SANTO DOMINGO.- The Dominican Republic is full of talent, top-tier professionals who raise national pride and demonstrate that this land of 48,000 square kilometers has given birth to men and women who raise the tricolor flag high.
Engineers Minosca Alcántara and Feniosky Peña-Mora, respectively, were among the exhibitors who participated in the recently concluded "5th National Congress of Engineering, Architecture and Surveying," organized by the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (Codia), which took place over three days in Punta Cana.
El Inmobiliario shares the profile of these two great professionals who came to share their knowledge and experiences at the meeting, thanks to which they stand out in the city of New York:
Alcántara
has been the executive director of the NYSBA Board of Commissioners since last year. Prior to her appointment, she served as head of project programming in the New York City Bridge Authority's construction and development department; she has extensive experience in large urban projects and construction management.
Alcántara has worked as a senior cost-scheduling engineer on various projects related to architecture, infrastructure, and wastewater management, both locally and internationally. Last year, she was appointed to the New York City Equal Employment Practices Commission.
Committed to the field of education, she currently serves on the board of the Summer Science Program (SSP) and Hudson River Community Navigation (HRCS). At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she designed, implemented, and expanded programs that engage K-16 students with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), particularly girls.
She graduated in Civil Engineering from the National University Pedro Henríquez Ureña, completed a master's degree in construction management at George Washington University, as well as master's and doctoral degrees at Columbia University.
Feniosky Peña-Mora
Engineer Feniosky Peña-Mora is a professor of civil, mechanical and environmental engineering; he teaches computer science at Columbia University and directs the Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space at that educational institution.
From 2014 to 2017, he covered a public service leave serving in the role of commissioner of the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC), where he was responsible for more than 1,200 projects valued at over $15 billion, overseeing more than 1,400 employees and 1,320 consultants
Under his leadership, more than 860 construction projects, valued at over $9 billion, were initiated or completed; his firm received more than 80 design awards; he also awarded more than $5.4 billion in new contracts by improving the project bidding process, each of these achievements representing a record for DDC.
Previously, he was dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor of Engineering at Columbia University, in which role he was responsible for setting the strategic direction of the school and managing its operation and growth to over $400 million endowment,
$200 million annual operating budget, 4,500 students, and 400 staff and faculty members.
He was Associate Chancellor and Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Endowed Professor at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Gilbert W. Winslow Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University in China, Loughborough University in Great Britain, and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland; Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the United Kingdom at the University of Cambridge, the University of Salford, and the University of Manchester; as well as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Sydney in Australia.
He is the author or co-author of more than 230 academic publications. He has received multiple awards, including the Presidential Career Initiation Award for Scientists and Engineers (known as PECASE), the Science Award, among others.
He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Buildings (CIOB) in Great Britain, as well as an elected member of the Dominican Republic Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Building in the United States. He earned his Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degrees in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
