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Destacado de la NASA: Felipe Valdez, un ingeniero inspirador


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Un hombre trae puesta una camisa de la NASA, color gris. A su izquierda está un modelo a subescala del HQ-90 color naranja y blanco con la insignia de la NASA.
Felipe Valdez, ingeniero de la NASA en el Laboratorio de Investigación de Vuelo a Subescala Dale Reed del Centro de Investigación de Vuelo Armstrong, junto a un modelo a subescala de la aeronave Hybrid Quadrotor (HQ-90).
NASA / Charles Genaro Vavuris

Read this story in English here.

Felipe Valdez es una persona que aprovechó todas las oportunidades posibles en la NASA, trabajando desde que inicio como pasante universitario hasta su trabajo actual como ingeniero de controles de vuelo. 

Nacido en los Estados Unidos pero criado en México, Valdez enfrentó grandes desafíos mientras crecía.    

“Mi madre trabajaba por largas horas, mi padre batallaba contra la adicción, y eventualmente la escuela se volvió inaccesible,” dijo Valdez. 

Determinado a continuar su educación, Valdez tomó la difícil decisión de dejar a su familia y regresar a EE. UU. Pero en su adolescencia, aprender inglés y adaptarse a un nuevo ambiente fue un choque cultural para él. A pesar de estos cambios, su curiosidad por materias como las matemáticas y la ciencia nunca decayó.

“De niño, siempre se me ha facilitado trabajar con los números y me fascinaba cómo funcionaban las cosas. La ingeniería combinó ambas cosas,” dijo Valdez. “Eso despertó mi interés.”

Mientras estudiaba ingeniería mecánica en la Universidad Estatal de California en Sacramento, la orientación de su profesor, José Granda, resultó fundamental.  

“Él me animó a solicitar una pasantía en la NASA,” dijo Valdez. “Él había sido portavoz en español para una misión de transbordador [espacial], así que al escuchar que alguien con mis antecedentes tuvo éxito me dio la confianza que yo necesitaba para dar ese paso”. 

El esfuerzo de Valdez valió la pena – él fue seleccionado como pasante en la Oficina de STEM de la NASA en el Centro Espacial Johnson en Houston. Allí, él trabajó en el desarrollo de software para la dinámica de vehículos, actuadores y modelos de controladores para una cápsula espacial en simulaciones por computadora.

“No podía creerlo,” dijo Valdez. “Conseguir esa oportunidad cambió todo.”

Esta pasantía abrió la puerta a una segunda oportunidad con la NASA, esta vez en el Centro de Investigación de Vuelo Armstrong de la agencia en California. Tuvo la oportunidad de trabajar en el desarrollo de computadoras de vuelo para el Diseño Aerodinámico de Investigación Preliminar para Disminuir la Resistencia, un diseño experimental de ala volante.  

Después de estas experiencias, fue aceptado como un pasante en el Programa Pathways de la NASA, un programa de trabajo y estudio que ofrece la posibilidad de trabajar a tiempo completo en la NASA después de graduarse. 

“Eso fue el comienzo de mi carrera en la NASA, donde realmente despego mi pasión por la aeronáutica,” dijo Valdez. 

Valdez fue el primero en su familia en seguir una educación superior, obteniendo su licenciatura en la Universidad Estatal de Sacramento y su maestría en ingeniería mecánica y aeroespacial en la Universidad de California, Davis.

Hoy en día, trabaja como ingeniero de controles de vuelo de la NASA en la rama de Dinámica y Controles del centro Armstrong. La mayor parte de su experiencia se ha centrado en el desarrollo de simulaciones de vuelo y diseño de sistemas de control, particularmente para aviones de propulsión eléctrica distribuida. 

“Es gratificante formar parte de un grupo que se centra en hacer que la aviación sea más rápida, más silenciosa, y más sostenible,” dijo Valdez. “Como ingeniero de controles, trabajar en conceptos avanzados de aeronaves como la propulsión eléctrica distribuida me permite diseñar algoritmos para controlar directamente múltiples motores, mejorando la seguridad, la controlabilidad y la estabilidad, al tiempo que permite operaciones más limpias y silenciosas que amplían los límites de la aviación sostenible.”

A lo largo de su carrera, Valdez se ha sentido orgulloso de su herencia. “Siento un fuerte orgullo de saber que la inclusión es uno de nuestros valores fundamentales aquí en la NASA y que las oportunidades están abiertas para todos.” 

Crédito: NASA / Charles Genaro Vavuris

Entrevistadora: NASA/ Lupita L Alcala

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Last Updated
Oct 25, 2024
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