Meet the UTSA Corrosion Lab Team!
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”
— Andrew Carnegie
Professor Brendy Rincon Troconis, Ph.D.
Prof. Brendy Rincon Troconis is an Assistant Professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department, as well as an adjunct professor in the Civil and Engineering Department at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She earned her B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering with Summa Cum Laude honors from Universidad del Zulia in Venezuela and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from the Ohio State University while working at the Fontana Corrosion Center. Prior to joining UTSA, she was a Research Associate at the Center for Electrochemical Science and Engineering at the University of Virginia. Her research has been funded by NACE International, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Southwest Research Institute, Office of Naval Research, Chemetall BASF, Twin Hawks Inc., among others. Her work has focused on the area of aqueous corrosion, including stress corrosion cracking; hydrogen embrittlement; coating adhesion; localized corrosion; atmospheric corrosion; corrosion inhibitors; and corrosion in reinforced concrete. Her work has been published in recognized journals such as Corrosion, Materials Science & Engineering: A, Scientific Reports, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Progress in Organic Coatings, Surface and Coatings Technology, and others. Prof. Rincon is also a wife and mother to three beautiful children (2, 3, and 6 year old).
Visiting Scientists
Oladis Troconis de Rincón, Ph.DDr. Oladis Troconis de Rincón has worked since 1972 at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Zulia (LUZ), in Venezuela, where she was the Founder and Former Director of the Centro de Estudios de Corrosión and currently continues as an Advisor. She is a Chemical Engineer and has a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from Oklahoma University in the USA, is a Doctor in Fundamental and Applied Electrochemistry from the Universidad de los Andes in Venezuela and received a “Doctor Honoris Causa” from the Universidad del Zulia. |
Graduate Researchers
Meggan Wolanin Doctoral Student
Meggan Wolanin received her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from UTSA in May 2020. She is currently pursuing her PhD in the same field. She joined the Corrosion lab in Fall 2020. Her current research focuses on galvanic corrosion of airframe alloys under mechanical and environmental loading. She also has experience working with lathes, mills, and welding.
Nayab Ali Doctoral Student
Nayab Ali earned a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Texas A&M (2008), a graduate certificate in Applied Statistics (2016), an A.A.S. in HVAC Technology from Austin Community College (2018), and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UTSA (2021). She joined the UTSA Corrosion Lab in 2022, working on the Twin Hawk project focused on metal coatings. Her interests and future goals involve working in fields where corrosion science is applied to Biomedical Sciences and HVAC.
Jorge Escribano Doctoral Student
Jorge Escribano, a Mexican foreign student, is pursuing a PhD in Civil Engineering at UTSA, where he earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering. His research focuses on corrosion in reinforced concrete, studying a green organic inhibitor’s effectiveness on steel rebars through electrochemical tests and mortar specimens. He is also involved in industry-focused research on construction materials, specifically Magnesium Oxychloride (MOC) boards for DuPont. Jorge aims to work in a structural firm to mitigate industry corrosion risks.
Luis Perdomo-Hurtado Doctoral Student
He is a Chemical Engineer with an M.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at UTSA. His research focuses on hydrogen embrittlement and hydrogen diffusion in additively manufactured alloys using advanced characterization techniques. He also specializes in modeling, data analysis, corrosion health monitoring, and electrochemical methods. He aspires to advance corrosion engineering in energy and infrastructure applications.
Viancy Catherine Isaza Zapata Doctoral Student
Viancy Catherine Isaza Zapata is a Mechanical Engineer with an MSc in Industrial Energy Management, specializing in materials science. Her current research focuses on the fatigue behavior of through-hole fastener installations in naval aircraft, developed in collaboration with The University of Texas at San Antonio and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. She combines experimental and probabilistic approaches in accelerated corrosion-fatigue testing, electrochemical analyses, and microscopic characterization to understand the impact of installation variables, galvanic corrosion, and environmental factors on fatigue life. She also contributes to predictive modeling using Bayesian Networks, enhancing digital twin capabilities for aerospace maintenance.
Alumni
Tasnia Fatima Doctoral
Tasnia Fatima is a Ph.D. graduate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio in Spring 2024. She also completed her Master’s degree at UTSA in Spring 2015 with a research focus in aerospace engineering.
During her Ph.D., she worked on a Nuclear Regulatory Commission-funded project, focusing on atmospheric corrosion of stainless steel 316L. Her expertise includes electrochemical testing and fatigue crack growth rate testing following ASTM E647 standards. She has extensive hands-on experience with MTS machines, Optical Profilometry, Optical Microscopy, Rockwell Hardness Testing, and Potentiostat systems.
She is currently working at Savannah River National Laboratory in the Materials Science and Disposition Division.
Vinicio Inciarte Master
Originally from Venezuela and with a background in Mechanical Engineering, he continued his education through studies at a higher level by pursuing an M.Sc. in Corrosion at Centro de Estudios de Corrosión (Corrosion Studies Center) at Universidad del Zulia in Venezuela, where he had the opportunity to take a wide range of engineering courses, all of which led him to develop a deeper interest on the principles associated with the interactions between engineering materials and the environment. Similarly, he was involved in a research project on the evaluation of Cathodic Protection efficiency under non-conventional coatings that enable the polarization of a structure when coating adhesion is lost in the presence of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria.
Asfia Tanjim Totini Master
Asfia Tanjim Totini has completed her masters in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas at San Antonio in Spring 2020. She was a Graduate Research Assistant in Corrosion Lab and worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in materials Lab at the same time. Her research topic was based on corrosion modeling of aerospace material. Specifically, she worked on corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement of ZnNi coated High Strength Steel 4340 under Atmospheric and Immersion Conditions.
Vangelina Osteguin Master
Vangelina Osteguin is a biomedical engineer enroute to earn her master’s in mechanical engineering. Her past research experience as a biomedical engineer encompassed experimental mechanics, vascular biomechanics, and cardiovascular medical devices. Her current reseach has taken a turn into the corrosion sector, where she aims to understand how intergranular corrsion is affected by cyclic corrosive environments, which is a joint effort with Southwest Research Institute. Her interest in the medical field still stands with her plan to combine her new corrosion and material experience into improving the materials used for medical devices.
Loreto J. Dacio Master
My name is Loreto J Dacio. I am a Master of Science in Civil Engineering student at the University of Texas at San Antonio, at which I have also completed my undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at in December of 2019. I am also an Engineer-in-Training in the state of Texas. My focus of study is on structural engineering and my research involves reinforced concrete corrosion mitigation through the use of an organic green corrosion inhibitor.
Corrosion Lab interns
Stephanie Lopez
Charles McClafferty
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