Juan started working with CARICOOS at the beginning when the first buoy at Ponce had not even been deployed. Initially, he worked with the implementation of the operational WRF atmospheric model and then moved into ocean modeling and operational data management efforts. As part of the research towards his MS in Physical Oceanography at the UPRM Marine Sciences Department, he worked on the development of storm surge coastal flood maps in a project funded by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources. For the modeling used for these maps, he had the opportunity to get a thorough understanding of the ADCIRC+SWAN unstructured circulation-wave model, which sparked my interest in high-resolution modeling and high-performance computing. This led him to further pursue doctoral studies at the University of Notre Dame,  where he worked developing a high-resolution unstructured mesh for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Eastern Caribbean. His main goal with this effort was to develop a high-resolution model capable of solving in detail the complex non-linear interactions of tides, water levels, currents, and waves for tidal, wind, and hurricane forcings. 

After finishing his Ph.D. he returned to CARICOOS as a post-doctoral researcher, working on the implementation of a regional ROMS three-dimensional ocean circulation model. During this period as a postdoctoral researcher, Juan also helped with the supervision and training of students, collaborated in other research activities such as the coupling of storm surge and hydrology models, and led the migration of operational computing systems into the cloud. Currently, he works as a Senior Physical Oceanographer/Modeler with WSP in Canada, where he has been located for the past five years.