Overview

My community-oriented research draws from a range of experiences, including my upbringing in southern Puerto Rico, participation in competitive sports, and exposure to diverse educational systems. At its core, my goal is to make computing technologies accessible to various communities. This entails engaging in co-design within research projects, actively participating in community service, translating my research designs into practical solutions for the public through public scholarship, and developing a wearable device based on my doctoral research. I will provide further details in each of these areas below. Thank you for visiting!!! :D

Community Service

My community work focuses on spreading awareness about what computing technologies enable us to do and promoting critical thinking about their pitfalls and associated effects. I partner with community organizations interested in computing education and seek to help them adopt technology to improve their processes. I currently have collaborations with partners in Puerto Rico and Chicago. My previous work includes advising underrepresented students on computing careers through virtual and in-person interactions, visiting public schools to present the basics of CS, and assisting a medical facility in upgrading its electronic records system..

Teaching

I enjoy making computing accessible to all. Recently, I worked as a teaching assistant at the 2022 Ponce Hackaton, an introductory hackathon for novice programmers in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Before Northwestern, I worked with youth, teaching them about computing and computational thinking at the Grayson Center in the Hill District, and I also taught tech skills to the elderly at Pittsburgh's Community Engagement Center in Homewood.

Policy

I spent a year studying governance at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in Pittsburgh. During that period, I published a couple of papers on underlying governance mechanisms in blockchain technologies. Additionally, I reviewed proposals for interventions at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration during an internship.

Recognitions and Awards

I have been recognized for some of this work. I am deeply appreciative of the people, programs, and institutions that have taken a chance on my ideas, which are sometimes too idealistic, and have actively sought to help me execute them.

  • Statistical Award ($2,000) to attend ML Summer School, Northwestern University, 2022
  • Commonwealth Fellowship ($82,000/ 2 yrs), University of Pittsburgh, 2018-2020
  • GSPIA Merit Scholarship & Carl Ware Scholar ($26,000/ 1 yr), Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, 2019
  • SoNIC Fellow, Cornell University, 2019
  • Puerto Ricans National Youth Leadership Encuentro, Center for Puerto Rican Studies, 2019
  • Ford Foundation Sponsored attendance to 2019 Modeling the World’s Systems conference, 2019
  • i3 Fellowship, iSchool Inclusion Institute, 2018
  • BETA Scholar, Puerto Rico Education Council, 2017
  • HACU Sponsored Scholar to 31st HACU Annual Conference, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, 2017

Personal

I was born and raised in southern Puerto Rico. I enjoy most outdoor activities and sports --currently doing a lot of surfing and basketball.