5,000+

Emmanuel Santa-Martínez is pursuing a major
in General Biology at the University of Puerto
Rico, Humacao. He belongs to the Honors
Program, Amgen Bio-Minds, PR-LSAMP and
McNair Programs. He has participated in several
summer internships. In 2009 he performed
research in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Biology at the
Mountain Research Station – U of Colorado. Last summer, he
conducted research at the Case Western Reserve University, in
Cleveland, Ohio through the SPUR Program. During the regular
academic year he does research with plant invasive species at
his home institution. Emmanuel’s future goal is to obtain a PhD in
zoology or ecology. His greatest dream is to become a university
professor and conduct research.
Madeline Candelaria Custodio is a senior
student with academic excellence at the
University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez. She will
obtain her bachelor degree in Chemical
Engineering on May 2012. She completed one
year and a half, performing internships in Abbott
Pharmaceuticals Laboratories as a Process
Engineer. Since January 2011, she has been collaborating in
the Pharmaceutical Engineering Research Laboratory in the
University of Puerto Rico, performing research to evaluate the
angle blades and blade velocity effects in growth behavior of
high shear granulation. Madeline is also member of several
organizations like AICHE – American Institute of Chemical
Engineering, Golden Key Honour Society and Tau Beta Pi –
Engineering Honor Society. After completing the bachelor in
Chemical Engineering, she’s planning to continue graduate
studies in Pharmaceutical Engineering.
Enery Lorenzo is an under graduate student
attending to the University of Puerto Rico,
Mayagüez Campus (UPRM). She is pursuing
a Bachelor of Science degree in the area of
Industrial Engineering, where she schedules
to graduate in December 2013. As a junior
she received the Puerto Rico Louis Stokes
Alliance for Minority Participation (PRLSAMP) fellowship.
Currently Enery is conducting a research in the area of
Biostatistics with Professor Mauricio Cabrera as her advisor.
Miss Lorenzo will be presenting her work, Genetic Emergent
Behavior: Cervix Cancer Case, at the 23 rd Annual HENAAC
Conference.
Nicole A. Blanco Vicéns is a 4 th year Industrial
Engineering student at the University of Puerto Rico,
Mayaguez campus. She is a member of the Dr.
Mauricio Cabrera-Ríos´ research group -The Applied
Optimization Group at UPRM-. On summer 2011, she
was sponsored by PRLSAMP to carry out the experimental
design project “Optimization in Everyday Activities: The Rice
Cooking Problem”, which led her to a second project entitled
“Variational Analysis of Nanoproperties – Preliminary results.
She holds an undergraduate research assistantship from UPRM
CREST (Center for Biomedical & Energy-Driven Systems &
Applications) where, besides her research duties, she is
involved with community outreach by helping out to disseminate
knowledge about Science and Technology in High
Schools. She is also an active member of MAES (Society of
Mexican American Engineers and Scientists).
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Sergio García-Vergara is a first year Graduate
Student in the Electrical and Computer
Engineering Department at the Georgia Institute
of Technology. He graduated magna cum laude
from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez
with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in
June 2011. As an undergraduate student,
Sergio has been funded by PRLSAMP since
May 2007 until December 2010 for his research on Power
Electronics and Renewable Energy, and Control Systems. Sergio
has also worked in research projects in the University of California
at Berkeley (2010), and in the University of Purdue (2009) as part
of prestigious NSF funded programs (SUPERB and SURF
respectively)affiliated to LSAMP. He is now working as a
Graduate Research Assistant under the supervision of Dr. Ronald
Arkin in the School of Interactive Computing towards obtaining his
PhD in Electrical Engineering.
Dr. Alberto M. Figueroa Medina completed his
Bachelor in Science and Master in Science degrees
in Civil Engineering from the University of Puerto
Rico at Mayaguez. He obtained his Ph.D. in Civil
Engineering. Currently, he is Associate Professor in
the Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying
at the UPR-Mayaguez, Deputy Director of the Puerto
Rico Transportation Technology Transfer Center, and Coordinator
of the FHWA Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship
Program and the Summer Transportation Research Exchange
Program. His research interests are in the areas of highway
geometric design, road safety, mass transit systems, and
transportation sustainability. Alberto was born in Arecibo, Puerto
Rico, and he is a product of the public school system. He
participated in the Undergraduate LSAMP Summer Research
Program in 1996.
Jaileene Perez-Morales is an Industrial
Engineering senior student at the University
of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez (UPRM). As an
undergraduate, she has served as a Puerto
Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority
Participants (PRLSAMP) Scholar and as a
research assistant in the detection of
potential cancer biomarkers in the Bio IE Lab
at her Department. She has been an NSF REU scholar and
presented her research at the IE Research Conference 2011 at
Reno, Nevada. She was the winner of the first place in the IE
Annual Research Fair at UPRM and plans to pursue doctoral
studies in Biostatistics.
Saylisse Dávila graduated summa cum laude
from University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering in May
2005. At the ceremony, she received the
awards for outstanding student from the
College of Engineering and the Department of
Industrial Engineering. In December 2010, she
obtained a PhD in Industrial Engineering from
Arizona State University. The focus of her
doctoral research was the development and
application of data mining methods for the early
detection of disease outbreaks. While pursuing her PhD degree,
she obtained prestigious fellowships from the National GEM
Consortium, Achievement Awards for College Scientists, Tau Beta
Pi, among others. Saylisse is currently working as an assistant
professor at her undergraduate institution.