Having a long and brilliant career with nearly 40 years in engineering, Mr. Emilio Kazunoli Matsuo saw Stara’s potential to volunteer and share its knowledge after he retired from Embraer. “I had this feeling that I had to give something back to society as a thank-you for everything I’ve accomplished in my professional life. I’m so proud I grew in the countryside and as a retirement plan, I wanted to work with agribusiness to honor my dad, who was a farmer”, he says.
Thinking about it, five years ago, Mr. Matsuo attended Agrishow in the city of Ribeirão Preto to analyze some companies. One of the company’s requirements was that it should provide engineering services in Brazil. “I visited the Stara stand, and luckily, I met people who work in engineering. I felt just like Embraer when I started working there. I noticed that people were willing to work hard to improve, innovate, and be curious to learn more”, he highlights.
Then, Mr. Matsuo visited the factory in the town of Não-Me-Toque, the state of the Rio Grande do Sul. He was invited by the Stara Director of Research and Development, Cristiano Paim Buss. “I was so glad about what I found at Stara. The way the company has been working and developing products for Precision Agriculture. I realized I could help with it,” he emphasizes.
Cristiano Paim Buss says that Mr. Matsuo is welcome to Stara and that the employees can take the opportunity to learn from him. The activities carried out were based on the topics listed by the Engineering Department, according to the department’s demands. The number of mentoring opportunities varies according to the conference subject. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they were online. Now, the engineer came back to visit us every two months to provide training in the factory.
The aeronautical engineer, Mr. Matsuo majored in ITA (Technological Institute of Aeronautics. His career started in Embraer, in January 1978, as a development engineer of on-board systems. For nearly 40 years, he led meaningful projects. As a result, he became the vice president and chief engineer at Embraer.
In June 2016, Mr. Matsuo retired. When he left Embraer, he already had a full plan. “It was hard to convince that my work was as a volunteer, but that was what I wanted for retirement: give back the society all I managed to achieve with education over the years. And agribusiness has always been part of my history.”
The connection between Mr. Matsuo and agribusiness comes back from a long time. He is the son of immigrants. His mother was born in Nagasaki, in Japan. She moved to Brazil in 1929 when she was five years old. His father arrived in Brazil to work because he didn’t have the chance to study medicine, which was his dream. “His life changed completely: from a student to a farm worker to chopping down trees for sowing to sow coffee”, says Mr. Matsuo.
Today, in addition to providing mentoring to Stara, Mr. Matsuo does volunteer work, such as the Group to Support Children with Cancer (GACC) in the city of São José dos Campos, state of São Paulo. He is also vice-president of the Administration Board of INVOZ – Integrating Voices to the Future, a charity association that gathers people and companies with skilled professionals willing to add strength and donate knowledge based on education, culture, and entrepreneurship.
Regarding his work with Stara, Mr. Matsuo highlights the importance of this sector for the country. “Stara’s mission is noble. The company helps to feed the world by means of the agricultural machines”. He says that the values found in the company are meaningful to his life. “Working with Precision Agriculture and entrepreneurship requires courage to innovate and provide new technologies. We have one of the best companies in the country here in the town of Não Me Toque, which tends to grow and has the potential to grow more worldwide,” he emphasizes.
Known for its innovative DNA, Stara is proud of having this partnership that only reinforces the greatest objective of the company: constant evolution.
