{"id":156335,"date":"2023-03-01T19:13:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T19:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=156335"},"modified":"2024-12-13T11:34:12","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T17:34:12","slug":"alex-elias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/tech\/alex-elias\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex El\u00edas, the engineer who used to dream about the stars, wants to build a more sustainable world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a boy, Alex came close to repeating a year at school because he wasn\u2019t good at math. However, he found beauty in the subject when he grew up, which led him to devote his life to turning science into something tangible, real, and, above all, useful for the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex, who now heads up the Accelerated Materials Development unit of the Institute of Advanced Materials for Sustainable Manufacturing<\/a> in Monterrey<\/strong>, is working with his team to find new, sustainable methods to create products, from light components for planes and cars to fibers for medical treatments and resins that can convert single-use materials into recyclable ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His outstanding career spans more than 35 years, over the course of which he has published more than 100 scientific papers, patented nine projects, and inspired countless students. <\/strong>All of this has earned him the 2022 R\u00f3mulo Garza Award, the highest recognition Tec de Monterrey can give a researcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex El\u00edas Z\u00fa\u00f1iga<\/a>, who hails from Pachuca, Hidalgo, is a fan of pasties, the eighth child in a family of nine siblings, and a passionate amateur astronomer,<\/strong> welcomes us to the Technological Research and Innovation Park (PIIT) in Apodaca, Nuevo Le\u00f3n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glass walls separate the laboratories of this four-story Tec building. Noting our curiosity before the interview begins, Alex gives us a tour of its different work areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we approach one group, he greets his staff and students by their names, shakes them by the hand, and encourages them to explain their projects and tell us about their accomplishments, such as casting metal components in the sand, and fibers to help patients with hernias, and even the metal framework of a plane at the heart of the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we return to his office, we are given a few snacks to make us feel more at home. He smiles and relaxes as he sits down, <\/strong>providing candid answers to our questions about his life, his career, and his desire to seize the opportunity to build a more sustainable future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alex El\u00edas’s work is a bridge between research, academia, and industry (Photo: Udell Jim\u00e9nez \/ TecScience)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What were you like as a boy? Did you always like going to school?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was in second grade, I must have been about seven or eight, my teacher sent for my parents to tell them that I was going to have to repeat the year because I didn\u2019t understand math. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something went through my mind when I saw my parents\u2019 faces… They didn\u2019t look angry; they were more worried. Although the situation triggered a bit of uncertainty about math, I was able to get over it. Something extraordinary must have happened because there was a moment when I started to understand the subject better and I was able to master it. I still don\u2019t fully understand math, but I really like it (he says with a laugh).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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