Maya Student Joins NASA Health Monitoring Project

Motul, Yucatán — Esteysy Dayana Canul Uicab, a student at the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Motul in the central Maya region of Yucatán, recently participated in an international scientific program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States. There, she collaborated with researchers, engineers, and students from various parts of the world.

The participation of the young woman, who is of Maya descent and originally from the municipality of Suma de Hidalgo—one of the smallest in Yucatán—was the result of an international academic and technical selection process, stemming from her engineering education and her performance in scientific and technological innovation activities.

After meeting the established requirements, as well as specialized evaluations and interviews, she was chosen to join a collaboration program at NASA facilities.

During her stay, in late 2025, she worked in a multidisciplinary manner with specialists of various nationalities on the development of the project “Health Diagnosis System for Space Missions,” an initiative aimed at applying technology and artificial intelligence to monitor the health of astronauts during space missions.

With the goal of sharing knowledge and inspiring new generations, Esteysy Dayana returned to her native community, Suma, to disseminate the experience lived at NASA and bring science and space closer to girls, boys, youth, and families.

As part of this scientific outreach effort, academic activities and astronomical observations were organized on Wednesday, January 28, including with specialists from the Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán (CICY). In this way, scientist Edmundo Vázquez Castro gave a talk about meteorites, with the purpose of sparking public interest in space phenomena and their scientific study.

The collaboration of the astronomical community from the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY) was also secured, which brought telescopes for nighttime sky observation, allowing attendees to have a first practical approach to astronomy.

In this context, the student was recognized by the head of the Secretaría de Educación del Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán (Segey), Juan Balam Várguez, with whom she shared her academic and professional experience derived from her participation in the international program. The official reaffirmed the institutional commitment to promoting Yucatecan talent.