Raquel Lebredo was born in Camag�ey, Cuba. She attended school in Havana and later enrolled at the University of Havana, where she received a Ph.D. in education in 1950. She was subsequently employed as an elementary school principal, and taught literature and language at a preparatory school in Havana. After living in Spain for a period of time, she moved in 1968 to the United States. Dr. Lebredo was awarded a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of California, Riverside, in 1973. Since then she has taught Spanish at Claremont Graduate School, Crafton Hills College, the University of Redlands, and California Baptist University, and has authored several Spanish textbooks. In 1985, she was… chosen "Faculty Member of the Year" by the student body at California Baptist University, and in 1991 she received a YWCA "Women of Achievement" award. Prof. Lebredo is retired.Musa Jouaneh received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette in 1984 and then went on to the University of California at Berkeley where he received his M.Eng in 1986 and his Ph.D. in 1989. He is currently a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Rhode Island. His teaching interests include Mechatronics, Robotics, Real-Time Monitoring and Control, and Engineering Mechanics. Professor Jouaneh has been the recipient of several awards including URI Outstanding Contributions to Intellectual Property Award (2004),The URI Foundation Teaching Excellence Award (2003), URI Outstanding Intellectual Property Development Recognition Award (2003), The 2002-2003 Edmund and Dorothy Marshall Faculty Excellence Award in Engineering, Advisor to Merit Award Winner in the Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation Design Competition (2001 and 2002), Albert E. Carlotti Faculty Excellence Award in Engineering (1993), Graduate Fellowship, University of California at Berkeley (1984-1985).