Dr. Sandra Cruz-Pol's Bio
A little bit about me...
Sandra Cruz-Pol was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She received the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University working with passive and active satellite sensors studying atmospheric gases and the sea surface emissivity. She worked in active remote sensing at UMass for her masters. Her BS is from University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM). All three degrees were obtained with the Suma Cum Laude distinction.She joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at UPRM in 1991, where she was a professor for over 25 years in the area of electromagnetics (RF) and remote sensing. She was a member of U.S. National Academies (NAS) Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF) from 2010 -2019.  She was also appointed member of the NAS Active Spectrum Study.  She was the Program Director for the EARS (Enhancing Access to the Radio Spectrum) program at NSF where she was also a Spectrum Manager.  She is a member of the IEEE FARS (Frequency Allocations for Remote Sensing) Technical Committee She is a Program Director for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Centers (ERC)  While working as a spectrum manager at NSF, she was appointed as member of the U.S. Delegation for Spectrum Management to the ITU in Geneva and was the NSF Representative for the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC) at the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and for several subcommittees including the one that deals with Frequency Allocations, FAS. In 2015, at NSF she was selected as the Federal Liaison for the U.S. National Committee for the International Union for Radio Science (URSI).  Her interests include microwave sensors, weather radars, atmospheric propagation, RF Spectrum, and climate monitoring. She received the NASA Faculty Award for Research in 2002. Dr. Cruz-Pol is a Senior member of the IEEE. She was the Associate Editor for University Affairs for the IEEE GRSS Newsletter for 5 years. A little bit about me...
And a bit more if you're curious...
And a bit more if you're curious...
She has presented numerous talks and numerous papers on climate change and remote sensing, both in Puerto Rico and all over the world. In order to focus on the solutions, she founded the Campus Verde initiative in 2007 at UPRM so as to create awareness on how to tackle climate change and slow down global warming.She was recipient of NASA Faculty Award for Research in 2001, and the GEM Mentorship Award. She was selected Outstanding Professor of the Year from the ECE department on 2003 and has always rated high in students’ evaluations. In addition, she has experience coordinating the educational and outreach component on two Engineering Research Centers (ERC) from NSF. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi since 1985.Dr. Cruz-Pol worked as Chair and Co-Chair for two international technical conferences: iNEER’s ICEE 2006 and MicroRad 2006, both held in San Juan, PR with participation of scientists from all over the World. She also helped organized K-12 Content Institutes during the summer of 2003-2008 for STEM teachers from all over the U.S.She's the author and co-author of several books about electrical engineering and about environmental sustainability.Some of her hobbies are acrylic painting, playing the drums, calligraphy, reading, exercising, salsa dancing, yoga, baking, learning to cook international dishes, and playing board games.
