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Tamara I. Soto Hernández
In the summer 2020, I participated in the Virtual REU Program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). During the eight-week program I attended to faculty and professional development seminars to receive trainings and prepare myself for a successful transition into graduate school. In addition, I worked in the research Data and Machine Learning in Materials and Chemistry of the Materials Science and Engineering Center, led by the Prof. Dane Morgan and the graduate student Benjamin Afflerbach. I used existing material data, obtained from Citrination, and I modified Python algorithms, using a Jupyter Notebook in nanoHUB, to train a Machine Learning (ML) model to find a pattern in which the superconducting critical temperature of materials may be predicted. I spent long time normalizing features, adjusting hyperparameters, comparing validation techniques, and generating parity plots and error metrics to evaluate the performance, optimizing the model around 40% to 45%. At the end of the program, I presented a collaboratively poster with the results obtained.
Undergraduate Research: DFT Study on the Effect of Aluminum Position in Cu-Exchanged MFI on Methane Activation
This undergraduate research is related to the Chemical Engineering Department, managed by the professor Dr. María Curet Arana and mentored by the graduate student Sandra Albarracin Suazo. The purpose of this research is to systematically quantify the effect of Al--atom position within the α-ring of Cu-exchanged MFI on the methane activation. For these reason, I am investigating what is the most stable configuration for Cu-exchanged cluster of the α-ring when the Al atoms are located in different crystallographic sites. It involves the use of Gaussian View and Linux operating system to analyze the effect of copper atom distribution and perform all calculations by means of commands. I'm currently working on a paper to publish the results for the scientific literature.
ePEARLS Leadership & Mentoring Program
This program highlights the importance of leadership for success. It provides the opportunity, for ePEARLS students, to develop important leadership and mentorship skills. Each student mentor should be trained by Peer Lead Team Learning (PLTL) to receive an active learning experience and create leadership roles.
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I have been mentor of ePEARLS students of the Chemical and Mechanical Engineering Department. Each week I have one office hour to help them and clarify doubts. I also performed workshops with other mentors about resume and ePortfolio, introducing PLTL sections.
SWE is an organization whose purpose is to give to women engineers a unique place and voice within the engineering industry. It is composed of women and men, engineers and non-engineers, dedicated to identifying opportunities for personal and professional growth.
I participated in workshops for professional development, a Honeywell Plant Tour and charities activities such as the March Against Breast Cancer and the Operation Christmas Child activities where I donated gifts for children from an orphanage. I also visited this orphanage in Mayagüez to meet and play with the kids.
Health Fair Flyer
This multidisciplinary research has the objective of attach the UPRM
and other universities with communities around the country, with the
purpose of stimulate their development through the identification and
resolution of problems, and enrich the educational experience of
students through service, research, interdisciplinary teamwork and
the development of sensitivity and social responsibility.
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I participated during one semester in this research in the community of
Quebrada, Camuy. The process consisted of visiting the community to
establish dialogues with residents, observe the areas, create a writing
of the collected data, analyze community needs and search for
solutions.
The most important of my projects consisted of holding a health fair. However, after talking with the mayor and obtaining the communal center free of charge, receiving donation approval from 3 locations and distributing 200 brochures, the activity could not be carried out because the health staff canceled due to a commitment. Despite this, I found several scenarios and I was able to meet many people, especially elderly people. I could create a professional relationship where people expressed their necessities and concerns in relation to the community. The most important thing to me was to see that there are people around us who have a lot of necessities and a simple act like listening to them can change their mood.
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This program, known as ePEARLS, help bachelor´s and master´s level students in Engineering disciplines to successfully complete their study programs. I am part of this select group of ePEARLS students, who are given the chance to receive career mentoring, soft-skills training, research opportunities, internship/COOP experiences and peer-mentor activities. I also receive the scholarship offered by this program. Additionally, I am participant of workshops, courses for professional development, meetings, research study, and other activities.
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Belonging to this program has made me see in a clearly way what are my goals when I graduate and how to achieve them. One of the techniques implemented with us has been the Individual Development Plan (IDP). With the IDP I have realized what my skills are and what I need to improve them. Also, having to think about my short-term goals, I have motivated myself and I get to understand the importance of looking for experiences which allow me to develop professionally, such as research and internships.
AIChE is the Chemical Engineering Association of the UPRM. They bring the opportunity to acquire team work experience and develop their professional, scientific, social and leadership skills expected from any Chemical Engineer in the world. I enrolled in this organization on my third year of study until today. I participated in a symposium where some professors and students presented their research. I have also attended workshops, meetings, course reviews and other activities. In this association I have been able to interact with people with similar interests and create relationships.
Senior Class “Zoidaem”
Zoidaem is the 2016 graduate class
of Luis Felipe "Pipo" Crespo High
School. It was composed of,
approximately, 200 students. I had
the honor of being their Vice-president,
working with the directive team to
achieve the final activities. We carry
out different fundraising activities as
car wash, sales, sport carnivals, kiosks
at festivals, among others. Despite the economic crisis and all the adversities we face in public schools, it was satisfying to fulfill our dream of graduating with the best activities.
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Women in Engineering is an organization dedicated to support women in fields of technology and science. I was part of an activity they carry out named Star Program. In this activity, high school students are provided with workshops in order to learn about the different branches of Engineering offered at the UPRM. This was what convinced me to choose the career field what I wanted to study, which was Chemical Engineering.
“Rondalla” Musical Group
Downtown Stage
Downtown Disney
Music School in Arecibo
Downtown Stage
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I started to be part of this group of students when I enrolled in the Music class of Luis Felipe "Pipo" Crespo High School. It was composed of guitarists, violinist, quatrists, "güirero" and percussionists. I participated for 3 years, where I had the opportunity to played in musical presentations, in tourist places and in Dowtown Disney representing Puerto Rico.
Research Poster
Research poster presented during the Virtual REU Program of UW using Blackboard Collaborate.
Certificates
EIT CERTIFICATE
September 2022
Certified as an Engineer-In-Trainig with certificate #28592.
EPEARLS CERTIFICATE
Nov 2021
Certified for academic performance, research experience, mentoring, and scholarship.
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CAHSI CERTIFICATE
March 2019
Certified for attending the training to enroll in ePearls Leadership & Mentoring Program.
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WIE CERTIFICATE
Nov 2015
Certified for participate in WIE STAR Program.
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