People

Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chemical and Biological Engineering, 2011

B.S. University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, Chemical Engineering, 2006

Link to CV

Oscar H. Piñeres-Quinones is a Chemical Engineer from the University of Cartagena in Cartagena, Colombia. During his undergraduate studies, Oscar focused on the chemical modification of sugarcane bagasse fibers with cobalt ferrite nanoparticles for magnetic paper preparation. This work led to his first publication. Subsequently, he obtained a Master's degree in Engineering with emphasis on New Materials from the Pontificia Bolivariana University in Medellin, Colombia. During his master's studies, Oscar worked on the dewatering of heavy crude oil-in-water emulsions using magnetite nanoparticles. This research was funded by the Colombian Petroleum Company S.A (Ecopetrol). Currently, Oscar is a PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez. His research focuses on the design of optical sensors using liquid crystals (LCs) droplets stabilized with nanoparticles for the detection of chemical and biological analytes. His work has led to two peer-reviewed publications, one non-provisional patent application, and a manuscript currently in preparation.

M.E. Pontificia Bolivariana University, Medellin-Colombia, Engineering-New Materials, 2022

B.S. University of Cartagena, Cartagena-Colombia, Chemical Engineering, 2017

Chemical Engineer from the University of Atlántico in Barranquilla-Colombia.  She worked as a leader in the quality control department in the coatings manufacturing and formulation industry (2021-2022), where she also brought support to the R&D group, especially in manufacturing process optimization. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez.

B.S. University of Atlántico, Barranquilla-Colombia, Chemical Engineering, 2021

Yarley Maza-Pautt is a graduate student admitted to the Master of Science in Chemical Engineering program at the University of Puerto Rico in August 2023. Coming from the bachelor program of the Universidad Del Atlántico, Barranquilla-Colombia, she distinguished herself for her research in the formulation of edible emulsions to postpone the post-harvest maturation of cape gooseberry, from which she is the co-author of two publications. Subsequently, she held the position of critical process analyst at Coca-Cola FEMSA Colombia (2020-2023) and is currently immersed in research at the Mayagüez University Campus, specifically in the colloids and interfaces group.