Diego González, the Guatemalan astrophysicist who stands out in the United States

The interest of the Guatemalan astrophysicist focuses on cosmology, statistics and automatic learning

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Diego González is a Guatemalan astrophysicist whose passion for the universe has led him to stand out in the United States where he does valuable studies.

His interest focuses on cosmology, statistics and automatic learning and his research is based on young stellar objects and circuit structures around young stars.Soy502 talked with the national scientist.

"Bringing science to a broader audience is, in my opinion, an important part in the development of any society, therefore part of my time to carry out various dissemination activities, especially in Spanish," he says in his official place.

He was a member of the Guatemalan Association of AGA Astronomy and studied a Basic Astrophysics and Astrophysics Diploma at Galileo University.

“My fascination with the universe began with the innate curiosity of childhood.I liked the feeling of mystery and wonder that caused me to look at the night sky.Something fundamental was the attention that my dad and my mother gave what I liked, despite not knowing much about astronomy they looked for ways to provide myself with resources that would allow me to deepen the subject, something extremely difficult because of the little popularity ofSciences in Guatemala, ”he explained.

His studies in Guatemala:

Diego studied at Montano Cortijo, where he graduated from Bachelor in Computer in 2016.In the educational center he always participated in the scientific Olympics

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He competed in the National Olympics of Sciences on various occasions, obtaining a National Gold Medal as first in the Category of Natural Sciences 3 in 2014.He also competed in the Ibero -American Physics Olympiad twice winning a bronze medal in the 2016 edition.

How did you choose the profession of your dreams?

“My family was always clear that education in Guatemala faces challenges, I had the desire to study something in natural sciences so I would have to study abroad to reach my goals.Before finishing my high school I decided that I wanted to study physics, the idea of focusing on astrophysics came in the second semester of my degree, where I took an astrobiology introduction course, that experience made me remember how much I loveBachelor of Physics and Astronomy couldn't be happier!.

About how he started his search for places to study he said:

Decided I was gonna turn my laptop into a hackintosh.It’s taken a week, but i finally figured out to make a us ... https: // t.CO/3XQ1LAEDRP

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"The process to apply to study in the United States is long, it can be applied directly to universities, so it is important to create a list," he said.In addition, he states that it was based on three criteria: quality, that the institution offered the physics career and that it had the possibility to provide financial assistance to international students.

“I looked for universities rankings in the United States on the Internet.After a preliminary list, I went to the website of each one to check if they had scholarships.I ended with a list of 14 universities to which I applied, of all those I was accepted in 3 and decided.

What is Diego's career?

“Astrophysics tries to study and understand the universe that surrounds our planet, from the solar system to the largest structures of the observable universe, in this science we try to know everything that is beyond the Earth's atmosphere: learn about asteroids,comets, stars, black holes, entire galaxies, the evolution of the universe, and an infinity of other things ”.

“Trying to understand the universe is exciting and in a way helps us understand our place in it.Any person passionate about all these issues could never regret making a career in this academic field ”.

What doors open with astrophysics?

“It is very important to talk about job opportunities to study astrophysics (or physical).Contrary to what many believe, studying astrophysics does not mean that the only work you can have is a professor at a school or university ”.

"With a title in astrophysics, various areas can be worked on, especially within the field of technology, a lot of knowledge and skills you learn studying and doing research in astrophysics are easily transferable".

“For example: the last quarter I learned about the Fokker-Planck equation in my galaxies dynamics course.It was originally conceived to model the Brownian movement, a type of random movement observed in small particles.In that course we use it to model the disturbances in the orbits of the stars that form galaxies.Outside the natural sciences, this equation is also used to model the behavior of stock exchanges ".

"Study astrophysics can open the opportunity to a different type of careers that offer job security little found in other fields and it is something that all interested people should know,".

What does Diego do today?

The Guatemalan began a doctorate in astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

"Having been accepted in that program to make my doctorate has been one of my greatest academic achievements because it is one of the best 10 physics departments in the United States and one of the best 25 in the world".

“Although my doctorate experience is still very short, I am clear that the quality and amount of opportunities in this program are great, I am also surrounded by some of the best teachers and students in this field, this is inspiring and intimidating at once".

“In terms of research, after having spoken with some of the astrophysicians of the department, I joined the group called Enigma (exploring the nature of the Inter and Galactic Circum by its acronym in English).My first project is to develop a new technique that uses automatic learning (Machine Learning) to correct terrestrial air pollution in electromagnetic spectra obtained in telescopes located on the surface of the earth ”.

“The light from the celestial objects (whether galaxies or planets, among others) in the outer space, has to pass through the earth's atmosphere before reaching the telescopes and the cameras used to study them.Due to the interaction between light and molecules in the air, the electromagnetic spectrum from celestial objects is contaminated.Reversing the modifications that the atmosphere of our planet causes in electromagnetic spectra is necessary before being able to perform any type of study.There are currently several techniques to make these corrections, of which the main ones are to use ‘standard stars’ or use atmosphere simulations taking into account the weather at the time of data collection.The objective of my project is to optimize this second technique by introducing Machine Learning ”.

Machine Learning is automatic learning, a branch of artificial intelligence that allows machines to learn without being expressly programmed for this.

Cultural change and its new life:

“It cost me a lot to adapt, moving from one country to another means leaving almost everything you know, you change culture and language, at the beginning you don't know anyone.It is definitely exciting, but it can be a hard challenge.Living far from my family also affected me, because I missed them a lot "

"This makes you wish that Guatemala was a country with a decent life for all, eliminating the need to go to other places in search of opportunities that all Guatemalans deserve".

"It is not a surprise that the amount of Latinos I have lived with since I started my university studies is very small, we enter almost 50 new students to the doctoral program in UCSB and only 2 are Latinos.Some Latin American countries such as Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico, have made efforts to develop science, even in Guatemala there are already some universities that offer the physics career and I know that some of their students manage to go to other countries to study master and doctorates.

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