To know more about me, here are the answers to some of the questions that usually come up during normal conversations.

 

Q: What is your hometown?

A: I was born and raised in Marikina City in the Philippines.

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Q: Are you married? Any kids?

A: Yes. I have two kids.

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Q: What was the research specialty of your PhD degree?

A: My PhD project concerned the synthesis and analysis of colloidal gold nanostars as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of zirconia implants. One of my recent accomplishments is the fine determination of the low-temperature degradation occurring in zirconia bone implants through SERS technique. This is the first work on SERS on solid zirconia and my results show the early evidence of the effectivity of the technique on fully dense and polished bulk sample.

 

Q: Are you an early career researcher with less than five years of research experience?

A: Yes. I earned my doctoral degree in March 2015. I am an Associate Professor of Materials Science. I am in the process of forming my lab group at the University of the Philippines.

 

Q: Please show evidence of a high-level of academic achievement and your research experience relative to your chosen field of study.

A: During my MS studies in the University of South Florida, I co-authored several articles that were published in well-known international journals. The committee appreciated the high scientific level of my PhD thesis. During my thesis defense, the committee stated in their report the following: "The candidate has demonstrated a remarkable knowledge of the subject in the study, addressing the discussion with competence in their thesis work of technical and answered fully and clearly to the questions of the commissioners."

 

Really...normal conversation...

 

More to come...