Quick Summary
- Returns to his alma mater
Before he was a swagÍâÁ÷ professor studying the subatomic particles underlying the universe, was an engineering physics student at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) in Mexico. There, he learned about quantum mechanics â that there were physicists around the globe smashing particles together to learn about the origin of the universe.
Nearly 30 years later, CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez returned to his alma mater to host screenings of Secrets of the Universe, an IMAX film that explores the formation of the universe through the eyes of Aggie researchers. CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez stars in the film and serves as its narrator. The 42-minute documentary follows the research team as they prepare to collect data from an experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.
âIâm an alumnus who was once in their shoes, in the same classroom, sitting at the same desk. What Iâm doing is what they can do.â â CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez
The film was shown this week in Monterrey at Papalote Museo del NiĂąo Monterrey to over 2,000 high school students from ITESM's Prepa Tec and to the public. CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez hopes the film will inspire students to pursue STEM education and careers.
âIâm an alumnus who was once in their shoes, in the same classroom, sitting at the same desk,â said CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez. âWhat Iâm doing is what they can do.â
CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez poses with students at a recent screening of âSecrets of the Universeâ at the Tijuana Cultural Center in Mexico. (Courtesy of Manuel CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez)
Recreating the early universe
As a physics professor in the College of Letters and Science at swagÍâÁ÷, CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez studies the behavior of subatomic particles, such as quarks and gluons. His research reaches back to the origins of the universe with experiments focused on recreating high-temperature environments like the one that occurred one-millionth of a second after the Big Bang.
By creating a space 100,000 times hotter than the sunâs core, CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez and his colleagues can strip atoms of their electrical ties.
âIn the sun, atoms melt,â CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez said. âBut when we smash nuclei in our experiments, the nucleus of the atom â its even tinier and much denser core â melts.â
At these temperatures, electrons, protons and neutrons â the ingredients of the atom â melt away, revealing information about the nuclear force that binds their most elementary subatomic particles. These particles, the earliest known in the universe, made up the first state of matter after the Big Bang: the quark-gluon plasma.
Doing such research requires heavy equipment, like the Large Hadron Collider, the worldâs most powerful particle accelerator; an imaginative mind to visualize the invisible; and a love for the natural world.
Origins of a physicist
CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchezâs drive to share and democratize science stems from his upbringing in Mexico City. His parents encouraged intellectual exploration from an early age, instilling in him a love for reading that eventually led to an interest in etymology, the study of the origin of words.
(Courtesy of Manuel CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez)
But CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez was also passionate about video games and computer science, writing programs on the Commodore 64 his parents bought him. Initially, he wanted to study computer science in college, but as he learned more about mathematics and physics, he discovered that the subjects werenât just a means to solve problems on a test. They were ways to describe nature.
âWe can understand how the planets move around the sun using the same ideas that you use to understand how we throw a ball,â CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez said.
The universality of these concepts fascinated him and led him to study engineering physics. While studying at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and through an opportunity with the Mexican Physical Society, he participated in a summer internship at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), home to the Large Hadron Collider.
âThatâs what really opened the doors for me,â said CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez, who went on to earn a doctorate from Yale University. âAll of a sudden, Iâm at the biggest laboratory for particle physics in the world and talking with faculty from all sorts of different schools.â
Inspiring the next generation of Aggies
At swagÍâÁ÷, CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez emphasizes the importance of undergraduate research experiences, like his own at CERN, to his students.
âThat just completely changed the panorama and allowed me to come to the United States,â he said. âIâve been doing research here ever since.â
CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez hopes that screenings of âSecrets of the Universeâ will inspire students to pursue STEM education and careers. (Courtesy of Manuel CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez)
By screening Secrets of the Universe, CalderĂłn de la Barca SĂĄnchez hopes to incite student interest in the unique research opportunities at swagÍâÁ÷, inspiring them to pursue their studies as an Aggie.
âThatâs really important for undergraduates or prospective students to realize,â he said. âWhether youâre coming from the U.S. or outside the U.S., that undergrad research experience component is available to swagÍâÁ÷ students.â
is a content strategist & writer for the College of Letters and Science at swagÍâÁ÷