"Buffalo is a good environment for study: not too big, not too small. I brought my family here. We're from a tropical country so I must say that the weather here is completely different."
When searching for a Ph.D. program in his field of damage mechanics, Juan found that his options for working in a small area of study were very limited. UB was one of the few schools that would allow him to conduct the type of theoretical research he was interested in. "There are only a handful of electronic packaging labs around the world," Juan says. "UB has emerged as a pioneer in this field in the last couple of years."
Juan's work is primarily theoretical, and is targeted at implementing a mathematical model for predicting the ability of solder joints in electronic packaging to withstand thermomechanical loading. Juan works with Dr. Cemal Basaran and a team of other graduate students in UB's electronic packaging lab. He finds this collaborative atmosphere beneficial to his own research. "Although we all have to do different experiments, there are fruitful discussions between us." In such an environment, Juan says, "you learn something every day from your workmates."
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Juan Gomez