It's All About the Chemistry
Next May, Christian Ramos Veglio ’23 will walk down two aisles – one to receive his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Queens, and the second to marry the love of his life in Puerto Rico. Both walks, fueled by chemistry, will be life-changing.
Ramos Veglio, who completes all of his coursework this month, is looking forward to a bright future as both a husband and a researcher.
“My life has changed a lot, for the better, since I came to Queens and I’m very excited about getting married,” he said.
The oldest of three boys, Ramos Veglio transferred to Queens in 2019 after his brother, who attended the university for two years, suggested he might like it. The Puerto Rico native instantly loved the small campus, the caring professors and the up-to-date facilities.
“The labs were a lot nicer than what I was used to in Puerto Rico,” he said. “Right away, the professors seemed really nice and all have since been very helpful. Dr. Socha, my advisor, has really helped me out a lot with research and finding my way around. Dr. Acheson was a wonderful teacher and a wonderful person. I definitely learned better from being able to meet with professors personally and get more attention from them.”
Earlier this year, Ramos Veglio along with his classmate, Kyle McGuff ’23, won first place in the 2022 Queens Annual Pitch Competition for their proposed product; Alkalyst, a novel alkaline catalyst solution to encourage more sustainability in the production of biodiesel.
“As non-business majors, we felt we were at a little bit of a disadvantage entering a business competition,” said Ramos. “That being said, we are analytical thinkers and knew that if we could explain the science of our product to the judges and show some numbers to break down the proposal, then that would help us succeed.”
Though Ramos Veglio was thrilled to win the competition, biodiesel is not necessarily his science goal. Despite having several pharmacists in his family, including his mother and grandmother, he plans to leverage his education in a different way.
“My main goal in life is to help as many people as I can,” he said. “I want to do that through what I know I’m good at and that’s the research side of medicine.”
In 2020, as cases of COVID-19 began to multiply around the world, the significant role of scientists and chemistry became more apparent than ever. From developing vaccines in record time to guiding world leaders on how to navigate and recover from the global pandemic, scientists and chemists reminded the world of the relevance of their research and data.
“I started doing my research after the pandemic, so I do not know how different it may have been before the pandemic,” said Ramos Veglio. “I did feel some pressure to get my research done as fast as I could to avoid interruptions due to the pandemic.”
After spending time at home in Puerto Rico next year with his new wife, where he also plans to do “lots of surfing” as well as running – two of his favorite pastimes, Ramos Veglio aims to accomplish his goals by pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry somewhere in North Carolina or Florida.