Job Info
Employer:
University of Maryland - College Park
Position Type:
Education
Research
Job skills:
Complex problem solving
Synthesizing information
Mathematical skills
Lab or instrumentation skills
Knowledge of physics principles
Data analysis
Luz Martinez-Miranda's Job:
Martinez-Miranda is a professor at the University of Maryland - College Park, and is studying the properties of liquid crystals - liquids whose molecules arrange themselves in one direction, like crystals do. Her current work is centered of how the liquid crystals interact with their container. She is also hoping to start studying biological molecules that can grow into different tissues, such as bone or skin.
Career Facts
Employer Type:
School/Academia
Current Location:
College Park, MD
Physics Degree:
Doctorate
Educational Information
BS - Physics and Piano Performance, University of Puerto Rico
Ms - Physics from the University of Puerto Rico
Ph.D. - Physics, M.I.T.
More about Luz Martinez-Miranda
Luz Martinez-Miranda's other interests:
Martinez Miranda still plays the piano, but instead owns a harpsichord, a piano like instrument that plucks stings instead of striking them.
Luz Martinez-Miranda's home page:
http://www.mse.umd.edu/facstaff/martinez-miranda.html
Direct link to Luz Martinez-Miranda's profile:
http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/people/martinez.cfm
Biography:
Born in Maryland, Luz Martinez-Miranda moved to Puerto Rico with her family when she was five. She attended University High School where she became interested in Physics, through the field of optics. At the same time she was enrolled as a student at the Music Conservatory of Puerto Rico. She went on to attend the University of Puerto Rico where she majored in physics. She balanced her study with piano, and by the time she finished her major, she almost had enough credits to earn a second degree in piano performance, and decided it would be a shame to not finish.
After earning a Master's from the University of Puerto Rico, she went to graduate school at M.I.T. It was different that the University of Puerto Rico. Physics classes at MIT were also much larger than those at the University of Puerto Rico. "It wasn't a shock, but it was different."
In graduate school and in her professional life, Martinez-Miranda has learned to complete quality work without spending all her time in her lab. "You have to strike a balance, " she said. She still plays the piano, but she doesn't own one. Instead, she owns a harpsichord, an instrument similar to the piano that was popular in the 1700s, on which she plays music by composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach.
