WINTER 2008 PRE-COLLEGE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM - Student ...

RESEARCH MENTORS
Dr. Juan F. Arratia
Executive Director
Student Research Development Center
Principal Investigator
AGMUS Institute of Mathematics
Universidad Metropolitana
Dr. Juan F. Arratia was born in Pomaire, Chile. He graduated from Universidad Técnica del Estado with
a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1973. He was awarded an MSc in Engineering from Louisiana Tech
University, Ruston, Louisiana, in 1979 and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Washington University,
St. Louis, Missouri in 1985. He has taught and conducted research at universities in Chile (Universidad
Técnica del Estado and Universidad Austral de Chile), Puerto Rico (Universidad Interamericana de Puerto
Rico and the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez), and in the US mainland at Washington University, St.
Louis, and Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana. He has lectured and given conferences on
advanced automation, robotics, vision systems, artificial intelligence, total quality management and science
and engineering education in Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua,
Perú, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Australia, China, Puerto Rico
and in the US mainland. He was the Advanced Manufacturing Manager for Medtronic, Inc., a leading
pacemaker company, and is a consultant in advanced automation for pharmaceutical and medical devices
companies in Puerto Rico. Since 1998, he has been the Director and Principal Investigator of the Model
Institutions for Excellence (MIE) Project, a National Science Foundation sponsored program based at
Universidad Metropolitana in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Since 2007, he is the Executive Director of the Ana
G. Méndez University System (AGMUS) Student Research Development Center, designed to disseminate
MIE best practices at Universidad del Turabo and Universidad del Este. In November 2007 he was awarded
the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring at a ceremony
in the White House in Washington DC.
Dr. José Cernicharo Quintanilla
Spanish Research Council (CSIC)
Dr. José Cernicharo Quintanilla studied his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Physics at Universidad
Complutense de Madrid and his Ph.D at the Université de Paris VII. He has worked in the Observatories of
Meudon (1979, 1981-1982), Bordeaux (1980-1981), Grenoble (1982-1988), Institut D'astrophysique de Paris,
Max Planck Institut Fur Radioastronomie in Germany, Observatoire de Bordeaux, IRAM, the Yebes Astronomical
Center, Institute of Technology of California (CALTECH), INAOE in Puebla, Mexico, Observatoire de Paris, and
at the CSIC. His most recent publications for 2008 include: A Detailed Analysis of the Dust Formation Zone of
IRC+10216 Derived from Mid-IR Bands of C 2 H 2 and HCN; Detection of Circumstellar CH 2 CHCN, CH 2 CN,
CH 3 CCH, AND H 2 CS; Search for Anions in Molecular Sources: C 4 H - Detection in L1527; Discovery of C 3 N - in
Space; The Molecular Hydrogen Explorer H2EX; Physical Parameters for Orion KL from Modelling its ISO High
Resolution Far-IR CO Line Spectrum; Tentative Detection of Phosphine in IRC +10216; Formation of Simple
Organic Molecules in Inner T Tauri Disks; Solving Radiative Transfer with Line Overlaps Usin the Gauss-Seidel
Algorithms; Star Formation in the Trfid Nebula Cores and Filaments; and Millimetron-A Large Russian-European
Submillimeter Space Observatory. He has offered many conferences in schools, universities, astronomy
associations, at national meetings, cultural associations and in different countries. His scientific research has been
in the news in Europe, in the Science journal, and in local and international newspapers.
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