Santiago Vivas-Gonzalez

Santiago Vivas-Gonzalez has a diverse work experience in various companies. Santiago started their career as a Manufacturing Engineering Intern at GE Healthcare in 2015, where they improved production floor efficiency and inventory management. In 2016, they joined Stryker as an R&D Systems Engineering Intern, where they focused on designing surgical application software and conducting user studies to optimize user experience. Santiago then transitioned to the role of Mechanical Design Engineer at Stryker, where they coordinated cross-functional engagements, owned engineering and usability requirements, and acted as a project manager for business-critical projects. During their time at Stryker, they also served as a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, leading alpha prototype iterations and defining the roadmap for next-generation surgical robotics. Currently, Santiago is working at Golden Software as a Product Manager for the Grapher product, where they visualize data and utilizes high-quality graphing tools for effective data representation.

Santiago Vivas-Gonzalez earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Music Performance, with a concentration in Oboe, from the University of Maryland. Santiago attended the university from 2013 to 2018.

In 2021, Santiago enrolled in Northwestern University and pursued a Master of Science (MS) degree in Product Design and Development Management (mpd²), which they completed in 2022.

Additionally, Santiago obtained certifications outside of their formal education. In September 2021, they completed the course "Delivering an Authentic Elevator Pitch" offered by LinkedIn. In February 2022, they became a Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®) through the Scrum Alliance.