José holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez . He joined the group in October 2004. José worked on the identification and quantification of sapogenins, and developed plant tissue culture from edible yams in his Master' work titled “Evaluation of Edible Yams as Potential Sources of Diosgenin”. He gained practical experience working in the pharmaceutical industry for more than three years and interned at the United States Patent & Trademark Office. He is an Alfred P. Sloan scholar. José's current research project is in the area of Fine Chemical and Pharmaceutical Catalysis, specifically in the synthesis of Flavanone.
Email: cortesco@engr.sc.edu
Effects of Basic Properties of MgO in the heterogeneous synthesis of flavanone , Z. Liu, J.A. Cortes-Concepcion, M. Mustian and M. D. Amiridis, Applied Catalysis A: General, Volume 302, Issue 2, 11 April 2006, Pages 232-236.
Effects of Basic Properties of MgO in the heterogeneous synthesis of flavanone , J.A. Cortes-Concepcion, Z. Liu, F. Patcas and M.D. Amiridis, Graduate Student Symposium, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC April 2007.
Effect of Basicity of MgO on the heterogeneous synthesis of
Flavanone , J.A. Cortes-Concepcion, Z. Liu, and M.D. Amiridis. AIChE Annual
Meeting in San Francisco, CA. November 17, 2006.
Nature of the active sites in MgO catalysts for the synthesis of flavanone, North American Catalysis Society National Conference, Houston, TX June 2007.
Effects of Basic Properties of MgO in the heterogeneous synthesis of flavanone, J.A. Cortes-Concepcion, Z. Liu, and M.D. Amiridis, Southeastern Catalysis Conference, Asheville, NC September 2006.
Distinctions and Awards
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Scholarship (2003)
NSF SEAGEP Minority Fellowship (2005)