Enrique Contreras

As a Scientist

Enrique Contreras is an Assistant Professor at California State University, San Bernardino. He completed his postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the mentorship of Prof. Prashant K. Jain. His work focused on developing plasmonic materials for energy upconversion by coupling visible light and voltage bias, significantly advancing the field of plasmon-assisted electrochemistry.

Dr. Contreras earned his Ph.D. in Nanoscience from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the Ensenada Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education under the mentorship of Prof. Jose M. Romo-Herrera. He has published extensively on the synthesis of carbonaceous nanomaterials for fuel cell applications in leading journals, including Advanced Energy Materials, Nanoscale, and Carbon. Additionally, he has made significant contributions to plasmon-assisted electrochemistry for molecular upconversion and energy extraction, with articles appearing in Journal of the American Chemical Society, Trends in Chemistry, and ACS Applied Energy Materials.

As an active reviewer for journals such as Nature, JACS, ACS Nano, Microchimica Acta, and International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Dr. Contreras continues to engage with the broader scientific community. His current research interests include the engineering and development of plasmonic gas-diffusion electrodes, cleaning nitrate-polluted surface water in the Cali-Baja region, and creating plasmonic, earth-abundant catalyst nanomaterials for energy storage and fuel cell applications.

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YOVd55YAAAAJ&hl=es&oi=ao

As a Professor

I try to be an empathetic and approachable mentor, and I make an effort to connect with students as people. I want them to know that I was once in their position and understand many of the challenges they face. I have found that being open and honest with students really makes a difference.

I value each student’s unique path and enjoy seeing them overcome challenges and how they grow into confident and successful professionals. 

Two phrases you will often hear from me:

• Grades are just numbers. They will never represent who you are.
• My door is always open to current students, former students, and anyone who wants to talk or needs guidance.