About
​Gabriel Josué Rodríguez Rivera was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He completed his B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and earned an M.S. degree at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He worked for seven years in the manufacturing and technology transfer of new products at Bristol Myers Squibb in Puerto Rico. Motivated by his interest in academia and biomaterials, he obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.
Gabriel completed his dissertation on injectable hydrogel electrodes in Dr. Cosgriff-Hernandez’s lab, where he was co-advised by Dr. Rosales. The injectable hydrogel electrodes he developed allowed for capturing a larger area with deeper penetration into the myocardium, providing new ways to study tissue activation that were not previously possible with current pacing leads. During his Ph.D., he received the Pre-Doctoral and Dissertation Fellowships from the Ford Foundation. He was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue his research work at the University of Colorado at Boulder under the mentorship of Dr. Jason Burdick. Gabriel is a member of LatinXinBME and co-founded the Graduates for Underrepresented Minorities (GUM) at UT-Austin and the LatinXinChE affinity community at AIChE.
Education
ASEE Postdoctoral eFellow
University of Colorado at Boulder
Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering
University of Texas at Austin
MS in Chemical Engineering University of Wisconsin - Madison
BS in Chemical Engineering University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez
Additional Education:
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MA in Theological Studies
Centro de Estudios de los Dominicos del Caribe (CEDOC)
Universidad Central de Bayamon
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Philosophical Studies
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Puerto Rico
Fellowships
and Awards
Fellowships
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eFellow – Engineering Postdoctoral Fellowship 2022-2024 American Society for Engineering Education / NSF
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Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship 2021-2022 National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship 2018-2021 National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Thrust 2000 – Leroy H. Cole Endowed Graduate Fellowship 2017-2021 The University of Texas at Austin
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Graduate Engineering Research Scholars (GERS) Fellowship 2003-2005 University of Wisconsin – Madison
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Graduate Education for Minorities (GEM) Fellowship, declined 2003
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Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship 1998 -2002 The University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez.
Awards
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Three Minute Thesis Competition, 2nd Place 2022 Society for Biomaterials
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Equal Opportunity in Engineering Academic Leaders Hall of Fame 2022 The University of Texas at Austin
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Cockrell School of Engineering Leadership Award 2021 The University of Texas at Austin
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Hispanic Scholarship Fund Award 2021
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BMES CMBE Conference Graduate Student Travel Award 2020 BMES Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Conference, San Juan, PR
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BMS Employee of the Year Award 2014 Technical Support Areas BMS Humacao, PR
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BMS Performance Awards 2013-2016 For support and accomplishments in technology transfer of new products
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BMS Quality Award 2012 For supporting investigations and manufacturing operations to prevent events
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Luis Monzón Award 2003 UPR- Mayagüez: Best Chemical Engineering Student of the class
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Best Chemical Engineering Student 2003 University of Puerto Rico- Mayagüez: Recognition by the Faculty
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TechnoChem – First Place 2001, 2002 (Chemistry Olympics competition between universities)
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Outstanding Chemistry Student 2001 Chemist College of Puerto Rico