As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re honored to spotlight inventors and thought-leaders from across the innovation ecosystem. Read below as NAI Fellow Dr. Juan Santiago, Charles Lee Powell Foundation Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, shares with us what inspires him to be an inventor and the value of STEM education. Dr. Santiago’s research includes developing microsystems for on-chip chemical and biochemical analysis, DNA quantification and hybridization methods, and methods for electric-field based deionization.
Q: What inspired you, and continues to inspire you, to be an inventor?
A: I am driven by the desire to create true impact. I strive to use my knowledge of engineering and physics to create solutions and technologies that will help humankind in tangible ways.
Q: In your spare time, in addition to working in your field, what do you love to do?
A: 1.5 years ago I took up freestyle wrestling and try to practice 4 times per week. I wrestled in high school but then took a 40 year break.
Q: What do you feel the value of STEM education is, especially to young innovators?
A: A STEM education, and particularly engineering, offers a more objective playing field where your background or accent or heritage or appearance or connections are not important. The important things are your ability, motivation toward excellence, and hard work.
Dr. Santiago was inducted as an NAI Fellow in 2022. To read more about Dr. Santiago and his work, visit: https://profiles.stanford.edu/juan-santiago