ChE Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month
As the nation honors the cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latin Americans, the University of Florida invites you to celebrate those who have contributed to the University’s institutional excellence and those who lend their voices to today’s UF experience.
Fernando J. Mérida Figueróa, Ph.D.
Please tell us about your research.
I am currently researching various approaches to modernize unit operations lab-based courses by redefining the scale and structure of experiments, enforcing elements of design of experiments, and diversifying the nature and applicability of experiments by collaborating with colleagues in other institutions/countries.
What is the best advice you’ve received?
The best advice I have received is that you must feel proud of accomplishments and achievements (even if they are small!) both at professional and personal levels.
Who inspires you?
World travelers. Some people travel for work, some for pleasure, others for spiritual connections, and some others looking for identity. World travelers always have inspiring stories behind their journey and as a traveler myself, I like to hear and learn from these adventures.
How do you hope to inspire the next generation?
I want to inspire next generations by telling them that working hard is key to succeed in life but making mistakes (and learning from them!) is also part of the road to success. Sometimes we just see the tip of the iceberg, but we have no idea of how immense its base is, hidden under the water.
Please share a fun fact about yourself.
Every day I listen to a morning show called “El Despelote de la nueva 94”, broadcasted by a Puerto Rican radio station. The show has news, entertainment, technology, contests, sports, and other segments but hosts add the “latino picardía” to all segments along with reggaeton music (which I love it!) I’ve done this for the last ~ 12 years every morning. If you see me laughing while driving to work every morning, is because I am listening to “El Despelote de la nueva 94”
What do you do for fun, or as a hobby?
My idea of fun is and will always be going to the beach. I just need a small cooler, beach chair and umbrella, sunblock, and a wireless speaker to get in the beach mode. Either for taking a splash in the water or just watching the waves and feeling the ocean breeze, going to the beach has that unique, soothing effect on me (physical and spiritual).
Hansel Montalvo-Castro
I was born and raised on the island of Puerto Rico. I pursued my passion for math and science early, engaging in Math Olympics and Scientific Fairs. I completed my undergraduate studies in Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. I am currently at UF, working on my Ph.D. degree focused on heterogeneous catalysis in metallic and zeolite systems. I am passionate about research and academia and aim to be instrumental in developing our understanding of the universe.
Please tell us about your research.
My research focuses on theoretical heterogenous catalysis. Using density functional theory calculations, I seek to elucidate reaction mechanisms and relevant catalytic properties over metallic and zeolite-based catalysts.
What is the best advice you’ve received?
Embrace and trust the process; to learn to be compassionate with myself while setting reasonable but still ambitious expectations. My best does not look the same every day, and that is OK.
Who inspires you?
I am inspired by my family and myself. The ambition to learn and become better than my current self, every day.
How do you hope to inspire the next generation?
I seek to inspire awareness, to wake the power of the human mind. Becoming aware, beyond the typical, is the first but transcendental step to greatness. That science is a product of the human mind, and therefore, accessible to all, with the appropriate awareness.
Please share a fun fact about yourself.
The letters from my second name are contained within the first.
What do you do for fun, or as a hobby?
I like to read about quantum mechanics, God, and philosophy. When not reading about it, I am talking about it. I also like videogames, not to relax, but to compete.
Marisa O. Pacheco
Please tell us about your research.
I am working in the Stoppel lab on a project involving the development of silk fibroin particles as hemoglobin-based oxygen therapeutics for use in situations where a blood transfusion may not be available or possible. Currently we are focused optimizing silk particle synthesis techniques that avoid the use of harsh solvents.
What is the best advice you’ve received?
The best advice I have received was given to me by my dad in the form of one of his favorite, and now my favorite, poem by Antonio Machado, Caminante, no hay camino. He gave me a copy on the day I moved into the dorms at undergrad and the poem basically serves as a reminder that you and only you decide your path in life and no two paths are the same. This poem and idea helped give me a lot of confidence in making the decision to move out of Colorado for graduate school.
Who inspires you?
My grandfather is one of the people that inspires me most. He worked up to being a professor at CU Boulder and the Director of the BUENO (Bilinguals United for Education and New Opportunities) Center. He researched how to ensure bilingual students and neurodivergent populations have access to effective education pathways from K-12 to higher education. One of my main goals in life is to ensure in my career I am pushing forward those same values.
How do you hope to inspire the next generation?
Honestly long-term, my hope would be that I am not all that special to the next generation. I would hope soon there are enough women and Hispanic women working in areas where we have long been underrepresented, doing amazing things that I would not stand out from the next. Until that is true, I hope younger people can look to me and see comfort and familiarity to the point where they recognize if they want to do similar science, they absolutely can.
Please share a fun fact about yourself.
If I wasn’t in grad school, I would love to be a high school chemistry teacher.
What do you do for fun, or as a hobby?
I love spending time outside with my pup Oso, listening to music, cooking, and doing puzzles/playing games.
Carlos M. Rinaldi-Ramos, Ph.D.
Please tell us about your research.
My group studies fundamentals and biomedical applications of magnetic nanoparticles in suspension. We characterize and model the behavior of these small particles in complex media representative of biological environments, and we synthesize and functionalize nanoparticles for therapeutic and diagnostic applications, with relevance to cancer and other diseases.
What is the best advice you’ve received?
Work hard, play hard. This was advice I received as an undergraduate student. I have no issues with the work hard part, so it is a constant reminder to also enjoy life.
Who inspires you?
It is difficult for me to choose one person, as I’ve had many different mentors and role models throughout my career, and I’ve been inspired by many different people at different stages of my life. However, I always think back to a guidance counselor who helped me navigate my parent’s divorce in high school and made me realize that my lack of academic achievement at the time was entirely my responsibility.
How do you hope to inspire the next generation?
This is such a tall order! Personally, I strive to make things better all around me. I hope I can inspire others to do the same.
Please share a fun fact about yourself.
I spent my first summer assisting a diving instructor in taking tourists on trips around my hometown in Puerto Rico.
What do you do for fun, or as a hobby?
Lately I’ve been enjoying watching cartoons with my daughter. Periodically I’ll play videogames, especially whenever a new Zelda or Metroid game comes out.
Juan Manuel Restrepo-Flórez, Ph.D.
Please tell us about your research.
My research aims at developing methods and models to support the decision-making process in the broad area of sustainability. We employ a broad set of tools from optimization to multiphysics simulations to address problems in the design of sustainable energy systems, plastic waste upgrading, and chemical separations design.
What is the best advice you’ve received?
“Search for the pleasure of searching, not for the pleasure of finding”
that is my free translation of a Jorge Luis Borges short stanza and I think it really touches on the way science is crafted.
Who inspires you?
My grandpa because he was able to constantly enjoy everything that was around him. He could see the beautiful and joyful things in everything.
How do you hope to inspire the next generation?
I would like for my students to learn to enjoy the work that we do, and to find some freedom to be creative, and revolutionary through the work that we do in our group.
Please share a fun fact about yourself.
I have not worn a blue jean in more than 20 years. Despite the popular belief, I find that they are very uncomfortable.
What do you do for fun, or as a hobby?
I like to read; I have a very large library. My wife and I also like gardening, and we are especially fond of the tomato crop.
The post ChE Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month appeared first on Department of Chemical Engineering.