Engineering the Future: A Sustainable Vision with Daniela Blanco

Описание: Daniela Blanco, CEO of Sunthetics, creates an impactful reaction with Staci at South By Southwest as they talk about reducing the carbon footprint and environmental impact of chemical engineering. Based in San Marcos, Sunthetics accelerates eco-friendly innovation in the chemical industry through an easy-to-use machine-learning platform capable of leveraging small datasets to generate big insights. Talking points include receiving $1 million in grant funding from the National Science Foundation, reducing emissions and toxic waste, and defying the odds as a young Latina CEO in a white male-dominated field.

Timecoded Guide:

[00:00] Podcast begins - Engineering the Future: A Sustainable Vision with Daniela Blanco

[02:29] Building a sustainable path for the future of chemical engineering

[06:07] $1M grant from the National Science Foundation & putting that funding to use

[11:49] Becoming a young Latina CEO in an industry that doesn’t look like her

[14:15] From thesis to execution: where Sunthetics is with their product

[20:38] Getting young girls interested in STEM careers

[29:58] Dreaming bigger with a diverse team & a disruptive technology

What is the dream and the vision of Sunthetics?

Sunthetics combines machine learning and chemical industry knowledge to predict how chemical reactions behave. Daniela explains that the chemical industry is all around us, from the clothes we wear to the medicine we take, and scientists spend hours of their careers running thousands of trials on each product, producing tons of waste and wasting tons of time. With Sunthetics, scientists will have algorithmic data and machine learning at their disposal to determine next steps in experiments for faster results and higher success rates during trials.

“The chemical industry makes over 96% of the things we see around us; the clothes we're wearing, the medicine we take, the makeup that we put on. All of that is the chemical industry, but it's also the third largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. I wanted to change that. It didn't sit right with me. I came to the US to learn how to develop sustainable technologies.”

Can you share tips and strategies from your journey as a young CEO?
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Becoming the leader of a tech company is a heavy lift at any age, but Daniela says that she feels an extra obligation to prove herself and her abilities as a younger CEO. Building credibility has been Daniela’s biggest focus with her team at Sunthetics, partnering with companies and investors that believe in Sunthetics and making those relationships as successful as possible. Daniela encourages fellow young entrepreneurs to be comfortable in their skin and confident in their teams, skills, and passions.

“It has been really tough for me. I've had people tell me that I just don't look like the person who would lead the company that's going to change the chemical industry, that I should probably find someone who looks more like that. It was fine if I built the technology, but I was not the face for it. What I kept repeating was, if I built it and I know it, why can I not be the one to explain it?”

How can we get more young women involved in STEM careers?

As a young woman in STEM, Daniela is honest about the complexity of the misogyny that exists in fields like chemical engineering. From early on in her journey with Sunthetics, Daniela was discouraged from being the face of the company and told on multiple occasions that she didn’t look like a CEO or would have an easier chance of success if someone else was the leader. However, Daniela never lets comments like this get in the way of her ambitions. Young women have an important perspective to bring to male-dominated industries, these fields need them.

“If you want to be part of this industry where there are not a lot of women, although it feels like a disadvantage, I choose to see it as the opposite. We have something so unique to bring to the equation that hasn't been seen before. We have a perspective they most likely haven't had. Instead of having to hide ourselves or pretend to be like everyone else, let's own who we are.”