In his announcement of the selection earlier this week, Georgia Tech Provost Rafael L. Bras praised Robles for having the "potential to become an international leader in your field."

"We expect that the support provided by the Goizueta Foundation Junior Professorship will be used to further develop your educational and scholarly programs in the Department of Biomedical Engineering," Bras added.

During this rotating professorship, Robles, a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech, will be expected to work closely with the Goizueta Chaired professor, Rosario Gerhardt, and the director of Hispanic programs (Office of Institute Diversity), Jorge Breton, supporting institutional efforts to recruit and mentor Hispanic/Latino students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He will also be helping Georgia Tech recruit faculty of Hispanic origin.

The Robles lab focuses on developing and applying optical methods, along with advanced signal processing methods, to gain access to novel forms of functional and molecular contrast for a variety of biomedical applications. His research focus areas include cancer technologies and cardiovascular engineering.