Leonardo Rodrigues da Costa Moraes is a Leading Engineering as Agent of Change and Equity (LEGACY) postdoctoral scholar hosted within the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Ohio State. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and master’s and doctoral degrees in Computational Modeling all from Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ).

My relationship with Ohio State started in 2019 as a graduate student. I was invited by my former advisor Ricardo Carvalho de Barros from UERJ to initiate a collaboration with Richard Vasques at Ohio State in the nonclassical particle transport area. This collaboration has matured and generated the publication of research articles in respectable journals and the CAPES PrInt internationalization program grant, which allowed for the exchange of graduate students between UERJ and Ohio State.

Unfortunately, I could not leverage the CAPES PrInt opportunity. The time I had to finish my period as a graduate student was shorter than required by the program’s guidelines. However, motivated by Vasques, I applied for a postdoctoral position with the LEGACY Postdoctoral Scholars Program, and fortunately, I got it.

Being raised in a very modest family, I had to overcome some mental barriers that prevented me from reaching greater heights. Currently, in the LEGACY program, I have the opportunity to experience another culture, both personally and academically, while working to become a consistent faculty member. In my opinion, the LEGACY program is in the vanguard concerning the way a postdoctoral period should be approached. It focuses not only on the individual and technical growth concerning the areas a young faculty must invest to succeed but also on preparing future faculty to become an agent that can promote change and equity in the academic environment.

I plan to continue growing in the LEGACY program. I am sure that at the end of this postdoctoral period, I will be fully prepared to take the next step as a faculty member. Moreover, I want to leverage my personal experiences and network to become a channel for students that want to change their perspectives through education. That is, in my opinion, one of the most rewarding ways to advance humanity.