Ana Vázquez Pagán has been in the African country since last year on a scholarship for people interested in global health.

Scientist Ana Vázquez Pagán was in eighth grade when she lost a close family member who was pregnant during the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) or swine flu pandemic. The event scarred her, and that death planted a question in her mind: "How could this have happened?

At the time, Vázquez Pagán did not plan to pursue a career as a researcher. It wasn't until she was 17, when she participated in a nanotechnology camp at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), that she considered becoming a scientist.

Over the years, that question remained with her.

A group of 33 students from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Mayagüez Campus (RUM) participated in a Google Tech Exchange 2024 educational experience in Mountain View, California in early January. 

"This opportunity aims to empower students studying at HBCUs or HSIs (mostly Latino, Native and African American institutions) to grow in the technology industry. Participants in this program took virtual classes dedicated to developing skills in the field of Computer Science taught by Googlers, that is, engineers and software developers employed by Google with many years of experience in the computer industry," said Dr. Nayda G. Santiago, professor in the Department of Computer Engineering, coordinator of the initiative and member of its academic committee. 

Dr. José Antonio Lasalde Dominicci, professor at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras and Medical Sciences campuses, scientist at the Center for Research in Molecular Sciences (CICiM) and director of several landmark research projects, was recently honored as part of the Puerto Ricans in Science Day celebration.

Recognized locally and internationally as a prestigious chemist/biologist, his professional career has been characterized by his dedication to research and teaching in the field of molecular sciences, with a special focus on neurophysiology.

In a world where numbers and equations are usually seen as cold and abstract, in math they found so much more. Mónica Colón Vargas and Geraldo Enrique Soto Rosa, who in the same exciting weekend, graduated with a 4.00 grade point average from the Department of Mathematical Sciences of the University of Mayagüez Campus (RUM) and joined their lives in marriage. In addition, they were admitted to pursue doctoral studies at Brown University, a prestigious Ivy League university. 

The UPRM Solar Boat team, composed of students from the College of Engineering of the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus (RUM), won the championship in the Solar Splash 2023 competition, which was recently held in Springfield, Ohio.  

The collegiate collective, composed of four students from the departments of Electrical Engineering (INEL) and Computers (ICOM); and Mechanics (INME), obtained an overall score of 953.74 out of 1,000. With this feat, they regained the world championship title by winning the George Ettenheim Memorial trophy that they had achieved, for the first time, in 2021. Last year they were runners-up.