# BoricuaReceipts UPR Series / Mayaguez NASA Source Lock v1

Date: 2026-07-22
Status: Rick approved the corrected UPR series source-lock direction in `#boricua-receipts`. Internal research/prep only; not approved for script finalization, audio, video, scheduling, upload, ads, boosts, or public posting.

Sequencing update: Rick clarified after the V1 review render that the intended UPR system opener should go first under the agreed title/frame, and this Mayaguez/NASA piece should sit after that as a campus-specific installment. The series installments do not need to publish one directly after another.

## Series Frame

Working series title:

`Grandes de la UPR: recinto por recinto`

Core thesis locked from Rick:

`UPR may have been born in the colonial transition, but Puerto Ricans turned it into one of the main factories of Boricua talent, leadership, and identity.`

Series shape:

- Start with the UPR system and why it matters.
- Then go campus by campus.
- First campus-specific source-lock: UPR Mayaguez / Colegio, because the strongest first lane is STEM/aerospace/NASA.

## Campus Installment Working Frame

Recommended working title:

`Del Colegio a NASA`

Longer receipt title:

`Mayaguez no solo hizo ingenieros. Tambien abrio camino al espacio.`

Best source-safe thesis:

The Colegio / UPR Mayaguez story works as the first campus-specific proof after the UPR system opener because official UPR history shows the campus grew out of Puerto Rico's land-grant higher-education structure, and NASA's own institutional profile plus UPRM records show documented STEM/aerospace ties: engineering programs, NASA grants, competitions, internships, alumni, and research that reached space.

## Source-Backed Receipts

### 1. UPR system origin

Source: UPR Foundation, `History of the University of Puerto Rico`.
URL: `https://fundacionupr.org/en/history`

Usable claims:

- UPR was founded in 1903.
- The source describes UPR as the first and main institution of university education in Puerto Rico.
- It says UPR began as the `Escuela Normal Industrial`, focused on teacher training.
- It says campuses and faculties were later established throughout the island.
- It frames UPR as part of Puerto Rico's political/social life, culture, research, and critical thinking.

Use in episode:

- Good for series setup: UPR starts in the early 1900s and becomes an islandwide institution.
- Use carefully: Foundation language is broad and institutional. Pair it with campus-specific receipts.

### 2. UPR Mayaguez / Colegio origin

Source: UPR Mayaguez, `Resena historica - Acerca del RUM`.
URL: `https://www.uprm.edu/portales/historia/`

Usable claims:

- UPR was created in Rio Piedras on March 12, 1903 by act of the Legislative Assembly.
- In 1908, the U.S. government extended Morrill-Nelson aid to Puerto Rico, making UPR a land-grant institution.
- On September 23, 1911, the Colegio de Agricultura was established in Mayaguez as part of UPR.
- A year later it became the Colegio de Agricultura y Artes Mecanicas, known as CAAM for 50 years.
- In 1942, a general UPR reform brought accelerated growth to CAAM and created the faculties of Agriculture, Engineering, and Sciences.
- In 1966, UPR was organized into autonomous campuses, and CAAM became the Recinto Universitario de Mayaguez.
- UPRM describes itself as second in size within the UPR system and the only one with a School of Agriculture and a graduate Marine Sciences program in Puerto Rico.

Use in episode:

- This is the backbone for "beginnings, then by campus."
- This lets us connect the campus to agriculture, engineering, science, land-grant structure, and later autonomous campus identity.

### 3. NASA official institutional profile for UPR Mayaguez

Source: NASA Minority Serving Institutions Exchange, `University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez`.
URL: `https://msiexchange.nasa.gov/institutions/2904`

Usable claims:

- NASA's MSI Exchange lists University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.
- Last updated March 26, 2026.
- ABET Accreditation: Yes.
- Land Grant Institution: Yes.
- 2020 MUREP OCEANS Awardee.
- Demographic data listed by NASA: Hispanic/Latino 91.10%.
- Enrollment data listed by NASA: 10,716 total students.
- STEM degree fields listed include Agricultural Engineering, Biomedical/Medical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics/Communications Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Statistics, and more.

Use in episode:

- This is the cleanest official NASA receipt for UPRM as a STEM institution in NASA's own system.
- Strong line: "NASA itself lists UPR Mayaguez in its Minority Serving Institutions Exchange."
- Do not inflate this into a recruitment ranking.

### 4. RUM water-purification technology reached NASA SpaceX Crew-10

Source: UPR Mayaguez, `Del Colegio al espacio: Un logro historico en el Dia de pi`.
URL: `https://www.uprm.edu/portada/2025/03/21/lanzamientohistoricoeldiapi-2/`

Usable claims:

- NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 mission carried a water-purification technology developed at UPRM.
- The project was led by Dr. David Suleiman Rosado, director and professor in the RUM Chemical Engineering Department, with students.
- The project title was `Ensamblaje de membranas nanoestructuradas polimericas para la purificacion de agua en la Estacion Espacial Internacional`.
- UPRM says it was the second experiment created at RUM to travel to space.
- The technology was initially created with NASA funds.

Use in episode:

- Strong visual/modern proof that this is not only old reputation.
- Could be one receipt card: "Un experimento del Colegio viajo en Crew-10."

### 5. RUM 3D-printing space research received a NASA grant

Source: UPR Mayaguez, `Investigacion del RUM sobre impresion 3D para aplicaciones espaciales recibe subvencion de la NASA`.
URL: `https://www.uprm.edu/portada/2025/02/07/investigacionrumrecibesubvencionnasa/`

Usable claims:

- UPRM received a $300,000 NASA grant for research to evaluate and develop 3D-printing technologies for space mission applications.
- Principal investigator: Dr. Ubaldo Cordova Figueroa, professor in Chemical Engineering at RUM.
- The project includes collaboration with NASA Glenn Research Center, Purdue University, and Engine-4 in Bayamon.
- The proposal is part of NASA MOSAICS, which awarded $6 million to 20 teams in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Use in episode:

- Strong current receipt for NASA funding, collaboration, and student STEM exposure.
- Good for one source card if the video needs a present-day proof after the historical opening.

### 6. RUM SEDS team placed second in NASA RASC-AL

Source: UPR Mayaguez, `Equipo del RUM obtiene subcampeonato en competencia de NASA`.
URL: `https://www.uprm.edu/portada/2023/06/23/equipoobtienesubcampeonatonasa/`

Usable claims:

- RUM's SEDS student chapter obtained second place in the 2023 NASA RASC-AL Forum.
- It was their fifth participation.
- The article says the team achieved three consecutive championships from 2018 to 2021.
- Their 2023 mission concept was `PROMISE: Permanent Research Outpost for Mars and Interplanetary Space Exploration`.
- The article quotes outgoing captain Wilbert Andres Ruperto Hernandez saying he was hired to work in NASA's Space Mission Analysis Branch and would start full-time at NASA Langley Research Center.

Use in episode:

- Good human/campus proof: students, competition, mission design, NASA career path.
- If naming Wilbert in the script, keep the claim tied to the UPRM article.

## Safe Claims

Safe for draft:

- UPR was founded in 1903 and grew from teacher-training roots into an islandwide university system.
- The Mayaguez campus began in 1911 as the Colegio de Agricultura and later became CAAM, tied to agriculture, engineering, sciences, and the land-grant structure.
- NASA's own MSI Exchange lists UPR Mayaguez as a land-grant, ABET-accredited institution with many STEM degree fields.
- UPRM has documented NASA ties through grants, internships, competitions, alumni, and research projects.
- UPRM research has reached space, including the Crew-10 water-purification technology receipt.

## Guardrails

Do not say yet:

- `UPRM is NASA's biggest pipeline.`
- `NASA recruits more from Mayaguez than anywhere else.`
- `Colegio is the main NASA source in Puerto Rico.`
- Exact recruitment volume, ranking, or pipeline status without official/corroborated source.

Safer wording:

- `deep NASA ties`
- `documented STEM/aerospace bridge`
- `NASA's own records list UPR Mayaguez`
- `from Colegio classrooms to NASA-funded research and space-mission work`

Avoid:

- Turning the series into only a NASA story. This is a UPR system series; Mayaguez/NASA is episode one.
- Saying UPR was simply "created to resist." Safer: UPR was born in the colonial transition, and Puerto Ricans turned it into a talent, leadership, and identity institution.
- Using blogs, AI summaries, or unsourced social posts as final receipts.

## Recommended Campus Installment Structure

1. Hook: `Antes de hablar de NASA, hay que hablar del Colegio.`
2. Origin receipt: UPR, 1903; Mayaguez Colegio de Agricultura, 1911; CAAM.
3. System thesis: born in colonial transition, turned by Puerto Ricans into talent infrastructure.
4. NASA receipt: NASA MSI Exchange lists UPRM as land-grant, ABET, STEM-heavy.
5. Modern proof montage: Crew-10 water-purification tech; $300K NASA grant; RASC-AL student team.
6. Series handoff: `Y esto es solo Mayaguez. Recinto por recinto, la UPR tiene recibos.`

## Campus-by-Campus Title Bank

Working title bank for later source-locks:

- `Rio Piedras: donde la UPR se volvio debate publico`
- `Ciencias Medicas: la salud publica tambien tiene recinto`
- `Cayey: la montana tambien produjo liderato`
- `Humacao: ciencia, costa y este de Puerto Rico`
- `Bayamon: tecnologia y ciudad obrera`
- `Ponce: el sur tambien tuvo aula publica`
- `Arecibo: ciencia, radioastronomia y norte`
- `Aguadilla: del noroeste al sistema`
- `Carolina: universidad urbana y movilidad social`
- `Utuado: agricultura, montana y pais`

## Next Production Gate

Before script/audio/video:

1. Build/approve the UPR system opener first under `Grandes de la UPR: recinto por recinto`.
2. Treat the Mayaguez/NASA render as a banked campus-specific installment, not necessarily the immediate next post.
3. Decide whether the Mayaguez/NASA installment needs any revision after the system opener exists.
4. Choose 3-4 visual source cards, probably:
   - UPRM history page.
   - NASA MSI Exchange UPRM profile.
   - UPRM Crew-10 article.
   - UPRM NASA grant or RASC-AL article.
5. Draft or revise the Spanish-first packet as needed.
6. Keep public posting gated separately after final video review.