Yailuth Alexandra Loaiza Lopera earned her bachelor’s degree (2013) and master’s degree (2017) in materials engineering from the University of Antioquia, Colombia. She is a current PhD student in materials engineering at Purdue, where, as a research assistant, she is fabricating and characterizing microstructure nanometallic foams such as copper and copper alloys and assessing mechanical properties of nanomaterials by nanoindentation. At the Data Mine, she has analyzed membership data for Purdue Research Foundation and created prediction models to help Beck’s Hybrids forecast annual crop yield by using RStudio. She has taught three sections of characterization of materials to undergraduates and prepared lab sessions and trained students on techniques such as X-Ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Yailuth has volunteered for campus activities organized by Purude’s Minority Engineering and Women in Engineering programs and also has volunteered as a Spanish teacher in the local International Center. She was previously a production engineer in Colombia, where she worked with casting and melting processes and analyzed chemical composition of alloys for record-keeping purposes. A future research goal is to develop a device that can convert Co₂ into CO by catalytic activity to reduce Co₂ in the atmosphere and decelerate global warming. As a future faculty member, she will encourage her students to participate and talk by creating a safe and healthy environment.

Research Interests

Mechanical properties of nanomaterials