Biography Information

1973 B.Sc.Physics
1985 Ph.D Physics and Mathematics,JINR,Dubna,Russia
(1974?1980)(1985-1987) University of Oriente,Cuba. Professor of Physics and Mathematics. Taught General Physics and Mathematics to undergraduate students and Nuclear Physics to graduate students. Also, I conducted the General Physics Lab course for undergraduates.
1980-1985 Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics,Joint Institute for Nuclear Research(JINR) Dubna, Russia.
Researcher
Study of the neutron/proton, neutron/gamma, and neutron/alpha reactions by using Neutron Reactors and Particle Accelerators.
Study of the interference between neutron resonances. Research on the P-even and P-odd parity conservation in neutron reactions.
Opening a new channel for the study of neutron resonance.
Worked as an Invited Scientist in the Kurchatov Institute of Physics in Moscow in the study of neutron resonance in the (n, alpha) channel in Nd-143, and Sm-147 with high resolution energy (1980)
Worked as an Invited Scientist at the Leningrad Institute of Nuclear Reactions in the study of the parity non-conservation in the reaction Cl-35(neutron , proton) using polarized thermal neutrons.
1987-1989 Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear reactions,Joint Institute for Nuclear Research,Dubna, Russia.
Researcher
Creation of a Gas Filled Separator (GFS) to be used in the study of the synthesis of super heavy nuclei in the reaction with heavy ions.
First experiments on the GFS.
Study of Average Charge States of Evaporation Residues obtained in Nuclear Reactions with Heavy Ions, in Hydrogen and Helium Gasses.
1989-1991 Cuban Atomic Energy Commission(SEAN)
Senior Researcher
Study of nuclear reactions with neutrons and charged particles.
1991-1993 University of Havana,Cuba.
Professor and Lecturer of Physics and Astronomy for undergraduate students
Research of different crystal structures by using X-diffraction and electron microscopy. This research involved undergraduate students.
1993-1998 Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear reactions,Joint Institute for Nuclear Research,Dubna, Russia.
Senior Researcher
Study of the synthesis of super-heavy nuclei during the nuclear reaction with heavy ions. This research was conducted in the 4-meter cyclotron of the Flerov Nuclear Reaction Laboratory. As a result, several new super-heavy isotopes were synthesized, including one isotope of the element 110.
I discovered a new statistical function for the study of heavy ion dispersion in thin targets.
Study of the spherical properties of super-heavy nuclei in accordance to the existing experimental data.
1998-2000 Cellar Door Computers,Miami, FL.
Hardware/Software Engineer
Installation of networks, upgrading computer systems, creation of Web Pages using Asp, Visual Basic, JavaScript.
2000-2001 e-Market Miami, FL.
Web Programmer
Creation of Web Pages using HTML, ASP, JavaScript, Visual Basic.
03/01-12/01 Hollywood.Com,Boca Raton, FL.
ASP Programmer
Creation of Web Pages using HTML, ASP, XML, Visual Basic, COM.
2002-Present Miami Dade Community College, Kendall Campus
Math and Physics Teacher
2003-Present Broward Community College, Central Campus
Math Teacher

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that teaching, and specially teaching Physics, is an art. Not everyone can teach, like not everyone can sing, or jump. However, there is a big difference between a teacher, a singer, or a jumper. If you do not sing well, you will never sing in public even if you know by heart all the songs of the Beatles. In the same way, if you do not jump at least 1.5 m high, you will not participate in any serious athletic competition, even if you have been training all your life. However, teaching is different. Many people believe that because they can remember some formulas and laws, they have the ability to teach. That is the reason why so many students consider that Physics is boring, or incomprehensible, or even unnecessary. A teacher is a person born with a natural ability to teach. Therefore, you cannot teach a person to be a talented teacher, the same way as you cannot teach a person to be a talented singer or a professional jumper. That is why I do not believe in teaching rules. Many books have been written about pedagogy and the process of teaching. But, quite often I have noticed that the authors of these books are better with the pen, than with the chalk. Therefore, when I speak about my teaching philosophy, I do not pretend to set any kind of universal rules. These are simply my rules. After more than ten years of teaching experience, I can stress some fundamental points that have been the key factors in my teaching philosophy: · Physics is important in everyday life · As important as laws and concepts, are the units and the orders of magnitude · Learning Physics does not mean remembering formulas and laws, but finding answers to specific questions. Perhaps, the order of these factors could be inverted, but that is not important. The important fact is that if you disregard any of these points, you cannot obtain a well-formed student. Let us say, for example, that you are teaching Optics, and you prefer spending most of your time talking to your students about the microscope, while spending a small amount of time explaining how the human eye works. It is very possible that your students will consider Optics unnecessary. Or, suppose that you are teaching Thermodynamics, and you talk to your students about the heat of vaporization of water, but your students do not know how to calculate approximately how many joules are needed to boil a litter of milk. It is very possible that your students will consider that Thermodynamics is boring. Or, suppose that you are teaching Nuclear Physics, and you spend a lot of time talking to your audience about the neutron-proton dispersion, about the dependence of the spin, and about isotopic spin, but your students do not know how to calculate approximately how many protons or neutrons there are in a human body. It is very possible that your students will consider that Nuclear Physics is incomprehensible. My last point concerns the role of the experiment in the process of teaching. I did not include it as a new factor in my teaching philosophy, because it is self-contained in the third point. The result of a good experiment is the answer to a well-formulated question. I do not like sophisticated experiments. The experiments must be simple, as simple as the ideal answer to any question must be. Furthermore, you do not need a big laboratory to do good experiments. The best experiments are those performed by the students themselves. As the Russian proverb puts it, ?It is better to see one time, than to listen a hundred times?. The experiment is the best way to prove to the students that everything you are explaining makes sense. Those are, in general, my viewpoints about teaching physics.