Outreach

INAOE celebrates its 52 anniversary

Santa María Tonantzintla, Puebla, November 10, 2023. With a solemn ceremony in which recognitions as Emeritus Researchers were granted to doctors Luis Carrasco Bazúa and Guillermo Tenorio Tagle, this Friday the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE ), center of the National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt) celebrated 52 years of its foundation.

This year also commemorates the 81st anniversary of the Tonantzintla Astrophysical Observatory (OANTON) and the 30th anniversary of the doctorate in Electronics.

The anniversary ceremony was chaired by Dr. Edmundo Antonio Gutiérrez Domínguez, General Director of the INAOE; the Hon. Brazilian Ambassador to Mexico, Fernando Coimbra; Brigadier General of the General Staff Eloy Cornelio Toledo, as well as Rear Admiral Diplomated General Corps of the General Staff Miguel Ángel García Portillo, head of the Communications Section of the General Staff of the Armanda of Mexico, and Dr. Alejandro Díaz Méndez, Head of the Sectoral and Regional Articulation Unit, representing Dr. María Elena Álvarez Buylla, General Director of Conahcyt.

In his welcome speech, Dr. Edmundo Antonio Gutiérrez Domínguez said "thanks to the institutions that supported the creation of this institute at the time, today the INAOE is one of the 26 public research centers whose functions are "research, technological development, the training of human talent and the social relationship with the public and private sectors."

In addition, he congratulated all the INAOE staff and the students who make it up, highlighting their work and dedication.

The General Director endorsed the social commitment to the projects aimed at the Health sector, developed with the Municipality of San Andrés Cholula, the ISSSTE and the ISSSTEP.

Within the framework of the ceremony, emeritus recognitions were granted to doctors Luis Carrasco Bazúa and Guillermo Tenorio Tagle, researchers from the Astrophysics Coordination.

In the profile of both scientists, Dr. José Ramón Valdés Parra, Astrophysics Coordinator, highlighted the level of excellence of both and stressed that thanks to the scientific contributions to Astronomy in Mexico and in the world, the INAOE grants them this great recognition to both.

Dr. Luis Carrasco Bazúa completed his bachelor's degree in Physics at UNAM and his master's and doctoral degrees in Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. He has worked at UNAM, at the Landessternwarte Heidelberg Königstuhl in Germany, at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona and at the INAOE. He has also made stays at the Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera Milan, the Observatoire de Paris, and the Lunar and Planetary Institute of NASA.

He has published countless articles in international scientific journals, has directed postgraduate thesis projects and various scientific projects. In 1987 he received the Puebla National Science Prize awarded by Concytep. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the Academy of Scientific Research, the International Astronomical Union and the UAM Engineering Sciences Ruling Commission. He has been head of the National Astronomical Observatory of the UNAM and member of different ruling and evaluation commissions of the UNAM and Conahcyt. He is currently a senior researcher D at the INAOE.

Dr. Guillermo Tenorio Tagle studied at the UNAM Faculty of Sciences and completed his doctorate at the Victoria University of Manchester. He worked at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Munich, Germany; the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Geneva, Switzerland; the College de France in Paris; the Center for Nuclear Studies in Saclay, France; the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, Spain, and at the Institute of Astronomy of the University of Cambridge, England. He has worked at INAOE for 26 years. He is currently a senior researcher D at the INAOE.

He has published articles in international scientific journals and directed postgraduate thesis projects. His scientific work has been collected in numerous textbooks of international circulation. He has participated in more than one hundred conferences and helped organize several of them. Together with Dr. Alfonso Serrano Pérez Grovas, he carried out the Guillermo Haro Program.

He has been a member of Conahcyt evaluation committees, a referee for the most important specialized scientific journals and refereed various projects. He has received numerous recognitions such as the Francois I Presea (College de France), Invited by the Annual Reviews of Astronomy & Astrophysics (1988) to write the review article "Large-scale expanding superstructures in galaxies", Chair of the BBV Foundation (U of Cambridge-RU), Iberdrola Chair (Autonomous University of Madrid), Pierre and Marie Curie Chair, Sackler Visiting Professorship of Cambridge-RU, Jesús Serra Chair and Severo Ochoa Chair (Spain), Emeritus National Researcher (S.N.I.) 2017, Guest Professor at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (2022).

In this anniversary ceremony, the 30 years of existence of the doctorate in Electronics were also celebrated with a commemorative video, in which the beginnings of this postgraduate program created on June 1, 1993 were recalled.

In addition, recognitions were given to personnel with 25, 30 and 40 years of service at the INAOE. Dr. Itziar Aretxaga, researcher at the Astrophysics Coordination, spoke on behalf of the personnel who completed 25 years of service.

In his speech he commented: "This group of workers, who have completed years of working in this institution, have dedicated our lives and efforts. This celebration is thanks to the work of the community, thanks to the support we have had throughout our career. I recognize all the researchers, students, administrators, maintenance and support staff for being part of the INAOE, not only for the daily work carried out in this research center but for the support of the community, for those small gestures that are made. when you create community in good times and bad.

Finally, Dr. Alejandro Díaz Méndez, Head of the Sectoral and Regional Articulation Unit of Conahcyt, took the floor, congratulating this Institute on the 52nd anniversary of the creation of the INAOE and the 81st of the OANTON, and the staff that works the INAOE for its scientific and technological career. He highlighted that the work carried out in this research center, belonging to Conahcyt, is developed thanks to innovation in research, technological development and now in health issues in the communities.