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Spotlights Angel Gonzalez '03 University of Dayton Quarterly, Spring 2006 Professor Angel Gonzalez is happy to be in the sunshine of Puerto Rico but misses that first snowfall of the year in Dayton. “But the second, third and on snow showers, I don’t like them,” said Gonzalez, who completed his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at UD. The snow, however, was not what brought him to UD. Having completed an undergraduate degree in 1981 at Universidad del Zulia in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and a master’s in 1994 at University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, the next step was leaving behind a teaching job at Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico (San Juan) to pursue new subjects in a new environment. With its Catholic traditions, UD was just the place for him. “Nothing prepared me for the cultural shock,” said Gonzalez, who arrived with only a few months of formal English training. “At UD I really had to learn. It was my first time in a total English environment for an extended period of time.” Gonzalez knew he needed a support system and made friends, across campus, including with international students and people in the Latino Club. Friends helped him unwind after difficult weeks in the classroom by inviting him to play basketball or socialize. “I used to tell my friends they kept me alive,” he said. Financially, Gonzalez was supported in his final year by a full-tuition scholarship from the Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute and stipend from the department. “I [also] have to thank Partha Banerjee, head of the electrical and computer engineering department. He did not let me go when I was ready to quit,” he said. In his new work in a plasma lab at Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, Gonzalez is creating a new course and lab using programmable logic devices and teaching computer architecture and automatic controls. He also is part of a team proposing ideas for new technological developments for products to be manufactured in Puerto Rico. —Kailyn Derck ‘06

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