LATINOS IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE
Línea Abierta showcases accomplished Latino scientists and young aspiring engineers in a special monthly series of conversations. The series, in collaboration with California State University, Fresno, and Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana, focuses on the severe lack of Latinos and women in the engineering and science fields.
This is a series of conversations with top scientists on their professional achievements and on the effects of the severe under-representation of Latinos in the engineering and science fields.
The following are excerpts from four interviews aired via Radio Bilingüe’s satellite network.
First segment - Sylvia Rojas, a dyslexic single mother from El Paso who returned to college and finished with top honors an engineering career in three years, talks about how she overcame the odds. Click here to listen.
Second segment - Dr. Ireneo Rojas is a P’urhepecha-speaking Indian from Michoacan who got a doctorate degree in Germany and is a long-renowned physics researcher. He explains how he excelled in math because language barriers limited his abilities in the humanities area. Click here to listen.
Third segment - Nobel Chemistry laureate Mario Molina, one of the world’s top experts on chemical pollution and the environment, speaks about the dire need to educate more engineers and scientists in under developed countries. Click here to listen.
Fourth segment - Magaly Spector, from New Jersey, is one of the top female Latina scientists in the U.S. She came from Cuba, struggling to learn English. She won last year’s Professional Achievement Award from the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award Conference. She explains the advancements in fiber optic and laser technology she helped develop for a major U.S. corporation. Click here to listen.