León, Gto., December 24, 2017.- For Dr. Rigoberto Castro Beltrán, a scholar of the Division of Sciences and Engineering of the University of Guanajuato, science is a fundamental part in his everyday life, "for me science is everything, I like to be in the laboratory, I enjoy writing, but especially to transmit the knowledge", activity he has as a teacher.

Besides being a professor, he has dedicated several years of his life to research, he is a Doctor in Optical Sciences and has four postdoctoral position done in France, Mexico and United States. Today, he collaborates with different groups in research projects in topics that go from high resolution microscopy, non-lineal optics to photo-acoustic processes.

However, he works more in a research of his specialty, consisting in the development of photonic chips –optical devices—capable of producing a great range of wavelengths centered around telecommunications which, will serve to recognize the presence of certain noxious gases for the health in the environment.

These gases in an immediate environment can cause respiratory problems or in the eyes, and sometimes can be toxic. The optical device allows to access frequencies in which the gases absorb, "in this way, we are developing ultra-sensible sensors to detect different amounts of these gases in the environment."

Dr. Castro commented that the photonic chips have immediate applications in the health sector because they function as an optical sensor in which the surface can be biochemically activated to only recognize the molecules we want to examine.

The researcher works in the fabrication and the development of this type of sensors based on optical microsonators since 2012. The last contribution related to the research was developed in the University of California in collaborations with CONACyT in Prof. Andrea M. Armani's group.

To finalize, the professor of the University of Guanajuato commented that when he began his academic formation, he thought that one of the main possibilities to develop his work was the industry, but during college he began to approach the academic through the research summers and so, he got more acquainted with the scientific side. He became a researcher when he took the postgraduate course in the Optics Research Center (CIO).

He recommended to the student community to approach science, which he also defined as an international passport, "there is no limit, when you discover what aspect of science you're passionate about, you can continue with a master or a doctorate, make an internship abroad, link with other disciplines, science offers a lot and even more in the University of Guanajuato, one of the best educational institutions of the country, where they make vanguard research."