At a very early age, Ricardo Pablo Pedro discovered that excelling at school would enable him the livelihood and quality of living he sought for himself and his family since the days he sold lemons in a street market of his native Las Minas village in Oaxaca .
Today he goes head to head with some of the brilliant minds in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a postgraduate student and consultant for startups in Boston.
“I work with silicon, carbon, and polymer-based nanomaterials. I’m interested in the behavior of polymers and other materials as we aim to create and improve the performance of microchips for various applications”, says 26-year-old Ricardo, a brother of five and son to a single indigenous woman who had to clean floors to support her family.
Ricardo Pablo Pedro holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Mexico National Autonomous University (UNAM) and earned a scholarship to study at the Massachusetts Institue of Technology (MIT), prompted by Mexico National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) .
After a year of outstanding academic performance in Boston, the MIT acknowledged Ricardo Pablo Pedro by offering him a permanent financial package to extend his stay pursuant to doctorate studies. “Such scholarships can very well be used to the advantage of another fellow national; it’s really a matter of being coherent and serve your country”, said 26-year-old Ricardo after relinquishing his scholarship from CONACYT and fully accepting the support of the MIT.
“The MIT has given me the chance to live my dreams through Chemistry, my passion”, he adds.
Ricardo is a year away from completing his doctorate studies, which include counseling from esteemed Queen of Carbon Science , Dr. Mildred S. Dresselhaus who passed away February this year and has already eyed some markets as fields to apply the knowledge gained at the MIT.
“Carbon-based nanotubes have biological applications as they can be inset with meds, cased with proteins and enabled to attack specific cells. The novelty is that we are dealing with inert material, that is, it does not react to anything, hence it is harmless and disposable.”, notes and excited Ricardo when he describes his interest in setting up his own company to design materials for the pharmaceutic and biomedical industries.
Last November 7, Ricardo Pablo Pedro was presented with Mexico National Youth Award 2017 , in the Academic Achievement category in Mexico City. He took the opportunity to address young people with his journey from Oaxaca to the MIT to show them that no international higher education institution is unattainable for anyone, “I want to lead a happy life and I’m sure I will be able to do so.”, says the young scientist who overcame adversity and hardships to live the life he designed for himself as a result of dedication and skill.
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