At the age of 104, he presents his doctoral thesis and solves a two-century riddle

The phrase is never late doesn’t suit anyone better than Colombian Lucio “Chiquito” Caicedo, with whom 104 years old, and after much effort he managed to deliver his Doctoral thesis from Medellín at a prestigious British university. But that’s not all, because by defending your work, solved a two-century riddle.

Even the coronavirus pandemic did not stop Caicedo, who at 104 achieved the unexpected in decipher a mathematical formula that allows you to calculate the optimal flow of a river to produce electricity.

“Chiquito” was born in the city of Cali in the middle of the First World War. Then he moved to England in 1943 and saw the end of World War II closely. Either way, he could graduated as a civil engineer in lat the University of Manchester in 1947 then start to focus specifically on hydraulic. However, he was only able to complete his thesis research at the age of 73.

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Now in a difficult context for the elderly because they are one of the main COVID-19 risk groups, “Chiquito“He couldn’t get much out of his fall in Medellín due to quarantine.

But instead of being a problem, Caicedo saw the opportunity to complete his doctoral thesis and close this pending case. What nobody expected was that when he submitted his thesis he ended up deciphering a mathematical formula that calculates the optimal flow of a river to produce electrical energy. It is a novelty because it is an enigma which counts more than 200 years of research but nobody had found the answer, until the arrival of “Chiquito”.

📻# AlAire990AM I “At the age of 104, civil engineer Lucio Chiquito Caicedo presented his doctoral thesis at the University of Manchester. Discussion of the issue and clarifications lasted 25 months. He was born in Cali in 1916, but has lived in Medellín for over eight decades. pic.twitter.com/wQl3pdJn8H

– RCN Radio Medellín (@ RCN990Medellin) September 25, 2020

Although there is still a response from university officials, the 104-year-old said: “It is not known when he will hear about the thesis. The last time discussion of the issue was delayed for 25 months and I had to write like 170 emails clarify points of view “.

“Time comes and goes, and wasted time will never return,” he said, telling his secrets to staying at 104: bathe in cold water, eat a lot of fruit, constantly read and study. And Caicedo is not only satisfied with the submission of his thesis since he said that set a new goal: revise German grammar, a language he learned 90 years ago.

EuDr CP