PhD Graduate Jorge Alberto Medina's Passion for Electronics Started in his Native Honduras

Jorge Alberto Medina '23 grew up with electronics. He recalls watching his dad disassemble and rebuild electronic equipment, and leafed through stacks of monthly electronics magazines as his light reading material. The exposure grew into a passion, and Medina set his sights on a journey that ultimately brought him to NJIT.

In his native Honduras, Medina studied electrical engineering at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras. He obtained his master's degree in Sweden at the Blekinge Institute of Technology, where he studied electrical engineering with an emphasis on telecommunications systems.

Upon completing his master's degree, he chose NJIT to complete his Ph.D. in computer engineering. He remembers his initial conversations with Dr. Rojas-Cessa which occurred during the summers he visited one of his best friends in New Jersey.

“We had a little talk, he showed me all the laboratories, the equipment he worked with, and the research topics he was working on,” said Medina. “That was a year before I finished my master's degree, he told me that if I was interested I should apply, that he would let me know when an opportunity opened up to apply for the doctorate because it is quite competitive.”

Immersed in life at NJIT, which lasted five years, Medina did research on how to improve the performance of blockchain systems, as well as applications in different fields such as healthcare.

His experience acquired in Honduras allowed him to be responsible for the networking laboratory and teach classes at NJIT. “As I have a lot of experience in the networking part, I had a lot of experience at a practical level, so I started teaching that class. I also had experience giving laboratories when I studied in Honduras and had received training in pedagogy, which benefited me a lot in the classes I taught.”

For his great work, Medina was recognized with the Excellence in Instruction by Teaching Assistants award at the Second Annual Celebration of Academic Excellence. He emphasized how he always wanted to create a familial atmosphere in the classroom.

Seeing how these opportunities exist for us Hispanics feels great ... there are trained people who can aspire to this type of technical career.

“It was quite gratifying because it was the result of the work, but also the most important thing is that it has remained with the students of being able to know that I am part of their academic and professional growth,” he said.

After completing his doctoral studies, Medina joined AT&T as a senior member of technical staff, in the network infrastructure and services area. He highlights how taking advantage of all the opportunities that have been presented to him has been fundamental in his professional growth.

“Seeing how these opportunities exist for us Hispanics feels great because I think this shows that in our countries there are trained people who can aspire to this type of technical career,” he said. “Look, I come from a country where opportunities are very limited, but I see my case, and the opportunities really are there, and with more Hispanics studying these careers and knowing that there are universities like NJIT that are also supporting the inclusion of Hispanic people and other countries, I think that will open more doors for other people to want to move forward.”

Medina hopes to one day create a foundation that can support Honduran students who want to study abroad. As someone who has received scholarships to continue his studies, he hopes to one day provide scholarships for his country’s future.

“I always felt at home being at NJIT with the teachers. Now that I am in the industry, I see quite a lot of growth compared to when I started,” Medina said. “This has been thanks to the entire process, to all the teachers I have met, to all the students, even the students, because you learn from everyone.

“Having studied at NJIT has really opened doors for me that I didn't imagine would open and I know that more opportunities will continue to open.”