FORTY UNDER FORTY 40
Jacqueline Besinaiz Thomas Senior Scientist — Research & Development Procter & Gamble
From first grade through her Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry and in her current post as a senior scientist and chemist in research and development at Procter & Gamble, the more science Jacqueline Besinaiz Thomas, 30, learns,
the more she wants to know and wants to share as a career opportunity with other young girls. That’s why Thomas served as a speaker and life role model before an audience of girls and their mothers at the 2009 His- panic Engineering, Science & Technology Week conference in Edinburgh, Texas. She told a reporter from the American Chemical Society (ACS) newsletter that she realized “at one point, that could have been me and my mom in that crowd.” She earned her undergraduate degree in math and science from Texas A&M University, Kingsville, while working and in- terning when not studying. But the key to getting that 2001 degree was winning an ACS $5,000 annual scholarship that helped pay her tuition. A National Sciences Foundation internship and then an NSF graduate STEM fellowship followed. During it, she taught largely Spanish-speaking fifth- and sixth-grade math and science students. Now at Procter & Gamble, Thomas is delving into mechanistic studies and molecular modeling, which could possibly lead to two patents.
Bernadette A. Hernandez-Sanchez Senior Member, Technical Staff Sandia National Labs
As a grade-school student, Albuquerque, N.M.- native Hernandez-Sanchez, who has the nick- name “Burner” for her desire to succeed, doted on Nickelodeon’s “Mr. Wizard’s World’s” and dreamed of space travel. That led her to a high
school internship in Sandia National Labs and an interest in chemistry. Currently, she works on dielectric materials for capacitors and biofouling- and corrosive-proof devices to capture the kinetic and thermal energy of the ocean. Hernandez-Sanchez has three patents and 20 published papers. In 2004, the specialist at making nano-materials earned a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Colorado State University. Her undergradu- ate degree is from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Dedicated to giving back, Hernandez-Sanchez holds a fun annual work- shop for elementary school students teaching them about engineering, science and nanotechnology using the mystery of finding a missing dog. Hernandez-Sanchez credits her winning an American Chemical Society Scholars Program grant that is given to African American, Hispanic, and American Indian chemical science students, as being the key to complet- ing her education. Watch Hernandez-Sanchez on YouTube at http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=CTmboriZY6g.
Alicia Lopez Manager
Southern California Edison
When Alicia Lopez, a daughter of Mexican immi- grants living in Los Angeles’s Echo Park neighbor- hood, was a child all the budding engineer signs were there. She would take appliances apart and reassemble them. Now Lopez manages the
transmission and distribution business unit at Southern California Edison (SCE), and field operational support. Lopez has spent nearly 15 years at SCE and says its management and technical training helped her rise
22 HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | 2011
in the company and professionally. She is a graduate of California State University-Los Angeles with a degree in electrical engineering and returns there often to mentor budding engineers. SCE serves nearly 14 million holding 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile area in Central, Coastal and Southern California. Lopez welcomes the impact her success has on girls and women who might also want a career in science, technology, engineering or math-related fields. She is the chair of the Metropolitan Los Angeles Power and Energy Society, past chair of the Metropolitan Los Angeles Section, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and was the secretary for the Los Angeles Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Lopez tells those of her gender not to worry about being a woman in a male-dominated sector. “Engineers are very profes- sional,” she said, “but you need to prove that you have a qualified educa- tion and background to get the job done. And once you do, regardless of gender, you are part of the team.”
Eloy Flores Research Scientist Southwest Research Institute (SWRI)
The Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio is one of the oldest and largest independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organizations. Eloy Flores leads the chemical investigations team scientist in SWRI’s chem- istry and chemical engineering division, which develops and operates chemical processes for advanced fuel and energy technologies at lab- and demonstration-scale. Since 2008, his team has been developing a new carbon capture and sequestration technology for a small business client. Flores has worked at SWRI since 2002, and has been a research scientist in its chemistry and chemical engineering division where he creates and implements experimental techniques to support chemical processes development. Flores has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and a Master of Science degree in environmental science from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
David Cardoza Senior Member — Technical Staff The Aerospace Corporation
David Cardoza once thought he was destined to work in a grocery store. Junior college wasn’t going well and math was a struggle. Then he took an astronomy class, aced it and the professor told Cardoza he could be an astronomer. Directed, he aced all his algebra, calculus, physics dif- ferential equation courses, and won the math achievement award. He then transferred to the University of California-Riverside to major in physics and became the first family member to earn a college degree, and cum laude at that. In graduate school at Stony Brook University, he shifted from astronomy to ultrafast laser spectroscopy, was named outstanding graduate student in the physics department and received his Ph.D. in physics. After post-doctoral work at Stanford University, he joined Aerospace Corp., which does research for national-security space programs. There he evaluates techniques used for space-based missions, and performs research supporting the USAF Space and Mis- sile Systems Center. Cardoza’s specialty is to use ultrashort laser pulses (pulse duration 10-15 s, or a millionth of a billionth of a second short) to study materials. He is excited about the prospect that someday physicists will be able to “actually image the motion of atoms in large molecules and solid state systems.” That’s a pretty good dream for someone who went from grocery bag boy to proverbial rocket scientist.
www.hispanicengineer.com
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