At the end of last semester, Dr. Yolanda Vásquez Bernal joined the Department of Mathematics of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the Universidad Tecnológica de Panama (UTP), after having obtained the highest academic degree at the Universidad de Concepción (UdeC) at the end of 2022, when defending his thesis 'Conservation laws with discontinuous flow modeling flotation columns' in which he was supervised by Dr. Raimund Bürger, principal investigator of the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of the U. de Chile and Sub-Director of the Center for Research in Mathematical Engineering, CI²MA, of the UdeC. 

In this regard, the Director of CI²MA, Dr. Rodolfo Araya Durán, highlighted that “it is always very comforting to know of the success of our graduates. In this case, Dr. Vásquez is an excellent graduate of our PhD program, in which she obtained important scientific results, so it is not surprising that she has found an academic position in a short time. For the above, we wish her every success in her new professional life”. 

Although she received offers from other institutions, Yolanda decided on UTP because she has "a master's degree in mathematical engineering, which I myself studied a few years ago, in this, much more application is made and there are many research niches linked to engineering" , he explains and adds that, although he could eventually have a few hours dedicated to teaching, his position is "mostly focused on research." 

“During Semester I 2023 I taught the advanced numerical methods course for the master's degree in mathematics and this semester I was assigned the Calculus II course at the undergraduate level,” she explains.  

"The master's degree in mathematical engineering," he details, "creates the path for its graduates to later apply for doctoral scholarships, as was the case in my case, and surely, next year there will also be a new call because we have had good results." 

In this sense, regarding her challenges as a trainer of new students, she points out that "I will be assigned a course in the new generation of the master's degree and I will have two thesis students, so I would already start in the role of tutor ”. 

In the months that she has already been integrated into her new position, she has dedicated herself to "getting to know more or less the research that is being done, the areas in which they investigate, where they can contribute and, this second semester, from September 26 to 29 I will participate in the XIX National Congress of Science and Technology to publicize a little of the work I was doing in Chile”. 

Regarding the lines of research, the scientist emphasizes that her colleagues "are betting a lot on neural networks and genetic algorithms, but I think they could contribute in mathematical modeling, for example, of vehicular traffic, which is something that has a lot to do with it." to do with flow or the optimization of irrigation systems since the region is affected by the El Niño phenomenon. These are possible investigations that we can address with the students who will join the master's degree in mathematical engineering next year”. 

Networks and new opportunities 

Regarding inter-institutional collaboration, Dr. Vásquez explains that she is still in contact with those who supported her during the development of her doctoral thesis: in addition to Prof. Bürger, Stefan Diehl (Lunds Universitet, Sweden) and María del Carmen Martí (Universitat de Valencia, Spain) maintains collaboration with researchers from the Faculty of Metallurgical Engineering of the UdeC Fernando Betancourt and Lepoldo Gutiérrez. 

“At the beginning of this year,” explains Dr. Vásquez, “we published an article in Minerals journal and, at this moment, we are working on another, which is an improvement on the model we were already doing. Over time, we want to see how to bring this new knowledge to the mining industry, both in Chile and here in Panama, where being a smaller industry also offers more opportunities, more spaces to see what could be done in the future" . 

Another opportunity for collaboration offered by her position is being able to extend an invitation to researchers from other institutions, an option that Yolanda took to have the visit of her former colleague from the PhD in Applied Sciences with a mention in Mathematical Engineering from the UdeC, Dr. Yissedt Lara Díaz, who currently works as an academic at the Universidad Católica de Maule. 

Dr. Lara gave the seminar on mathematical modeling applied to the study of infectious diseases during the first week of September; “epidemiology, which is the area in which she works, is a subject on which not much mathematical analysis is done in Panama, so it constitutes a new po ability to do something together”. 

Regarding all of the above, Dr. Raimund Bürger comments that "as director of the doctoral program and as Yolanda's guide professor, I am very happy to know that she has managed to insert herself so well into research and teaching work at the UTP and I wish her much success in their work”. 

“I am aware”, continued the academic, “that in your country there are very few PhDs with training in applied mathematics, so without a doubt she will have many opportunities to develop research topics, direct theses and lead teams, opportunities that she will surely take advantage of to Put your university, and why not, your country 'on the map' of mathematical research. On the other hand, I have already commented that the topic of his thesis (on flotation models) and the publications that we prepare after its conclusion have had an impact, so the doors will be wide open to continue working with us, for example, through a research stay”. 

“Finally, I really appreciate that Yolanda has taken advantage of her doctorate to form collaborative networks and cultivates them, through continued contact with her former thesis directors and, especially, Yissedt's visit”, the UdeC academician added. 

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Photo 1: Dr. Yolanda Vásquez in access to the U. Tecnológica de Panamá 
Photo 2: together with Dr. Yissedt Lara