 Felipe was born in Quito, Ecuador, and is currently a M.S. student of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Previously, Felipe worked in the Latin American energy and commodities industries, and co-founded Construye Ecuador, a construction materials procurement startup. He also worked as an intern in particle detector design for the LHC experiment at CERN, Switzerland, and VTT, Finland. Felipe's ongoing research focuses on next-generation photovoltaics. Felipe has published a short story compilation and several literary critic essays, and enjoys traveling with friends, rock climbing and hiking. 