food and clothes.
“I was just so angry at the world,” Dimas says. In reality, she was dealing with more than just anger. Dimas also had undiagnosed anxiety that led her to excessively bite her nails and the inside of her cheeks, and also pull her hair. “At the time, I thought ‘How come other kids get to go to the movies and have fun and I’m here figuring out how I’m going to afford to eat and survive?’”
Dimas doubted many things during this time—her family, her future and her safety—but never her talents. She took some of the most challenging classes at La Puente High School and achieved high marks. Passionate that a better life was possible, Dimas enrolled at Cal Poly Pomona. No other university could beat the school’s location, tuition and people, she says.
“No one in my life was an engineer.”
Dimas had ambitions of becoming an immigration attorney until Tony Quevedo (’12, chemical engineering) urged her to consider engineering. He was a tutor in the Educational Opportunity Program’s summer bridge program and noticed that Dimas understood the math assignments so well that she began teaching other members of her cohort.
“I’ve always liked science and engineering but, aside from astronauts, I wasn’t sure what careers were available in those fields,” Dimas says. “No one in my life was an engineer.” When Quevedo shared with her the various engineering disciplines— civil, chemical, mechanical—Dimas’ mind swirled. “How do I pick a major when I don’t even know what those words mean?”
She dabbled in mechanical engineering until she enrolled in a class with Shokoufeh Mirzaei, professor and chair of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering.
“Industrial engineering is about optimization and solving complex problems,” Dimas says. “I’ve been doing that my whole life. The first day in Dr. Mirzaei’s class, I was amazed and happy that I found a major that was so perfect for me.”
From the beginning, Dimas stood out, Mirzaei says.
“It was evident early on that Itzhel was hungry to learn and hungry to become successful,” Mirzaei says. “Her story is a wonderful example of the impact that Cal Poly Pomona has on students’ lives. Young people of all backgrounds, even humble ones, can find a path to upward social mobility.”
Six years after Dimas’ graduation, the pair keep in touch. Dimas asks Mirzaei for career advice and shares special milestones in her life. When Dimas bought her first home at 25, she gave Mirzaei a special video tour.
In turn, Dimas has introduced Mirzaei to executives at Niagara. The creation of an internship program is underway, and the company also has donated $15,000 to the Vy and Timothy Li Automation Laboratory for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. Funds will support the purchase of new automation equipment, Mirzaei says.
A new generation, one of great hope
The financial success made possible by her engineering degree has offered her more than material wealth. Dimas now has a chance to heal and reunite her family.
In 2021, she brought her stepsister back to the U.S. and became her primary caregiver. Dimas hopes to have Rosalina and a second stepsister legally return to the United States. She plans to house and financially support both of them, which might boost their chances of having their immigration applications approved.
No longer in survival mode, Dimas works with a therapist to manage her anxiety and hopes that the traumas she endured end with her. She is starting a family with her boyfriend and recently gave birth to a son, Thiago. It is still hard for her to comprehend that he has his own room and will soon have a college savings account.
“I used to be embarrassed about where I came from,” Dimas says. “I’m not anymore. I’ve met others on campus who have been in similar situations. What’s great about Cal Poly Pomona is that it not only connects students to good careers, but also helps them be great people.”
Caption for above photo: Itzhel Dimas with her sisters in 2016. They haven't been together since.