Francisco Llamas

"My grandfather from my dad's side has been a huge inspiration to me. He grew without a father and, to the date, he is the pillar of my family. With an education that can be compared to middle school in the present, he scaled upwards to become regional manager of one of the banks located in the city he grew up in (Matamoros, Mexico). I also look up to my dad. He did not finish his high school, but unlike my grandpa's era, a diploma is now required to have a job that offers a fair pay in Mexico. Nonetheless, he has been able to sustain a family of six by working multiple jobs and even running his own business. He still finds time to be with my three siblings and me, and I think that alone is very hard to find in the present day."

Francisco Llamas is a Master's student at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is currently in the Photon Calibrator (PCal) laser team, which is in charge of calibrating the LIGO interferometers by quantifying the effects of induced power of the laser beams. Measuring the laser power with the required accuracy is the most important task of the PCal team. Francisco enjoys playing the guitar in his free time, especially hearing a song he likes and trying to reproduce it as closely as possible. Lately he has been able to create some music, but he has not recorded anything. It turns out that if you don't save what you work on, it is very easy to lose it. You can follow Francisco on Twitter at @franciscoll95.