DR. ABEL SANCHEZ
THIS IS
Natural born explorer who believes that science gives us the tools to design a better world.
Teaching
Music
Exploring
new places
HE LOVES
Learning new skills
Hanging out
with my son
How can we connect digital and physical information?
How do we organize data to help us solve problems?
HE WANTS TO KNOW
Photo Credit: Cassandra Extavour
HE STUDIES
INFORMATION ENGINEERING
Information Engineers organize, distribute, analyze, and manage systems for information, data, and knowledge.
HIS PATH TO SCIENCE
High School Rebel
_________________
He grew up around Latin America and Mexico. He didn’t start out as a good student, and he wasn’t always interested in science.
His father was an academic in the humanities. School was not a priority for Abel but he was very curious and loved to explore — it got him into a lot of trouble.
Change of Plans
_________________
He became more Interested in his studies when he took a very labor-intensive summer job and hated it.
In Mexico, college educations are not available to everyone—you have to work really hard to show aptitude and pass coursework. He realized that science was a way for him to explore his wonder and curiosity -- not because science answered all his questions, but because it helped him ask them.
Science as a Way to Solve Problems
_________________
He got into college and studied data science. Once he realized that many of the connections in the world around him were made up of bits of information, he knew that finding and forming these bits into useful tools was going to be one of his life’s goals.�
He went to MIT for graduate school to study data science and learn how to create better systems for information.
Taking on Big Data
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He realized that learning how to organize information was useful for so many things. He became interested in anti-counterfeiting and cybersecurity.
After graduate school, he stayed at MIT to become the Executive Director of a research institute. He wanted to do something more applied than just being a professor.�
Going Global
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His love of people and solving problems led him to apply his work to global issues.He constantly seeks out new applications for data science.
Next up, he plans to build more connections between the physical and virtual world so that people’s lives run more smoothly and they can be more protected and connected.�
HIS ADVICE
Being inexperienced doesn’t mean you’re bad at something.�No one starts out being good at something hard. You are good enough. You just need more practice. You can learn anything given the right set of tools, access and opportunity. There will be pain at the beginning, but ask for feedback and stick with it. You will get better.
Science is about solving problems.�Science can give you the tools to help make the world a better place. That’s one of the roles a scientist can take on. How do we design systems that make people’s lives better and easier? Scientists and engineers can do that.
Keep showing up.�Luck is a big part of success and a lot of opportunities result from happy accidents. Sometimes it’s just about being in the right place at the right time. But for that to happen, you have to keep trying and pushing outside of your comfort zone and showing up until that luck has a chance to find you.
HIS ADVICE
“I think we can learn anything. I don't think there is any difference between me and the guy that cuts my grass or the kids I grew up with in the developing world.”