Blue Chippers: Virginia Lin, Georgia Tech

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Blue Chippers, a new content series focusing on students who have caught our attention.

Virginia does it all. A newcomer in the entrepreneurial realm, Virginia is currently working for the medical startup, CardioMEMS, but that’s not all she is up to. Virginia is in the process of developing her own startup that’s aim is to build an engineer-based maker hub where beauty is highlighted and and strong community bonds are built. Like every storyteller, Virginia has a tale to tell and the following interview illuminates this young student’s aspirations and sheds light on the path she’s traveling on to get there.

What is your first and last name?
Virginia Lin.

What startup are you working for this summer?
I’m working CardioMEMS. And I’m working on my own project called Project Teslo.

Could you go a little in depth on both of those?
At CardioMEMS, we work with implantable heart sensor. It helps monitor blood pressure for patients who just had heart failure. And it helps doctors diagnose the problems and figure out the treatment best for the patient. It’s really cool because the sensors themselves do not require any batteries. They ask you to come activate it by external antenna near the patient and that’s how they get the continuous readings. Project Teslo is a project I’m working on on the side with other students and it’s a gallery for engineering. Engineering right now is seen as black and white, gears and cars, straightforward, and not much creativity involved. I want to showcase the initiatives that people take to build something like out of the box. Handle controls, electric long boards in their free time. It will really showcase the creativity that not a lot of people know about at the same time as it comes into play in engineering.

What is your primary startup role?
I’m a storyteller.

If you could have any mentor in the world who would it be and why?
Actually it would be two, one is Karen Oh, and the other is Santi White. They both have their own styles. Karen Oh is known for acting out and doing very elaborate stunts and Santi White is kind of a little underdog where she make statements that she can’t rap or that she can’t really be successful in the music industry because she is too pretty. They both really stand out to me because they are both really bold and remind me not to just pay it safe.

What are your three favorite websites that you visit on a regular basis?
I use Soundcloud, Refinery29, and then the third one I go on is Qmed. I’m a bit of a music junkie and I really like following my favorite musicians and I find it really interesting that musicians post sound clips of what they used in their songs so it opens up an avenue for the listeners to make their own remixes. Refinery29 is kind of a cross between Harpers Bazaar and Nylon magazine and I guess the focus on the impact of fashion for people my age. I really enjoy reading that. Qmed, I’m really passionate about the medical device industry, and with Qmed I can stay up to date on what is going on in the industry.

What are your three favorite apps?
Twitter, Instagram, and Scoutmob.

What’s one thing that’s missing from your college experience?
I feel like there is not really a connect between what we learn in classes to the real world. I would have liked to learn more hands on things and actually building devices.

What was your favorite cartoon growing up?
Powderpuff girls.

What is the biggest thing you have gotten out of the Summer Startup Academy?
Overall, I met some really cool people and it was a great networking experience. It was a great way to learn new ideas based on what people are doing and have done before. It’s really great listening to much more experienced professionals in the field.

To thank Virginia, we’ve created this infographic summarizing her answers. Enjoy.

 

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