Dr. Víctor Manuel Castaño Meneses was born in Mexico City on September 1, 1960. He obtained, with honorable mention, the title of physical engineer at the Universidad Iberoamericana (1983) and the degrees of master (1984) and doctor ( April 1985) in science (Physics) at the Faculty of Sciences of the UNAM. He completed a postdoctoral stay, thanks to a scholarship awarded to him by the prestigious IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, in New York. Since 1983 he has been a subject professor at different institutions, including the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Faculties of Chemistry, Sciences, Engineering and Dentistry), the Autonomous University of Querétaro (Faculties of Engineering, Medicine and Psychology), the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (Faculty of Physical-Mathematical Sciences), the Ibero-American University, the Technological Institute of Querétaro, etc. and is currently a full researcher C (since 1991, through an open competitive examination), PRIDE D. At the age of 24 (1985) he entered the National System of Researchers as a candidate and has been level III since 1994 to date. He received the appointment of University Professor in 2001.

Dr. Castaño is a researcher who directs frontier research projects and has very extensive and varied academic productivity, which includes research, technological development, teaching and dissemination.

The work and contributions of Dr. Castaño have earned him various distinctions, among which can be mentioned the Prize of the Academy of Scientific Research (now, Mexican Academy of Sciences), National University Distinction for Young Academics, awarded by the Máxima House of Studies, the “El Registry” Prize, the Condumex Prize, the Organization of American States Prize, the “Paul Coremans” Prize from the National Institute of Anthropology and History, the “Ignatius of Loyola” Medal, honorable mention from the “León Bialik” Prize ”, member by election of the Georgia Academy of Sciences and other honors. He is Associate Editor of several prestigious journals, including Materials Letters, International Journal of Polymeric Materials, Polymer, Journal of Materials Education, Dentum, Nanostructured Materials, International Conferences on Polymer Characterization, Materials Research Innovations, Chemistry and Chemical Technology and others, in addition to being a referee for more than a dozen international publications. He is treasurer, by election, of the International Council for Materials Education and has been a member of various evaluation commissions in Mexico and abroad (United States, Canada, Spain, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, etc.).

The scientific work of Dr. Víctor Castaño is a recognized expert in the theory of imaging in transmission electron microscopy, in which his phase space method, successful adaptation of mathematical tools from quantum mechanics to optics, is recognized as one of the 3 most important theories on the subject. Furthermore, he has been one of the pioneers in the theory of the formation of holograms with electrons, with a new, much simpler and more powerful methodology. Probably the area where Dr. Castaño is best known is in materials science, where he has invented a very extensive line of new materials, from dental implants made from starfish and various other biomaterials (one of his articles is on the list of the 10 most influential works in that field in the last 20 years), to new liquid materials that are reversibly ordered when interacting with light, as if they were solids, passing through “intelligent” membranes, which adapt to the physical-chemical conditions of the environment and many new polymers and composites.