Nimitz High School Alumnus Juan José Jaramillo Montezco Shines at MIT

Juan José Jaramillo Montezco recently had an article posted in the American Chemical Society. Juan José is a [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”] 2012 graduate of Nimitz High School.

Juan José co-wrote [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]”Statistical Design of Experiment on Contact Secondary Nucleation as a Means of Creating Seed Crystals for Continuous Tubular Crystallizers” with Yuqing Cui, Torsten Stelzer, and Allan S. Myerson. In the pharmaceutical industry, the desire is to produce seed crystals with an appropriate narrow size distribution of the desired polymorph or form. This study shows that generating seed crystals with a narrow size distribution using secondary contact nucleation for a continuous tubular crystallizer can be realized at a controlled rate by quantitative variation of specific design parameters.

Juan José is currently in his junior year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is pursuing a degree in chemical engineering. He expects to graduate with the Class of 2016.

While at MIT, Juan José has had the opportunity to take part in an [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]internship abroad. Juan José conducted hands-on research in an organic chemistry lab in Santiago, Chile. He worked at the electrochemistry of polymers lab (LEP) in the Inorganic Chemistry Department at the Universidad Católica. Juan José worked closely with his principal investigator, Beatriz González. They focused on synthesizing Ruthenium-based compounds for chemotherapy and polymer-modified electrodes. They worked to create synthetic routes for the proposed compounds while also synthesizing them.

Juan José attributes his success in research to his days back in Aldine ISD. He said he gained experience participating in [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]state and national events of National History Day.

His former history teacher Barbi Binnig loves to hear this from former students. Binnig is the Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History teacher and National History Day research coordinator.

“Many former students like Juan attribute the skills they learned to History Day,” said Binnig. “History Day students learn to dig deep in their research. Juan’s story is an excellent example of how the program challenges students to conduct an inquiry.

[quote]The students develop research skills, analytical thinking, literacy skills, and creative expression. We encourage students to take part in programs like History Day every year they are eligible to enter. That constant practice helps students hone the skills that help them be successful.”[/quote]

Juan José was also named a Gates Millennium Scholar before graduating from high school.