I studied mathematics at Ateneo de Manila University, Heidelberg University and Bonn University. I completed my PhD in Bonn in 1980 under G. Harder and F. Hirzebruch. The results of my thesis were used to resolve the known Cuspidal Cohomology Problem by K. Vogtmann (Cornell) in 1985 and the main construct in my thesis is now often called the “Mendoza complex”. While an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Wuppertal University, my collaboration with communications engineers led to a strong interest in computer networks and a move to the IT industry in October 1980.

Over a period of 22 years, I worked as a software developer, project manager, department head and director of consulting services for various companies including Siemens, Scientific Control Systems (BP Group), Softlab (BMW Group) and Microsoft. At Microsoft, I received the President’s Award from S. Ballmer in July 1997 for my achievements as Director of Microsoft Consulting Services in Germany. From 1998 to 2002, I was responsible for Microsoft Consulting Services in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), an organization with over a thousand employees in 36 countries. Beginning October 2002, I went on “early retirement” from Microsoft to pursue my interests in Systems Biology and my long-standing plans to contribute to science and technology education in the Philippines.

As an Adjunct Professor in Mathematics and Computer Science at several campuses of the University of the Philippines since 2005, I have mentored numerous graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, mainly within the research activities of the SMILES (Statistics, Mathematics, Informatics in the Life and Environmental Sciences) initiative 2003-2010 and the MBaRC (Manila Bay Research Corrridor) initiative 2008-2010. These activities have established graduate programs in Computational Systems Biology and also resulted in my co-authoring over 30 papers in international journals. I have co-edited a book on “Systems Biology in Psychiatric Research” (Wiley, June 2010) and was also a Section Editor of the “Encyclopedia of Systems Biology” (Springer 2011).

In parallel, I headed as a Senior Research Scientist a Systems Biology group at the Physics Department and Center of NanoScience of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany from Oct 2003 to Sept 2011 until reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65 at German universities. Since October 2011, I am continuing my research as a Visiting Scientist at the same department and at the Max-Planck Insitute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich. I am frequently engaged as a consultant for the “Future Emerging Technologies” Research Program of the European Union.

I was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Max-Planck-Institute for Complex Systems Dynamics in Magdeburg, Germany (June 2006 – Oct 2011) and of the Board of Directors of the Philippine American Academy of Science and Engineering (PAASE) 2010-2012. I received the CSP Award of Distinction from the Computing Society of the Philippines in 2006 and DOST BalikScientist Awards in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In May 2011, I was elected a Corresponding Member of the Chemical, Mathematical and Physical Sciences Division of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Philippines.