Ray Almonares

Featured on October 31, 2021

Not only is it spooky seson but tis the season for another Pinoy Scientists takeover! Say sawasdee to Ray Almonares, mechanical engineer and PhD student in Business Adminstration (major in Finance) in Thailand’s Thammasat University (Yes, we also feature scientists beyond the natural sciences).

Ray graduated with a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman, after which he took up a Master of Finance from the same university. Putting his studies into practice, Ray has held positions in Petron, Linde Philippines, the Securities and Exchange Commission and MUFG Bank (formerly known as the Bank of Tokyo).

Ray also holds an Assistant Professor position at the De La Salle University Manila, where he teaches undergraduate courses on the analysis of debt markets, equity markets and securities, personal finance and financial management for engineers, among others.

Some fun facts about Ray:

1. He is the only Finance major in his PhD cohort so all his Finance courses were one-on-one discussions with his professors. This was also his first time in a research program (his undergrad did not require a thesis and his master’s was a professional program) so he had to quickly adjust in digesting academic papers. Fortunately, his professors were constructive and supportive throughout his coursework.
2. He fostered a total of three dogs (one at a time hehe) during the recent lockdown in Bangkok. It was his first time taking care of pets so it was a good learning experience. Two of them are now with their adoptive families, while the other one, sadly, passed away due to old age.
3. His day officially starts after he has an iced americano (occasionally coupled with a chocolate chip cookie or a caramel waffle hehe) in the morning