February, 2020
Every fall the National Science Foundation (NSF) invites STEM Ph.D. candidates in the final year of their studies to apply for the prestigious NSF postdoctoral fellowship program. The program is incredibly competitive, with thousands of eligible candidates competing for only thirty awards in mathematics. This gives us great cause to celebrate Jorge's many accomplishments.
Jorge's research focuses on invariant manifolds in nonlinear dynamical systems. These are geometric objects which organize the long time behavior of models used in physics, engineering, biology, economics and even from within mathematics itself. While invariant manifolds are important for understanding the behavior of complex systems, they are also notoriously hard to get your hands on. Computational methods for finding them are important for applications in both pure and applied mathematics. Jorge developed powerful new techniques for studying invariant manifolds in models ranging form simple descriptions of ecological competition to complicated nonlinear partial differential equations describing flame fronts and mixing fluids.
Jorge has presented the results of his research at international conferences and seminars in Canada, France, Spain, Poland, and Germany as well as across the United States. In recognition of his many scholarly accomplishments, the FAU department of mathematical sciences awarded Jorge its most prestigious Gus and Sharon Pearthree Math Graduate Scholars Award. This $10,000 award includes a fellowship for travel and summer research support. This allowed Jorge to focus on his research and further build his network of international collaborations. In the summer of 2019, he completed a research internship in the Office for Naval Research's Center for Cyber Warfare, where he applied his mathematical background in nonlinear dynamics to the development of new methods for threat detection in computer networks. This led to several publications in engineering journals.
Jorge joined the FAU Department of Mathematical Sciences in the Fall of 2013 after first earning his bachelor's degree from Florida International University, where he went on to perform advanced course work at Cornell University and Penn State. He then earned a masters degree in mathematics from UC San Diego. After distinguishing himself in his course work and qualifying exams he began work on his dissertation in 2015 under the supervision of Professors James Mireles James and Necibe Tuncer.
After graduating from Florida Atlantic University with his Ph.D. in Mathematical Science, Jorge will work with Rafael de la Llave at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he will spend the next three years building his scientific research program. Professor de la Llave has been a leading figure in the dynamical system community for 40 years. As you can see, the primary purpose of the NSF postdoc is to bring exceptionally talented new researchers together with established mentors providing maximum benefit for the early career of the researcher. We are incredibly excited to see what Jorge will accomplish as he moves into this next stage of his career!
