Dr. Armando Rúa de la Asunción, professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Mayagüez Campus (RUM), received a $1,250,000 grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which will allow him to expand his research in experimental physics for the next five years.

Dr. Rúa de la Asunción, who is the first scientist to win this grant in Puerto Rico, was selected along with 20 other researchers from the first cohort of 2023, who will have these funds to address their innovative ideas in a more creative way, as well as to promote advances in their field.

The Steel Bridge team, from the Civil Engineering and Surveying Department (INCI) of the University of Mayagüez Campus (RUM), won first place overall at the Canadian National Steel Bridge Competition (CNSBC), an event held at Western Ontario University in Canada. 

The collegiate group, composed of 14 students, achieved first place in the following categories: Lightness, Construction Economy, Cost Estimate, Construction Speed, and Circular Engineering. It also took third place in the Aesthetics category. 

Prior to this first place, the students obtained third place in the regional competitions of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which allowed them to qualify for the U.S. national competitions for the ninth consecutive year.