Dedicated to the memory of my beloved mother Emma Guzman and mysister Aura E. Florez-Guzman.
AcknowledgmentsI would like to express my sincere appreciation for my advisor, Professor Mary F. Wheeler. She practically brought me from Venezuela for giving me the opportunity to attend graduate school at US. This ultimately opened new avenues to insert myself successfully in a country with a different language and culture. I will always appreciate this opportunity. She introduced me to topics such as mixed finite elements, discontinuous Galerkin schemes, domain decomposition and mortar methods. I am also thankful for her financial support, enthusiasm, and persistence on pursuing cutting-edge research.