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Partnership for Research and Education on Functional and Nanostructured Materials. A Hispanic Role Model for the Materials Science Community. Oscar M. Suárez , University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, DMR 0351449.
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Partnership for Research and Education on Functional and Nanostructured Materials A Hispanic Role Model for the Materials Science Community Oscar M. Suárez, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, DMR 0351449 Epitomizing the impact on the pipeline of this project, there is Nayomi Plaza, currently a junior Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez. She joined this PREM as an 11th grader to work on low-cycle fatigue of aluminum-magnesium alloys under the supervision of Prof. O. M. Suárez (PREM PI). Her work was selected to represent Puerto Rico’s public schools in the International Science & Engineering Fair. Since then, Nayomi has continued accumulating awards and recognitions. In 2007 she was recognized as one of the top 16 Puerto Rico high school students, with a Honor Mention in Math. Among other awards, Nayomi received a Larry C. Byrd scholarship, Boeing scholarship, Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation fellowship, and a NASA MUST scholarship. Through this latter award in the last two summers she had the opportunity to work in materials science research in NASA Marshall SFC and NASA Langley SFC. During the 2009 and 2010 Undergraduate Poster Competitions held as part of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) Annual Conference, she won the First Prizes in the Structural Materials Division for her PREM work on metal matrix composite materials. Recently she was notified to be the recipient of the prestigious 2011 TMS Light Metals Division scholarship. Nayomi has After graduation, Nayomi expects to pursue a doctoral degree in Materials Science to eventually become a professor. This goal has been her motivation since she graduated from high school, instilled by her participation in PREM. In 2006 Nayomi Plaza wins the regional Science Fair with her work on aluminum alloys. Her Chemistry teacher, Ms. Marisol Colón (left), has been been affiliated with this PREM since the summer of 2005. Nayomi Plaza wins the 2010 TMS – Structural Materials Division Undergraduate Student Contest. Her coauthor was NéstorÁlvarez, UPRM Mechanical Engineering senior student.