Ymbar I. Polanco Pino

Ymbar I. Polanco Pino is a Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD student, GEM Fellow, and Provost Leadership Fellow at Tufts University. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at the University of Missouri. As an aerospace engineering researcher, Ymbar worked on zero-gravity microfluidics through NASA’s Space Grant with Dr. Chung-Lung (C.L.) Chen and Dr. Sheng Wang. He also joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Aero/Astro department as a researcher in the Space Propulsion Laboratory working on electric-propulsion thrusters for spacecraft - specifically CubeSats - with Dr. Paulo Lozano and Dr. Oliver Jia-Richards. As a researcher in the postsecondary Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education space, Ymbar has focused on examining STEM culture’s influence on racially and ethnically minoritized students with Dr. Terrell R. Morton and the Justice and Joy Research Team.

Currently, Ymbar is conducting research for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Department of Energy (DOE), alongside Andrew Parker and Dr. Greses Pérez, to enable equity considerations in commercial building energy efficiency programs through data analysis and community engagement. He hopes to continue doing research that supports and creatively engages historically excluded communities within the renewable energy transition. Ymbar is interested in community-oriented STEM education and using hip-hop based interventions as pedagogy/therapy in urban science education. Outside of school and work, Ymbar enjoys making music, staying active, visiting museums, and fellowshipping in his church’s small groups.

CEEO Responsibilities:
Ymbar is a research assistant for Dr. Greses Pérez, McDonnell Family Assistant Professor in Engineering Education, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil and Environmental Engineering.