RESEARCH
INTERESTS
Theoretical condensed matter physics, chemistry and spectroscopy: Excited
states, optical and X-ray spectroscopy, chemical reactivity, catalysis at the
nanoscale, nuclear and electronic real-time dynamics, intermolecular interac-
tions, scientific software development.
CURRENT
ACADEMIC
APPOINTMENT
Staff Scientist Jan 2005 – Present
Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Washington
• Supervisor: Prof. John J. Rehr
• Lead and pursue a wide variety of lines of research. Engage in multidis-
ciplinary research in the areas of materials science, condensed matter
physics, theoretical chemistry and spectroscopy.
• Lead, participate and manage the development of new scientific soft-
ware. Co-developer of the widely-used real-space multiple scattering
code FEFF. Original developer of SC2VP/SC2IT, a scientific cloud comput-
ing platform for materials science, condensed matter physics and com-
putational chemistry.
• Lead and participate in the writing of successful funding proposals. Wrote
and coordinated the submission of a successful NSF proposal to develop
Scientific Cloud Computing Software. Led yearly successful allocation
requests for supercomputer time.
• Manage graduate and undergraduate research. Mentored undergrad-
uate students in the REU program.
PREVIOUS
ACADEMIC
APPOINTMENTS
Postdoctoral Research Associate Aug 2003 – Dec 2005
Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Washington
• Supervisor: Prof. John J. Rehr
• Affiliations: Center on Materials and Devices for Information Technology
Research
• Co-developer of RT-SIESTA, a real-time time-dependent density functional
theory code for the realistic simulation of the interaction between matter
and radiation.
• Studied the linear and non-linear optical response of organic materials
of interest in information technology
Postdoctoral Research Associate Jan 2001 – Aug 2003
Dept. of Chemistry, Univ. of Washington
• Supervisor: Prof. Hannes Jónsson
• Worked in the development of a transferable, single-center interaction
potential for water
Research and Teaching Assistant Jan 1996 – Aug 1998
Dept. of Chemistry, Univ. of Pittsburgh
• Supervisor: Prof. Kenneth Jordan
• Studied dipole-bound anions, weakly interacting and hydrogen-bonded
sytems
• Studied the low-lying excited states of organic molecules with complex
electronic structure
Profesor (Grado 1) Mar 1992 – Dec 1995
Facultad de Química, Univ. de la República
• Supervisor: Prof. Oscar N. Ventura
• Studied the excited states of the water monomer and dimer
• Studied the sintering of zinc-oxide in the presence of different gases
EDUCATION Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Ph.D., Chemistry, Dec 2000
• Thesis Topic: Electron-Molecule Interactions
• Advisor: Prof. Kenneth Jordan
• Area of Study: Theoretical Chemistry
Univ. de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
M.Sc., Chemistry, Dec 1995
• Thesis Topic: Theoretical study of the low-lying and Rydberg excited states
in the water monomer and dimer
• Advisor: Prof. Oscar N. Ventura
• Area of Study: Quantum Chemistry
B. Sc., Chemistry, Dec 1991
• Area of Study: Chemical Engineering
EXPERTISE Theoretical chemistry:
• Chemical reactivity
• Intermolecular interactions and hydrogen bonding
• Post-Hartree-Fock methods (MPn, CC, MRCI, CASSCF)
Theoretical spectroscopy:
• Infrared, UV-Vis and X-ray spectroscopies
• Excited states, linear and non-linear optical properties
• Nuclear and electron real-time dynamics
Theoretical condensed matter physics:
• Density Functional Theory, Molecular Dynamics
• Energy-related materials and catalysis at the nanoscale
Scientific software and programming:
• Molecular codes: Gaussian, StoBe, and NWChem
• Condensed matter codes: FEFF, VASP, ABINIT, and Siesta
• High-performance scientific computing and programming
• Parallel and distributed computing
ACADEMIC
SERVICE
2019 SSRL/LCLS Users’ Meeting
“Developments & Challenges in X-ray Spectroscopies and Ultrafast Dynamics:
Experiment and Theory” Organizer, SLAC National Lab. 2019.
Computational Scattering Science 2010
“Fast and Ultrafast Phenomena” Topic Leader, Argonne National Lab. 2010.
Envisioning XD: Cloud Computing
Invited consulter, Argonne National Lab. 2009.
TEACHING
EXPERIENCE
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY
Guest Lecturer Nov 2019
• Short Course on X-ray Absorption Fine Structure: Theory, Data Analysis
and Modeling
• Graduate and postgraduate course on the theory and experiment
of X-ray absorption spectroscopy and its applications
• Presented sections on “FEFF9 code for XANES modelling”, and “FEFF9
code for XANES modelling (demo)”
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY
Guest Lecturer Nov 2018
• Short Course: Introduction to X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy
• Graduate and postgraduate course on the theory and experiment
of X-ray absorption spectroscopy and its applications
• Presented sections on “Theory of XAFS”, “FEFF9 code for XANES and
EXAFS analyses”, and “XANES data analysis with FEFF9 (demo)”
Univ. de São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
Guest Lecturer Mar – Apr 2015
• 1
st
Brazilian School of X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy
• Graduate and postgraduate course on the theory and experiment
of X-ray absorption spectroscopy and its applications
• Presented sections on “Introduction to XANES theory”, “XANES with
FEFF”, and “FEFF demonstration”
Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Teaching Assistant Fall 1996
• Instructor in Quantum Mechanics and Kinetics (CHEM 2430)
• Developed and graded problem sets
• Taught usage of Computational Chemistry software
• Managed laboratory for computer experiments
Univ. de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
Lecturer 1994 – 1996
• Lecturer in Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Chemistry
• Developed and taught curricula for Basic Quantum Mechanics and
Chemistry courses
Instructor 1992 – 1994
• Instructor in Applied Numerical Methods and Programming
• Taught Pascal programming applied to numerical methods (integra-
tion, differential equations, root finding, etc.)
PROFESSIONAL
MEMBERSHIPS
• American Physical Society
• International X-ray Absorption Society
PROFESSIONAL
SERVICE
Referee Service
• Physical Review
• Journal of the American Chemical Society
• Surface Science
• Journal of Physical Chemistry
• Science
SERVICE Finn Hill Middle School Career Day, Apr 2015 and Apr 2019
• Presented: “Becoming a condensed matter theorist (Or “How to play with
atoms in a computer”)”
Lake Forest Park Elementary School Science Night, Mar 2010
• Managed a booth with hands-on demonstrations of the interaction between
light with matter
HARDWARE AND
SOFTWARE SKILLS
Distributed Cluster Assembly, Maintenance and Administration:
• Collaborated in the construction, configuration and administration of IBM
and Linux clusters in the Dept. of Chemistry, Univ. of Pittsburgh
• Requisitioned, administered and maintained the Linux clusters of the Con-
densed Matter Theory Group in the Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Washington
Computer Programming:
• Fortran, MPI, Python, Pascal, UNIX shell scripting
Numerical Analysis:
• Octave, MATLAB, Mathematica
Version Control:
• Git and CVS
Information/Internet Technology:
• Cloud Computing, Amazon EC2
Desktop Editing and Productivity Software:
• Vim
• L
A
T
E
X, BIBT
E
X
• Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org, Google Docs
• GIMP, InkScape, POVRay
Operating Systems:
• Microsoft Windows family, Linux, BSD, IRIX, AIX, Solaris, and other UNIX variants
AWARDS Univ. of Pittsburgh
• Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship, 1999–2000
MORE
INFORMATION
A full resume can be found here.