(2im) Biomaterials of Tomorrow: Feedstock’s Variability a Materials Challenge for Renewable Resources Engineering.

My career has been focused on the research of renewable energy and renewable resources engineering. I have been part of several research projects that had contributed to the field, from working with small farmers in Colombia during my first job as a research engineer, to helping small farmers in Indiana and Africa to manage their specialty crops to currently working with the United States Department of Energy to study the use of corn stover as biomass to produce bioethanol. In each of this project’s major advances were made in terms of research, for the small farmers in Colombia different technologies where designed and transferred and a logistics characterization was published to help understand the challenges in the region. For the small farmers in Indiana and Africa a patent of a solar dryer was generated and tested to understand the impact on the dehydration of products with three different publications as result of this works. Recently two publications for the work on biofuels have been published in terms of new strategies to treat biomass and enhance its liquefaction to improve the production of bioethanol in the US. From these projects I have learned that I would like to peruse a research career related to biological products and my goal as a faculty would be to pursue projects related with sustainability and removable resources from agricultural waste. From the different research experiences, I have identified four main research areas I would like to work on:

1. Biological materials physical and chemical characterization
2. Biomass transformation
3. Fermentation
4. Rheology of biological materials

Teaching Interests:

I had had the opportunity to be a teacher assistant during the Spring 2020, where we faced different challenges including the first part of the pandemic. After this experience. I am interested in the adaptation of computational technologies that will include the compilation of information for the clarity of the lectures and the constant building of knowledge. For assignments and exams, I think in my area of research teamwork is extremely important and also teaches a sense of responsibility and community that improves the learning experience. Thus, I would like to apply these strategies as a faculty always taking in count that the transfer of knowledge also a learning path. As a Biological Engineer I am capacitated to teach core undergraduate courses and I have a passion for heat and mass transfer teaching, I have experienced first hand is one of the most difficult classes in the curriculum and with my experience and technology adaptation I am excited to be able to create a better class that includes all ways of learning.

1. Heat and mass transfer
2. Thermodynamics
3. Material Properties, solid mechanics
4. Biological materials engineering
5. Rheology of Biological materials.