Arturo M. García

Visiting Student, 2017-2018

Undergraduate student, University of Puerto Rico’s Mayagüez campus (UPRM), Puerto Rico

Arturo.garcia@upr.edu

I am a visiting undergraduate from the University of Puerto Rico’s Mayagüez campus (UPRM). My area of research will be focused on studying the heat transfer characteristics of the solar membrane distillation system.

Some personal details. My enthusiasm for snowboarding, surfing, and the outdoors sparked an interest in design and renewable energy technology, which led me to become the mechanical engineering team captain for the solar boat project at the UPRM. Additionally, I was researching the Portevin Le-Chatelier phenomenon with a Ph.D. candidate during the fall semester of 2017. However, the aftermath of Hurricane Maria over Puerto Rico forced me to re-focus my attention towards helping my family financially as a damage claim inspector throughout the island and seeking help to continue my academic career at Rice University. On my travels as an inspector, I noticed a large demand for clean drinking water, as cases of leptospirosis became more common, which led to my involvement in Dr. Li’s solar membrane distillation research. I am also keen on astronomy, psychology, rock climbing, and magnetism.