Boricua Distinguidos

(Distinguished Boricuas)

         First of all let me begin with a brief explanation or translation of the title. The term Boricua is an affectionate way in which Puerto Ricans nicknamed themselves. The words origin is from the dialect of the aboriginous natives the Tainos who inhabited the island. They were the ones who greeted Columbus upon his second voyage to the Americas. The Tainos named their island Borinquen (land of the Brave Lord) hence the name Boricua.

          Todays entry will focus on Olga D Gonzalez-Sanabria a scientist and inventor; Dr Carlos Ortiz-Longo a cheif structual engineer and Enactali Figueroa a mechanical engineer.

Olga D Gonzalez-Sanabria 

A scientist and inventor; Ms Sanabria is the highest ranking Hispanic at NASA Glenn Research Center, and a member of the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame. As Director of the Engineering and Technical Services, she is responsible for planning and directing a full range of integrated services including engineering, fabrication, testing, facility management and aircraft services for the Glenn Research Center. She played an instrumental role in the development of the "Long Cycle-Life Nickel-Hydrogen Batteries" which helps enable the International Space Station power system.

Among the technical reports which she has authored and or co-authored are:

1. Effect of NASA advanced designs on thermal behavior of Ni-H2 cells (1987)

2. Component variations and their effects on bipolar nickel-hydrogen cell performance (1987)

3. NASA Aerospace Flight Battery Systems Program - Issues and actions (1988)

4. Effect of NASA advanced designs on thermal behavior of Ni-H2 cells 2 (1988)

5. Energy storage considerations for a robotic Mars surface sampler.

Dr Carlos Ortiz-Longo

Dr. Carlos Ortiz-Longo is the Constellation Program Division System Manager for the Structural Engineering Division at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Dr. Ortiz Longo is responsible for integrating Constellation Program items related to structures, mechanics, materials, and thermal. Formerly the manager of the Crew Health Care System and Exercise Countermeasures for NASA's Johnson's Space Center. He began his career at NASA working on the Space Shuttle thermal protection system or TPS (the tiles) before transitioning into the ISS program, and was a semi-finalist astronaut candidate on the group 16 selection. Among his written works are;

 NASA Group Achievement Award, Space Shuttle Risk Model Team, 1998,

NASA Group Achievement Award, Space Station Phase 1 Program Team, 1998,

NASA Group Achievement Award, Orbiter Upgrades Definition Team, 1998,

Various Outstanding Performance Ratings, and Performance Awards, 1985-1997, Chairman, Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop (TFAWS), International Conference, NASA JSC, 1997, and the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal.

Enactali Figueroa

Dr. Enactali Figueroa is a mechanical engineer, Astronaut applicant and an Assistant Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the author of various papers including "Position-sensitive low-temperature detectors".

Dr. Figueroa's research interests revolve around the development of high-energy-resolution imaging spectrometers for space-borne applications in experimental astrophysics and cosmology. Dr. Figueroa pioneered the development of position-sensitive detectors that will provide an order of magnitude more pixels (and thus larger field of view) than traditional single-pixel X-ray microcalorimeters." He is an expert and researcher on dark matterand a researcher with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and a professor of physics MIT.