Official Press Room · Media & Interview Desk

M.Sc. (TUM)
Marcelo Moncayo Theurer

Marcelo Moncayo Theurer is a frontier scientist specializing in the development of complex-systems frameworks for earthquake engineering, resilience, finite-element analysis, and catastrophe risk, supported by explainable artificial intelligence. His work combines scientific research, methodological innovation, science communication, and the democratization of knowledge.

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M.Sc. (TUM) Marcelo Moncayo Theurer during a radio interview.
Marcelo Moncayo Theurer Founder & Scientific Director · THEK Research Institute
25+ yearsEarthquake research
TUMComputational mechanics
JapanEarthquake engineering
3 continentsInternational training
AuthorScience and public outreach
Expert source for international media

Frontier science explained with clarity, rigor, and a global perspective

Marcelo Moncayo Theurer is available for interviews, expert commentary, documentaries, podcasts, television, radio, print and digital media, and speaking engagements on complex systems applied to engineering and risk.

  • Earthquake engineering and seismic events
  • Resilience and catastrophe risk
  • Finite elements and computational mechanics
  • Explainable artificial intelligence
  • Original scientific frameworks
  • Science communication and the democratization of knowledge
Interview areas

Topics for radio, television, print and digital media, podcasts, and documentaries

Earthquakes and aftershocksRapid technical interpretation of magnitude, energy release, depth, expected damage, and the evolution of seismic sequences.
Earthquake-resistant engineeringStructural safety, urban vulnerability, building cracks, collapse risk, strengthening strategies, and prevention.
SERRA FrameworkReleased seismic energy, reactivation, recurrence, seismogenic systems, and risk mapping.
Guayaquil–Caracas FaultTectonic interpretation, regional risk, and exposed cities in northern South America.
Sun, space weather and EarthSolar wind, geomagnetic storms, solar cycles, and interdisciplinary lines of research.
Scientific artificial intelligenceAutomation, educational assistants, news systems, explainable models, and open science.
Complex systemsThe NFF and FGET frameworks, mathematical formulation, pattern discovery, formula evolution, and traceability.
International educationAcademic experience in Ecuador, Germany, and Japan; engineering education and emerging professional skills.
Science communication and booksPlate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, resilience, and science communication.
Video archive

Television, radio and digital-platform interviews

A selection of scientific interviews on television, radio, and digital platforms covering earthquakes, solar activity, tectonics, earthquake engineering, disaster prevention, and science communication in Latin America.

Interview on the Venezuela earthquake▶
Radio Atalaya · 2026

Venezuela earthquake: technical analysis by Marcelo Moncayo

Interview on the seismic event and its regional implications.

Entrevista Radio I99 2026▶
Radio I99 · 2026

Marcelo Moncayo Theurer — Scientist

A conversation on current scientific and seismic issues.

Entrevista terremoto en Rusia▶
Radio I99 · 2025

Earthquake in Russia

Analysis of the event, its tectonic context, and associated risk.

Marcelo Moncayo Radio I99▶
Radio I99 · 2025

Science interview — September 2025

Current seismic activity explained for a general audience.

Marcelo Moncayo entrevista abril 2025▶
Radio I99 · 2025

Science interview — April 2025

A conversation on natural phenomena and prevention.

Entrevista diciembre 2025▶
Radio I99 · 2025

Science interview — December 2025

A review of scientific activity and natural events.

Actividad solar entrevista▶
Radio I99 · 2024

Effects of solar activity

An explanation of solar behavior and its observable effects.

Terremoto de Haití entrevista▶
Video interview

The Haiti earthquake and seismic activity in South America

Regional analysis of energy, vulnerability, and risk.

Falla Guayaquil Caracas▶
Ciencia con Marcelo

Seismic awakening: the Guayaquil–Caracas fault system

A presentation on a tectonic structure of continental significance.

Marcelo Moncayo Theurer during a television interview.
Marcelo Moncayo Theurer during a television interview.
More than 25 years of science communication across radio, television and digital media.
More than 25 years of science communication across radio, television and digital media.
Science communication for broad public audiences and specialist communities.
Science communication for broad public audiences and specialist communities.
Profile for journalists

A scientific voice prepared to explain complex phenomena with clarity

Marcelo Moncayo Theurer combines academic experience, original scientific frameworks, real-event analysis and a long record of communicating science through television, radio, print media, conferences and digital platforms.

Education and professional profile

  • Civil engineer and M.Sc. in Computational Mechanics from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. In the 2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject, TUM ranks 16th worldwide in Engineering and Technology and was also ranked 7th globally for developing digital leaders.
  • Postgraduate training in earthquake engineering in Japan, associated with the Building Research Institute, IISEE, and the University of Tokyo, one of Asia’s and the world’s most highly regarded institutions for engineering and science.
  • Experience within a leading international finite-element research school: while at TUM, Marcelo Moncayo worked in Professor Ernst Rank’s academic environment alongside Alexander Düster, researchers recognized for advances in high-order finite-element methods, the p-version, and the Finite Cell Method.
  • TUM has been a pioneering institution in computational mechanics and advanced finite-element methods, particularly through Ernst Rank’s research school and its work on p- and hp-formulations and the Finite Cell Method.
  • Tenured professor at the University of Guayaquil.
  • Founder and Scientific Director of THEK Research Institute.
  • Researcher in structural dynamics, geophysics, numerical methods, artificial intelligence, and complex systems.

Media value

  • Explains earthquakes, tsunamis, solar activity, geological faults, and urban risks in clear, accessible language.
  • Connects breaking news with its historical, scientific, and structural context.
  • Available for live and recorded interviews, panels, debates, documentaries, and long-form conversations.
  • Provides technical context for general, professional, academic, and government audiences.
  • Available for Spanish-language interviews and international formats arranged in advance.
World-class scientific training

The University of Tokyo and TUM: two global engineering institutions

University of Tokyo

Marcelo Moncayo’s training in Japan was associated with the Building Research Institute, the International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering, and the University of Tokyo. This experience connected him with one of the world’s most advanced traditions in earthquake engineering, structural dynamics, and seismic-risk reduction.

Institutional standing: the University of Tokyo remains one of Asia’s most influential scientific and technological universities and enjoys outstanding international recognition in engineering.

Technische Universität München

Marcelo Moncayo earned his M.Sc. in Computational Mechanics from TUM. According to the 2026 QS rankings, the university ranks 16th worldwide in Engineering and Technology and was also placed 7th globally for developing digital leaders.

During this period, he worked within Professor Ernst Rank’s academic team alongside Alexander Düster, in a research school internationally recognized for the p-version of the finite-element method, high-order formulations, and the development of the Finite Cell Method.

Latin American science communication

A career dedicated to making science accessible to Spanish-speaking audiences

Marcelo Moncayo Theurer has established himself as a prominent voice in Latin American science communication through his ability to explain earthquakes, plate tectonics, engineering, natural phenomena, technology, and artificial intelligence in language that is clear, rigorous, and accessible.

Latin American recognition

His work in public science communication received an honorary recognition for Latin American science outreach within the Latin American Federation of Journalists.

This recognition honors a career that connects research, education, disaster prevention, and science communication for audiences across Latin America.

Digital science community

He maintains several channels and platforms dedicated to bringing science to Spanish-speaking audiences through videos, live broadcasts, interviews, science news, seismic analysis, technical explanations, and educational content.

His digital ecosystem has built a consolidated audience across Facebook and TikTok. Desastres Naturales con Marcelo Moncayo Theurer has more than 80,000 followers and recorded a historical peak of more than 3 million monthly views. Tercera Guerra has approximately 14,000 followers, while the Ciencia con Marcelo Moncayo channel has surpassed 696,000 cumulative TikTok views.

696,000+
Cumulative TikTok views

Approximate accumulated reach of the Ciencia con Marcelo Moncayo channel.

188,000
Most-viewed video

Highest individual reach recorded among the reviewed public content.

455,000
Views from the 10 leading videos

Strong concentration of reach among the channel’s highest-performing content.

5,400
Average views per video

Approximate average calculated from the reviewed public metrics.

29
Videos above 5,000 views

A sustained group of publications with notable reach.

12
Videos above 10,000 views

Content that surpassed a high circulation threshold.

1
Video above 100,000 views

Mass-reach content within the channel.

80,000+
Desastres Naturales followers

A community focused on earthquakes, natural hazards and public science communication.

3 million+
Historical monthly Facebook peak

Views recorded during one of the page’s highest-reach periods.

14,000
Tercera Guerra followers

An additional community focused on geopolitics and public-interest topics.

Demonstrated digital science communication reach

More than 696,000 cumulative TikTok views, with one video reaching approximately 188,000 views, nearly 455,000 views across the 10 leading videos, and a sustained portfolio of high-reach content.

International performance

Open research with global circulation

His work is distributed through international repositories, academic networks, scientific publications, books, and public science platforms.

Automatic update: checking academic platforms…
542
Total Zenodo interactions

7 works · 211 views · 331 downloads.
7
Works on Zenodo

Total public scientific works identified.

—
SERRA exposure time

Weeks elapsed since SERRA was published on Zenodo.

—
SERRA traction index

(SERRA views + SERRA downloads) ÷ weeks.

116
Google Scholar citations

h-index 5 · i10-index 4.
564
Figshare interactions

172 views + 392 downloads.
3,165
Cumulative ResearchGate reads

Research Interest Score 32.5 · 43 reads in the latest week.
4,387
Combined digital interactions

Zenodo + Figshare + Google Scholar + cumulative ResearchGate reads.

#1 and #19
Amazon publishing milestones

Bestseller in Plate Tectonics and Earthquake-Resistant Design; #19 among Spanish-language science books.

1,106
Recent open-science impact

Combined Zenodo and Figshare interactions.

Zenodo and Figshare are accessed through their public services. Google Scholar and ResearchGate may limit automated requests; when that occurs, the page retains the most recently confirmed value and identifies it in the update status.

Special chapter · ResearchGate

Marcelo Moncayo Theurer’s international scientific impact

ResearchGate records the cumulative performance of his complete scientific output. Main indicators and country, institution and specialty data are read first from the latest weekly researchgate_stats.html report.

Scientific work with international readership and recognition

According to the latest weekly report, the profile records a Research Interest Score of 32.5 and 43 new reads during the latest week. The Venezuela earthquake paper is among the top 5% most-read works of 2026 on ResearchGate, while the SERRA method is among the top 25% most-read works of 2026.

View the full ResearchGate impact page
32.5Research Interest Score
43Reads in the latest week
13Leading countries over 8 weeks
ResearchGate · 8 weeks

International scientific audience on ResearchGate

Confirmed data for the last 8 weeks. The third column shows new reads during the latest week.

Countries with the highest readership

Country / territoryTotal · 8 weeksLatest week
🇺🇸United States19+5
🇲🇽Mexico13+1
🇹🇷Turkey10+2
🇮🇳India8—
🇪🇨Ecuador7+1
🇬🇧United Kingdom7—
🇹🇼Taiwan7+1
🇨🇱Chile7+3
🇵🇪Peru6—
🇵🇦Panama6+4
🇵🇹Portugal6+4
🇮🇹Italy5+1
🇩🇪Germany5+1

Institutions with the highest readership

InstitutionTotal · 8 weeksLatest week
CRAAGCentre de Recherche en Astronomie Astrophysique et GéophysiqueAlgeria5—
UÉUniversidade de ÉvoraPortugal5+4
ASAcademia SinicaTaiwan4—
NITRNational Institute of Technology RaipurIndia4—
UMSNHUniversidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de HidalgoMexico3—
IGCEAInstitute of Geophysics, China Earthquake AdministrationChina3+1
UVUniversity of VeracruzMexico3—
JICAJapan International Cooperation AgencyJapan3+3
NTUNanyang Technological UniversitySingapore2+2
UIUniversity of IndonesiaIndonesia2+2
INGVIstituto Nazionale di Geofisica e VulcanologiaItaly1—
SUStanford UniversityUnited States1—
ÖUÖzyeğin UniversityTurkey1—
INRIANational Institute for Research in Computer Science and ControlFrance1+1
LMULudwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany1+1
CUGChina University of GeosciencesChina1+1
KNTUK. N. Toosi University of TechnologyIran1+1

Reader disciplines

DisciplineTotal · 8 weeksLatest week
Geophysics18+7
Geology14+7
Civil Engineering11+4
Applied Mathematics6+1
Remote Sensing6+2
Probability Theory5—
Statistics5—
Structural Engineering4—
Materials Engineering3—
Nutrition and Dietetics3—
Nutritional Biochemistry3—
Volcanology3+3
Geostatistics2+1
Electromagnetism1—
Paleontology1—
Evolutionary Biology—+1
Computational Physics—+1
Geodesy and Surveying—+1
Theoretical Physics—+1

Reader seniority

Academic levelTotal · 8 weeksLatest week
PostDoc19+9
PhD Student17+7
Professor9+4
Senior2—

Confirmed ResearchGate data; they remain visible until the next weekly update.

Amazon bestselling author

“Plate Tectonics”: science written for engineers and Spanish-speaking readers

Marcelo Moncayo Theurer’s book explains Earth’s tectonic evolution, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and the principles of earthquake engineering by combining technical rigor, scientific history, and accessible communication.

Publishing milestones reached in July 2026

  • Amazon bestseller in the Plate Tectonics category.
  • Amazon bestseller in the Earthquake-Resistant Design category.
  • Ranked No. 19 among Amazon’s best-selling Spanish-language science books.
  • The first volume in a four-book series on earthquake engineering and released seismic energy.

Amazon rankings change continuously. The positions shown above are the highest documented rankings reached in July 2026.

Relevance for interviews and media

The book’s market performance demonstrates Marcelo Moncayo Theurer’s ability to turn complex knowledge in geology, seismology, and structural engineering into content that students, professionals, and general readers can understand.

The book provides a strong basis for interviews on plate tectonics, historical earthquakes, seismic risk in Latin America, prevention, earthquake-resistant design, science education, and public-facing science writing.

View the book on Amazon
#1
Plate Tectonics

Highest position reached in its Amazon category during July 2026.

Bestseller
Earthquake-resistant design

A publishing milestone achieved in a category directly related to his field.

#19
Spanish-language science books

Position reached among Amazon’s best-selling Spanish-language science titles.

1 de 4
Seismic engineering series

The first volume in the Earthquake Engineering and Released Energy series.

Press escrita

Interviews, columns and media coverage

El Universo · Interview

Seismologist urges the public not to trust unsupported audio messages

Technical explanations during the emergency caused by the Pedernales earthquake.

 El Universo · Reference

Debate over the reported magnitude of earthquakes

Public analysis of the magnitude of events felt in Guayaquil.

 El Universo · Column

Surviving an earthquake unharmed

Prevention, safe structures, finite elements, and public response.

 El Universo · Column

What about the cracks in my house?

Structural interpretation of damage and criteria for evaluating buildings.

 El Universo · Column

The worst catastrophe of my life

A scientific and human reflection on the Pedernales earthquake.

 El Universo · Author archive

Columns by Marcelo Moncayo Theurer

Archive of articles on science, disasters, climate, society, and resilience.
Media appearance fees

Reference fees for interviews and media productions

Engagements are coordinated according to format, duration, required preparation, travel, usage rights, and production scope.

FormatDurationIncludesReference fee
Brief radio or podcast interviewUp to 15 minutesRemote participation, a focused topic, and advance coordination.USD 150
Extended radio or podcast interview16–40 minutesTopic preparation, an in-depth conversation, and scientific references.USD 250
Print or digital media interviewUp to 45 minutesInterview, review of biographical details, and supporting source links.USD 250
Remote television interviewUp to 20 minutesLive or recorded appearance, preparation, and technical coordination.USD 350
In-person television interviewUp to 30 minutesIn-studio appearance in Guayaquil and advance preparation.USD 500
Special program, documentary, or panel30–90 minutesAdvance research, production meetings, recording, and technical material.From USD 800
International mediaProject-basedScheduling, time-zone coordination, bilingual preparation, and potential territorial rights.Custom quote
Urgent public-interest interviewUp to 10 minutesEditorial review for seismic events or emergencies of major public relevance.Subject to approval

Fees are indicative and may be adjusted based on scope, travel, exclusivity, rebroadcasting, commercial use, special preparation, or duration. Confirmation is provided in writing only.

International engagements requiring travel. For interviews, conferences, documentaries, institutional presentations, or any international engagement requiring travel, airfare, accommodation, meals, local transportation, insurance, and all related logistical expenses must be covered by the requesting organization. Travel arrangements and related expenses must be confirmed and covered in advance.

Media partnership and promotional exchange

When the interview includes a clearly identified segment presenting the scientific work, publications, educational platforms or social-impact projects of THEK Research Institute, the participation fee may be reduced. A full or partial media-exposure exchange may also be agreed in writing, according to the audience, airtime, repetition, digital publication and promotional value offered by the outlet.

Formal request

Information required to coordinate an interview

Complete all required fields. When submitted, your email application will prepare a message addressed to marc@hithek.com.

Mandatory on-screen and published identification
M.Sc. (TUM) Marcelo Moncayo Theurer
CEO hithek.com / Prof. UG

Every television, radio, print, digital, podcast or documentary interview must identify the guest exactly as shown above. This wording must appear in captions, introductions, articles, promotional materials and publication credits.

THEK ecosystem

Direct access to THEK institutional platforms

THEK Research InstituteInstitutional portal and scientific ecosystem. THEK Intelligence ReportScience news and international analysis. Solar–Seismic Intelligence CenterReal-time planetary and seismic monitoring. SERRA FrameworkSeismic energy, recurrence, and risk. NFF FrameworkMathematical architecture for nested formulas. THEK FrontierEngineering, structures, and innovation. Plate TectonicsBook on earthquake engineering and science communication. THEK FoundationResilience, education, and social transformation. hiTHEK AcademyAdvanced education in engineering and science. LemonBot / ProfeBotArtificial-intelligence scientific assistant. ResearchGateProfile, publications, reads, and citations. FigshareScientific works and open metrics.