Biography

I received my BMath degree from Universidad Central de Venezuela, where I also worked as an Instructor teaching undergraduate math courses. Later on, I completed my PhD in pure mathematics at the University of Melbourne under the supervision of Arun Ram and Craig Westerland.

Before joining SUTD, I worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Western Ontario.

Education

  • Ph.D. Science, University of Melbourne. 2013
  • BMath, Universidad Central de Venezuela. 2009

Research Interests

My current research interests are in representation theory and pedagogy of mathematics. I have previously worked on algebraic combinatorics and homotopy theory in the form of Schubert calculus.

Selected Projects

  • Gamifying student assessment – Pedagogy Innovations, SUTD (with Sergey Kushnarev)
  • Math holograms app – Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme, SUTD

Selected Publications

  • H. Cheong, J. W. Lai, J. H. Yap, G. S. W. Cheong, S. V. Budiman, O. Ortiz, A. Mishra, D. J. Yeo, “Utilizing Google Cardboard Virtual Reality for Visualization in Multivariable Calculus,” in IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 75398-75406, 2023, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3281753.
  • Kang, W. Wong, X. Liu, S. Kushnarev, D. Tan, O. Ortiz, S. Goyal, and R. Singhal, “A Personalized Online Homework System in a Freshman Engineering Linear Algebra Course,” 2021 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology & Education (TALE), Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, 2021, pp. 226-232, doi: 10.1109/TALE52509.2021.9678890.
  • Kang, S. Kushnarev, W. Wei Pin, O. Ortiz, and J. Chen Shihang, “Impact of Virtual Reality on the Visualization of Partial Derivatives in a Multivariable Calculus Class,” in IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 58940-58947, 2020, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2982972.
  • O. Ortiz, GKM theory for p-compact groups. Journal of Algebra, Vol. 427 (2015), pp. 426-454, doi: 10.1016/j.jalgebra.2014.12.029.

Selected Awards

  • Excellence in Teaching Award – Design 2D Team. SUTD Awards 2021.
  • Greg Hjorth biennial Memorial Prize, most outstanding postgraduate thesis in mathematics. University of Melbourne, 2014
  • Melbourne International Research Scholarship. University of Melbourne, 2010 – 2013
  • José Félix Ribas Medal, Academic Achievement. Ministry of the Presidential Office and National Youth Institute, Venezuela, 2005
  • Semifinalist, 26th Venezuelan Mathematics Olympics. 2001