Professor Colón is one of just 20 early- and mid-career scientists, engineers, and medical professionals nationwide chosen for the 2026-28 cohort. The New Voices program was created to incorporate emerging experts into the National Academies’ efforts to address pressing global challenges. In his two-year term, Professor Colón will contribute to policy studies, develop interdisciplinary projects, and collaborate with a global network of STEM leaders to shape the future of science and engineering.

This Curriculum Package was created by two teachers for the purpose of introducing elementary and middle school students to current scientific research. It was developed as a result of the partnership between the University of Notre Dame’s Center for STEM Education, Center for Broader Impacts, and the Colón Research Group.

“My role really is to provide students with a broader sort of cultural, historical background,” Colón explains. “It’s like, ‘Look, these are the opinions on the island, this is what you might encounter, this is why some of these things can be a little bit difficult to sort of wrap our heads around because of the history and the relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico, the local politics, the bankruptcy.’ There’s a lot of moving pieces and so I try to give the students that background.”

Yamil Colón, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award. The prestigious CAREER award supports young faculty who have demonstrated their potential to serve as academic role models in research and education.

Check out our new publication in Molecular Systems Design and Engineering.

He didn’t plan it, but years later, Assistant Professor Yamil Colón would once again find himself under the glow of the Golden Dome.

Check out our new publication in Chemical Science.

Our recent collaboration with Felipe Herrera at the University of Santiago de Chile has been featured as a cover in Chemical Science.

In the work, we establish a multi-scale methodology to engineer entangled photons with MOFs.