High-profile fellowship awarded to Robert Gordon University academic

An academic from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen has been awarded the high-profile Crucible Fellowship by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA).
Dr Horacio González-Vélez has been awarded the fellowship for his interdisciplinary research on computational science. Computational science involves constructing mathematical models and numerical solution techniques and using computers to analyse and solve scientific and engineering problems. He has applied this to biomedical sciences, the study of health and the methods for diagnosing, analysing and treating disease.

Dr González-Vélez, a lecturer with the University’s School of Computing, has been awarded one of 30 annual Crucible Fellowships given to promising interdisciplinary scientists working across the UK. The fellowship allows recipients to attend a series of research retreats and public events with distinguished scientific and political leading figures.

NESTA’s mission is to make the UK more innovative. They invest in early-stage companies, inform and shape policy, and deliver practical programmes that inspire others to solve the big challenges of the future.

Dr González-Vélez said, ‘I am extremely honoured to be awarded the fellowship when competition for the coveted award is so fierce. It is a fantastic opportunity to be able to meet and spend time with creative thinkers from a range of disciplines to see how we can work together and optimise our areas of expertise.’

Click here for more information on the fellowship

Notes to editors

Dr Gonzalez-Velez was previously a research fellow with the School of Informatics of the University of Edinburgh. Having spent over ten years in the ICT industry with multi-national corporations such as Silicon Graphics and Sun Microsystems in the US and Mexico, he has held different positions in systems engineering and marketing and been involved in several computational science projects with universities and research organisations.

Gail Caie
Senior Communications Officer
Robert Gordon University
Schoolhill
Aberdeen
AB10 1FR
Tel: (01224) 262210
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