Professor Aguilar is a civil engineer from the Universidad Michoacana, has a master's degree and a doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a member of the National System of Researchers, holding level III status. He has worked for the public sector at the federal level, and has conducted national and international research and consulting on urbanization, urban water, and the United States-Mexico border region, for institutions such as the National Water Commission, the World Bank, the World Meteorological Organization, the for North American Development, and United Nations-Habitat.
Professor Aguilar is the main editor of the book Water and Cities in Latin America, published in English, in 2015, by the British publishing house Routledge, and in Spanish, in 2018, by the Inter-American Development Bank. This work deserved the 2019 Tecnológico de Monterrey/Rómulo Garza Research Award. He is also co-author of the book Agua para Monterrey (November 2021), which shows the challenges and opportunities of water availability for Nuevo León and Mexico. Professor Aguilar represents Tecnológico de Monterrey on the Water Advisory Council.