Bruno Poggi Cevallos – A beautiful mind
Born and raised in Ecuador, Bruno Poggi Cevallos (FIT ’14) is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh with an MS and a PhD in mathematics. He previously held a post-doctoral research position at Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Catalonia.
Bruno always had a natural aptitude for math and physics, and when he graduated high school he wanted to pursue his education in the United States. He learned much of his English from playing video games which he said was good, except for the one time he took a calculus test. He said, “I handed the quiz to the professor and called it my sh*t of paper.”
On to Florida
Bruno was accepted by the Florida Institute of Technology saying, “I wanted to study something in college that was challenging, something that piqued my interest.” He chose aerospace engineering and later decided to double major in mathematics.
He carried between 18 and 22 credits per semester, burning the midnight oil and supporting the shareholders of Red Bull.
Finding family at Pilam
Though Bruno had some family in Florida, in his second semester he was looking for a community on campus. One of his dorm buddies introduced him to Pilam. Bruno found himself making new friends and “enjoying the conversations and antics” with the brothers.
He said, “I liked what they represented on campus, what they stood for. They were very inclusive.” FIT didn’t have a chapter house but they had satellite houses on campus. Bruno moved in with a group of brothers in an apartment on Brown Street which became known as the “Brown House.”
Pilam brothers also introduced Bruno to American traditions. One of his brothers “adopted” him into his family inviting him to Thanksgiving, a tradition that Bruno truly appreciated and embraced. He continues to be very close with his Pilam brothers.
His side hustle is making beautiful music
Bruno is also an accomplished amateur musician and composer. He considers it a hobby and writes his own piano music “to relax.”
Continuing education
Bruno is enjoying his position as a tenure-track assistant professor of mathematics at Pitt. He likes the teaching aspect, saying , “I have a lot of engineers and physical science majors and they’re good students.”
As a researcher in mathematics, he loves that there are certain topics that are still open and solvable. He said, “There are unknowns in fields such as partial differential equations and number theory. It’s about ideas and creativity. You don’t need computers or fancy equipment. It’s about what you can do with your mind and a pencil and paper.”
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