Computer Engineering Graduate Student
University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez Campus, Puerto Rico
Cristian Melendez has a bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering with a minor concentration in project management from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez campus. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in Computer Engineering at said university. During his undegraduate studies, he founded the student association Source (currently known as Evolving Space), which is dedicated to training STEM students in software development issues through pilot projects that help the university community and in turn help participants to gain experience as professional developers and entrepreneurs in technology and innovation projects. Upon completion of his bachelor’s degree, he worked for two years with Honeywell Aerospace as a project manager and professional software developer. In his career as a graduate researcher, Cristian has worked in the field of renewable energy under the supervision of Dr. Eduardo Ortiz and has led renewable energy systems development teams in nationally recognized competitions (Solar District Cup) and he is working on his thesis project which focuses on identifying the optimal place to build static and mobile energy storage facilities. Mobile energy storage systems are characterized by being wagons full of batteries that can be quickly transported by trucks in emergencies. This project seeks to identify the most optimal locations to park these wagons so that they can arrive as quickly as possible at strategic points where the stored energy can be used in emergencies. He is currently holding the position of Coordinator of Activities for the Blockchain Initiative society of the IEEE Western Section of Puerto Rico and is the current Chief Technology Officer of the emerging company Meet Your Finance, a company that graduated from the Pre18 (Parallels18) Cohort program. 4, which is dedicated to giving personal and decentralized finance training/seminars to young people.