We’re sad to begin this year by saying farewell to Dr. Jacinto Sandoval-Lira who held a postdoc position in our lab for two years with a DGAPA – UNAM scholarship, a very competitive and highly sought-after position here in Mexico. Dr. Sandoval will now relocate to the Technological Institute of San Martín Texmelucan in Puebla, Mexico, whose students will be fortunate to have him as a tutor and a teacher of chemistry in the environmental engineering department.

During the past two years we’ve worked together in various projects, mainly the excitonic transference between photosynthetic pigments but also in calculating reaction mechanisms and solving chemical equilibria problems with various computational approaches, but apart from the research Dr. Sandoval was also a co-organizer of the past Meeting on Physical Chemistry, organized a local course on the use of Dens Tool Kit (DTK), as well as our weekly lab seminars and taught various graduate and undergraduate courses on molecular modeling, chemoinformatics and computational chemistry, not too mention all the collaborations he has brought to our lab in the field of organic chemistry of which I regard him as an expert. He really has been a force of nature!

Aside from a brilliant scientist and a hard working one, Jacinto is an exceptional human being and a great friend. His attention to detail, his drive, and his willingness to help others reach their full potential make him an ideal colleague and an ideal professor. I don’t wish you luck, Jacinto, you don’t need it: I wish you success!

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