![[Img #74806]](https://thelatestnews.world/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Intergalactic-carbon-in-our-bodies-150x150.jpg)
Ernesto Cáceres, graduated from UdeC, currently holds a postdoctoral position at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in Massachusetts
In 2015, Ernesto obtained his professional degree by successfully defending his memoir entitled Mixed Virtual Element Methods: Applications in Fluid Mechanics which had the direction of Gabriel N. Gatica, academic at UdeC and member of the Center for Research in Mathematical Engineering, based at the same university. “Ernesto was one of the first students who, motivated by his passion for Mathematics, changed from the Faculty of Engineering to study Mathematical Civil Engineering, a phenomenon that, although far from being recurrent, has arisen from time to time in recent years. I met him when I took the Functional Analysis course, through which I was able to appreciate his aptitudes very quickly”.
“Subsequently”, continues the researcher, “I gave him some elective courses, and finally I directed his thesis, obtaining as a result of this and subsequent research work, 4 articles published in scientific journals. In fact, the first of them, with around 60 citations in just over 4 years, is one of the most cited we have”.
“Ernest isaFor sure, in the top 5 of the most hard-working and talented undergraduate thesis students I’ve ever had, so, in addition to being very happy about his new achievements, it was not a big surprise that he has obtained a doctorate and is doing a post-doc in centers as prestigious as Brown and WPI, respectively”, highlights Gatica.
Ernesto, atypically, began to get involved in scientific research work early while still a student of Mathematical Civil Engineering at UdeC. “During my last two undergraduate years, I had the opportunity to take specialized electives in the area of finite elements.
Some of them dictated for students of the doctoral program of the CI²MA- When looking for a topic for my undergraduate thesis with Professor Gatica, we found an extension to a new method in which many of the results presented in the electives could be applied. This led us to find novel results for the community of numerical analysis of partial differential equations. This is how my involvement in scientific research work began.”
Regarding the opportunity to continue his postgraduate studies abroad, Cáceres explains that “in 2014, we had the opportunity to carry out a research stay with Sebastián Domínguez at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After this stay, we were suggested to apply to the doctoral program there or elsewhere.
At the beginning of 2015, during a conference on numerical analysis of partial differential equations in La Serena, I gave a talk about my thesis, and my future doctoral thesis director, Professor Johnny Guzmán, was the one who gave the plenary talk of the conference and saw my worked. He suggested that I apply for a doctorate at Brown University, and Professor Gatica had other collaborators who suggested that I apply to other places as well.”
However, Ernesto details, this step was not without its challenges. “When doing the research stay in Canada, it was my first time leaving the country.
The Center for Training and Didactic Resources (CFRD) was of great help in being able to communicate in English. When I went to the US to start my doctorate, I had some difficulties communicating for the first few months, but I managed to get over it and the language ceased to be a barrier. Other barriers, despite being very personal, are the cultural barrier and coping with loneliness. I think the last one was the most difficult throughout the process.”
“I have gone through very important academic and personal experiences during my doctorate,” he adds, “and I have been able to be part of a very valuable network of support and friendships that I have been a part of over the years.”
In terms of co-authorship of articles, Ernesto continues to collaborate with Professor Gatica and Filander Sequeira, a graduate of the UdeC Doctorate.
“The last article we collaborated on was published in 2019. Later, I focused on the articles to be published with my doctoral thesis supervisor. I would describe this relationship as very good. Personally, I learned a lot being a co-author of them, and, in particular, Prof. Gatica has been a source of inspiration in research and, in something that is very valuable to me, in teaching”.
Finally, regarding the challenges that arise and the objectives he has for the postdoctoral position that he is starting, Ernesto states that “my main objective is to obtain more experience and new knowledge in teaching, as well as eventually be a mentor in research projects. with undergraduate students, especially in a place like WPI where the project based learning It’s very important. Also, among my goals is to start new collaborations with academics from the university. In particular, potential collaborations with professors Marcus Sarkis, Sarah Olson and Vladimir Duskin from the department have already been started.”
![[Img #74806]](https://thelatestnews.world/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Intergalactic-carbon-in-our-bodies-300x200.jpg)
