Jose Maldonado

Jose Maldonado has a passion for creating experiences.

In middle school, Jose began playing the cello and guitar, creating experiences as a musician. When he won first place in his high school’s talent show for a music performance, he felt confident enough to achieve anything he challenged himself to do. After that, he decided to pursue computer science, influenced by art.

Working with Professor Robert Hacker, co-founder and director of StartUP FIU, and Leonard Elbaum, physical therapy professor at FIU, Jose created a different type of experience for physical therapy patients, through virtual reality. The result was the Pilot VR system, which will allow a person to do physical therapy exercises from the comfort of their home.

Jose also enjoys sharing his passion with the next generation. From 2015 through 2017, Jose taught Sweetwater Elementary School students how to build cars using affordable materials, to demonstrate that anything is possible, despite financial limits. Jose helped pay for the materials using money he was awarded from a Google Ignite grant.

Jose interviewed with top companies like Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft. After graduation, he will be starting his own company, contributing to Miami’s development as a STEM and tech hub.

By Diana Hernandez-Alende
Account manager, College of Engineering & Computing