Ramon Sanchez
Week 6 REU Student of the Week!
Ramon Sanchez is another REU participant from Puerto Rico and our sixth Student of the Week!
Born and raised in the Ciales/Manati area of Puerto Rico, Sanchez is currently studying mechanical engineering at Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto de Mayaguez. His inclination toward mechanical engineering can be attributed to his family that is full of engineers and mathematicians.
“Back in high school, I was good at math and science,” said Sanchez. “My father is a mechanical engineer, my mother is a math teacher, my grandfather is a math teacher, and all of my uncles are engineers.”
Sanchez found the REU program through a Google search for summer internships, and this is the second time he’s been to America since a trip to Disney 11 years ago. He is working in Professor Fawcett’s lab with the evaluation of automated of automated incubation of Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Virus.
“Right now I am on the last few steps of the experimental procedure, so in the next week or so I’ll work on analyzing data to write a paper, with the goal of publishing a paper,” he said.
Sanchez has enjoyed the creative aspect of his research where he has to come up with solutions for problems that arise. He’s been able to get a lot of hands-on experience working in the REU program.
Similar to his ongoing research, Sanchez enjoys designing and inventing things. He just started learning to code with Python after hearing it is a valuable skill for the workplace. “I already know MATLAB, but I’m not that good at it,” he admitted. “I want to learn how to use Python and hopefully get better with MATLAB.”
During his summer in Boston, Sanchez has visited Six Flags, gone kayaking on the Charles, and played basketball. He’s also been putting a lot of time in the gym along with fellow REU participant Javier and a few other guys. Sanchez hopes to do a few other things before the summer is over, like go to the top of the Prudential Center to see the 360° views of the city and attend a Red Sox game.
Hopefully he will be able to accomplish everything he wants to do within the last half of the program!
Ramon’s research presentation at the RET Introduction Day
