The Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez is pleased to welcome Dr. Agnes Padovani as a new member of our faculty.
Dr. Padovani received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez in 1997 and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2002. Her doctoral research focused on the development of novel low-k, porous dielectric materials for on-chip applications.
After completing her Ph.D., Dr. Padovani joined Intel Corporation in Chandler, Arizona, as a Senior Materials Engineer in the Assembly Technology Development division. In 2006, she returned to UPRM as a faculty member in the Department of Engineering Science & Materials (formerly General Engineering), where she taught a wide range of courses in Materials Science and Engineering. During her tenure there, she coordinated both the Materials Science & Engineering Committee and the Undergraduate Certificate in MSE program.
Dr. Padovani’s research interests center on materials characterization, fabrication, and integration, with an emphasis on polymeric materials for micro- and nano-electronic device applications. She played a key role in establishing the Micro and Nano-Devices Research Laboratory (μaNDReL), the first cleanroom facility for micro- and nano-electronics in the Caribbean. Throughout her career, she has mentored five graduate students and over forty undergraduate researchers, authored multiple peer-reviewed publications, and holds three patents.
Beyond research, Dr. Padovani is deeply committed to STEM education and outreach. Since 2014, she has served as Co-Director and Education Director of the Nanotechnology Center for Biomedical, Environmental, and Sustainability Applications (NSF-CREST), where she led initiatives to promote STEM education at the K-12 and university levels across Puerto Rico. She currently serves as Co-Director of Engineering Workforce Development (EWD) for the NSF Engineering Research Center in Cell Manufacturing Technologies (CMaT) — a collaborative effort among Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In this role, she mentors students across multiple education levels and directs CMaT’s summer research programs.
Dr. Padovani has now joined the Department of Chemical Engineering (INQU) at UPRM, where she aims to apply her extensive experience in research and education to inspire and prepare the next generation of Chemical Engineers.
