I am serial founder, entrepreneur with a deep scientific and technology background. I am a unique problem-solver. I bring creativity and 20-years of entrepreneurial, business and scientific/technical experience to the job. I thrive on digging into customer needs. I love creating, optimizing and scaling products that matter.
I’ve created three successful ventures, serve on the board of companies and have created programming for early-stage innovators. I’m an active alum of the world’s leading innovation networks at Y-Combinator, Techstars and MassChallenge. My company Vacca Technologies provides early-stage innovation strategy and business consulting.
Born with albinism and legally blind, I am from Ponce, Puerto Rico. My interests and talent for STEM drew initially drew me towards completing my degree in Chemistry- even though I was dissuaded by one of my instructors. My early science career involved a two-year stint at the National Institutes of Health, where I developed expertise in laboratory management. While at the NIH, I also began my volunteer advocacy work for persons with albinism and rare disease. I then completed my graduate degree in chemistry and my post-graduate work in physics at Harvard University.I’ve raised over $1.5 Million in research funding, managed research teams and designed some of the state-of-the-art laboratories for nano-fabrication.
My passion is developing technologies that enhance our human abilities. Human augmentation has been the focus recently for applications ranging from defense, sports, and improving daily living for persons with disabilities. Advances in materials, processors and manufacturing techniques are opening up a new world of possibilities ranging from exoskeletons, sensors, to brain-computer interfaces. I’m developing new devices, applications and products that enhance our abilities. One of our products called Sunu Band is a sonar-smartwatch that extends the senses for people who visually impaired. My vision is a world where technology is an enabler, taking our abilities beyond our wildest expectations and allowing people to be more efficient, smarter and even overcome illness and disease.
I’ve participated in many startup competitions while building my three startups. My decade-long career as an entrepreneur has taught me among many things– that anyone can have a big idea…