5,000+

Dr. María Martínez-Inesta graduated top of
the class from the University of Puerto Rico-
Mayaguez campus from the Chemical
Engineering Department in 2000. As an
undergraduate she participate in several of the
PR-LSAMP activities. She pursued her
doctorate degree from the University of
Delaware. After graduating in 2005 she returned to her Alma
Mater in Puerto Rico to become an Assistant Professor where
she is now mentor to four graduate students. In 2010 she
received the Distinguished Professor award of the Chemical
Engineering Department for her contributions in teaching,
research and service to the community. In UPR-M she has
established a laboratory dedicated to the study of the structural
changes undergoing during synthesis of supported metal
catalysts using High Energy X-ray Scattering and to the
development of synthesis methods of metal nanoparticles.
Aldo Briano is a second-year graduate
student at Stanford University. He obtained his
B.S. in Computer Engineering from the
University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez in 2010.
As an undergraduate he participated in the
Mentored Research PR-LSAMP program with
professor and mentor Rogelio Palomera.
Following graduation, Aldo was awarded the
GEM fellowship, where he was sponsored by
Texas Instruments to pursue his graduate degree in Stanford
University. While working towards his bachelors Aldo won
various entrepreneurial competitions including EnterPrize
Business Idea 2010 and Reto 2010. He was also awarded the
"Entrepreneur in progress 2010" award by Grupo Guayacan
INC.
Virgilio Olivera-Olivera obtained his bachelor
degree as magna cum laude from the University
of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez in Crops and Agro-
Environmental Science, specialized in
Horticulture. During his bachelor he made three
researches, one with Dr. Ramón Torres and the
last two with Dr. Morales-Payan sponsored by
Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation
(PR-LSAMP). Also he made two summer internships. One in
Penn State University sponsored by “Summer Research
Opportunity Program” (SROP) and the second one were in the
University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana sponsored by the
“Plant Breeding Center”. In August 2011 he gets the “Bridge to
the Doctorate Program” Fellowship Cohort IX by the National
Science Foundation, so he could start and complete his master
degree. and continue to the PhD in agricultural science.
Christian Rivera-Goyco is currently a
Chemical Engineering Ph.D. student in the
University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez Campus,
where he also earned his B.S. As an
undergraduate student he did research in the
Bio-sensing, Renewable Energy and
Catalysis areas and presented his works in
the LSAMP Puerto Rico Interdisciplinary
Scientific Meetings. He participated in the Wi(PR) 2 EM
RET2011 program where he worked with a high school
teacher for the development of an educational modules. His
current research project is the design of a catalyst for the
Conversion of Cellulose to Bio-fuels. He was awarded with the
PR- LSAMP Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship Cohort IX (2011).
Ubaldo M. Córdova-Figueroa completed his BS
degree in Chemical Engineering at UPR-
Mayagüez. As an undergraduate he participate in
several of the PR-LSAMP activities He move’s to
Pasadena, CA to pursue a PhD at Caltech under
the advice of Prof. John F. Brady. In Caltech, he
developed a simple theory to describe the
directed motion of colloidal particles induced by
surface chemical reactions. He graduated in 2008 and returned to
Puerto Rico to become an Assistant Professor in Chemical
Engineering at UPR-M. Prof. Córdova-Figueroa is the latest UPR-
M faculty recipient of an NSF CAREER award, a highly selective
grant that the National Science Foundation awards to junior
faculty members who are likely to become academic leaders of
the future. His research study transport phenomena and colloidal
physics with special attention to propulsion mechanisms of
biological and synthetic systems at low Reynolds numbers.
Carolina Briano received her BS in
Mechanical Engineering at the University of
Puerto Rico Mayagüez campus in 2004. As
an undergraduate she participated in several
activities sponsored by PR-LSAMP. In May
2010 she received her M.S. in Mechanical
Engineering and Applied Mechanics from the
University of Rhode Island. Carolina Briano
is an Engineering Project Manager at
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems
where she is a graduate of the Engineering
Leadership Development Program and a 2011 Woman of Color
STEM Technology Rising Star Recipient.
Efrain Y. Aymat graduated from the
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez in 2010
with a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering, and
a Minor in Pharmaceutical Engineering. As an
undergraduate he participated in the PR-
LSAMP undergraduate research program and
as a Chemistry tutor in the Chemistry
Department. He also participates twice in
Summer internships at Purdue University. ”.
In August 2011 he gets the “Bridge to the Doctorate Program”
Fellowship Cohort IX by the National Science Foundation, so he
could start and complete his master degree and continue to the
PhD in Pharmaceutical Engineering at UPR-Mayagüez.
Sergio L. Sierra-Bermudez obtained a BS degree
in Chemical Engineering at the University Of Puerto
Rico at Mayagüez in May 2008. As an
undergraduate he participated in several LSAMP
activities including undergraduate research. Sergio
began his MS in Chemical Engineering program
under the mentorship of Dr. Carlos Rinaldi, where
he earned the LSAMP Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship Cohort VII.
In 2009, he attended the International conference on Magnetic
Fluid in Sendai, Japan, where he presented his research
findings. His research focuses in the use of Magnetic
nanoparticles as probes in complex fluids for diverse
applications.
213