Gabriela del Socorro Álvarez García (died 2017) was a Mexican mechanical engineer known for her research on

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

and

heat transfer Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the generation, use, conversion, and exchange of thermal energy (heat) between physical systems. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as thermal conduction, ...

in buildings and on the use of reflective building roofs to reduce the need for air conditioning.

Education and career

Álvarez is originally from

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, and as an undergraduate studied physics at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM). After earning a master's degree in mechanical engineering from

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

in the US, she returned to UNAM for doctoral study in engineering. She completed her doctorate in 1994 with the dissertation ''Transferencia de calor en una cavidad con interaccion termica a traves de una cara semitransparente con controlador optico''. In 1989, she became a professor and researcher in the department of mechanical engineering at the Centro Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico (CENIDET, the National Center for Research and Technological Development), in

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; , "near the woods" , Otomi language, Otomi: ) is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state, state of Morelos in Mexico. Along with Chalcatzingo, it is likely one of the origins of the Mesoamerica, Mesoamerican civilizatio ...

. In 2014, CENIDET became part of the

National Technological Institute of Mexico The National Technological Institute of Mexico (in , ''TNM'') is a Mexican public university system created on 23 July 2014 by Decree, presidential decree. At the time of its foundation, the Institute incorporated the 263 former Institutes of Tech ...

system. She also served internationally in the

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE ) is an American professional association seeking to advance heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems design and constructio ...

Technical Committee 4.5 on

fenestration Fenestration or fenestrate may refer to: * Fenestration (architecture), relating to openings in a building * Fenestra, in anatomy, medicine, and biology, any small opening in an anatomical structure * Leaf window, or fenestration, a translucent or ...

, the first Mexican to do so. Álvarez received a national award for innovation in renewable energy from the Mexican Ministry of Energy. He was a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.

Selected publications

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Recognition

Álvarez was given a national prize for renewable energy innovation by the Mexican Secretary of Energy. She was a member of the

Mexican Academy of Sciences The Mexican Academy of Sciences ''(Academia Mexicana de Ciencias)'' is a non-profit organization comprising over 1800 distinguished Mexico, Mexican scientists, attached to various institutions in the country, as well as a number of eminent forei ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Gabriela Year of birth missing 20th-century births 2017 deaths Engineers from Mexico City Mexican mechanical engineers Mexican women engineers National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni New Mexico State University alumni Members of the Mexican Academy of Sciences