Abstract: This is a story, much like many other stories you have heard, with a beginning, a middle, and an end but not so much a completion because it is still being written. I will talk about the not-so-obvious and serendipitous way I got to try and figure out my purposes and paths. We will start on Wall Street, then public-private research, journey through the corporate C-Suite, and arrive at faculty, venture capital, and early-stage companies.
Bio: Dr. Onyema Osuagwu is an investor, engineer, scientist, advisory board member, and founder. He is a Wall Street veteran with investment and FinTech experience at several major investment firms and hedge funds. He served as the Data/AI lead for UpSurge Baltimore’s think tank developing the city’s 2030 venture capital strategy for investment and supporting entrepreneurs. Previously, he was the AI/ML Thrust Lead for Advanced Health Technologies at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and, soon afterward, a C-Suite executive for several corporations. He is an associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Morgan State University and an Assistant Director of the Cybersecurity Assurance and Policy Center (An NSA Center of Excellence). Additionally, he is a corporate advisor at the Techstars+Stanley Accelerator and Techstars Equitech Accelerator and a venture partner with Squadra Venture Capital. He is the CEO and co-founder of BioNanoTech, a biotech startup. Dr. Osuagwu has a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering with an additional Neuroengineering concentration and an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has an M.A. and B.A. in Physics with a Mathematics concentration and a B.A. in Psychology with concentrations in Business, Computer Science, and Physics for the City University of New York.