Amalia Martinez-Garcia

Amalia Martinez-Garcia  - 2014 SPIE Women in Optics Planner

Academic Director, Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica, Mexico
Country of Birth: Mexico

Educational Background: PhD in Optics at Centro de Investigaciones en Optica (CIO), León Guanajuato, Mexico; MS, Division of Applied Physics, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Ensenada; BS, Physics, Facultad de Ciencias Físico-Matemáticas (FCFM), UANL, Monterrey


Amalia Martinez-GarciaOptics had always fascinated me since childhood. The colors in a rainbow, and the colorful patterns on the thin film of a bubble of soap, always captured my imagination. Marbles and mirrors were some of my most cherished possessions. To me, gazing at distant stars and planets, the movement of clouds, or observing the miniscule details of a microorganism, was just too amazing. Nature was my inspiration. I watched it and wanted to find answers to all my questions.

I am researcher and the Academic Director at Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica (CIO). I also teach and am involved in activities concerning the popularization of science; I have been one of the organizers of the meeting "Participation of Women in Science" in Mexico, since its beginning in 2004.

My group and I have successfully implemented optical systems to the scanning of objects such as archeological pieces, mechanical components and biological samples. We also work on anatomical structures fabricated by rapid prototyping from digital anatomical information, and we have developed non-destructive optical techniques that can be used to retrieve changes in shape due to e.g. mechanical stress. Part of our research is on interferometric techniques, and the  other part is on the creation and display of 3D images.
 
I am also Vice President of Mexican Academy of Optics (AMO) during 2013-2014 and Elected President 2015-2016.

The most important thing is to know what you want and be confident that you can achieve your goals. Be motivated and self-sufficient to carry out your work, and have dreams in your life. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, for you also learn from your mistakes.