In 2024 Carolina Manquian Villalobos became a doctor in Engineering Sciences, specializing in Materials Engineering Sciences at the University of Santiago de Chile. In her doctoral thesis she managed to adapt a type of metal-organic crystal with properties like those of a super capacitor, which could transform the way we store and generate energy, for example, for automobiles. This work led to an article published in the nanoscience magazine Nanomateriales.
This was followed by interviews with various national media where she was asked about the new possibilities that his innovation would open in the field of energy technology. El Mercurio and the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez recognized the USACH graduate as one of the 100 young leaders of 2024.
The scientist says that the selection took her by surprise, since there were people from different areas who could have more merits, but “when they told me that I had been selected, I felt very proud and happy,” she says.
Carolina also appreciates the fact that research carried out in Chile is made known, since “I see little news about what is being done in the country in this area, and also that there are women scientists working and discovering things. This helps the community to understand what is being done in the laboratories. We have researchers who are on par with international academics and scientists. So, I think it is great that these initiatives exist,” said the researcher.
The award ceremony will be held on January 7, 2025. On that occasion, the doctor in Engineering Sciences will be accompanied by Dr. Dinesh Pratap Singh, who guided her in her doctoral thesis. “It has all been thanks to his help, concern, but also as a leader and trainer,” she remarked.
It is noteworthy that the discovery and adaptation of organic metal crystal to store energy, is part of a work involving researchers from the Millennium Institute for Research in Optics, Miro, and Austral and Federico Santa Maria Universities.
Currently, Dr. Carolina Manquian is a postdoctoral researcher, conducting tests to materialize and implement the project for its application in both conventional and electric vehicles.