Hi, my name is Liza Velarde, and I am the first Mexican woman to win a Cartier Woman’s Initiative Awards. . I won this award together with my team for co-founding Delee, a technologically innovative enterprise in the detection, control, and treatment of cancer. I have been CEO of Delee for the past eight years. I am 27 years old and I don’t believe that age, gender, or nationality are obstacles to reaching great heights with a company that is already changing the world.

When I began studying a degree in Global Business at Tecnológico de Monterrey, I joined the International Business Association and participated in dance lessons. Being involved in different activities apart from my academic studies was a challenge since, as a scholarship holder, I had to keep up a good grade average.

While at university, my professional life changed 180 degrees: in the 5th semester of my degree, through an Elevator Pitch to the CEO of Heineken, I managed to obtain $50,000 USD from Heineken and the FEMSA Group  to start the company, which, back then, was barely a university project with my group.

Since then, we have joined forces as a team to gradually develop the company and the automatic device we produce, which isolates and analyzes circulating tumor cells in blood samples from cancer patients.

My dream had begun and was a lesson for my parents who had always insisted that I study medicine or engineering, since by studying international business I was able to combine both of these fields in a single company.

I am enormously grateful to them and my sister, who is my right hand at Delee , and my partners, particularly now that the technology we worked so hard to develop is actually working on patients! I am very excited about this progress and the next step is to finance the project, talk to investors and launch it in the global market.

It’s not going to be easy, but I want to show our potential and that Mexico has talent, because it does.

Given this ideology, it is also important for me, together with other entrepreneurial women, to act as a mentor so that more people can become aware of the innumerable opportunities that are out there and the importance of proving what we can do.

I am an Outlier because my story begin at Tec and end up changing the world

Hola, soy Liza Velarde y soy la primera emprendedora mexicana en ganar Cartier Woman’s Initiative Awards. El premio lo gané junto a mi equipo por fundar Delee, una empresa tecnológicamente innovadora en detectar, controlar y tratar el cáncer de la que soy Co-fundadora y CEO 8 años ahora. Tengo 27 años y creo que la edad, el género o la nacionalidad no son ningún obstáculo para llegar alto con una empresa que ya está cambiando al mundo.

Cuando empecé a estudiar la licenciatura en Negocios Internacionales en el Tecnológico de Monterrey fui parte de la Asociación de Negocios Internacionales y también me uní a clases de baile. Estar involucrada en diferentes actividades aparte de estudiar era un reto por el hecho de tener que mantener un promedio para permanecer como alumna becada.

Fue durante la universidad que mi vida profesional daría un giro de 360 grados: en 5to semestre de la carrera, por medio de un Elevator Pitch con el CEO de Heineken logré conseguir $50,000 USD por parte de Heineken y grupo FEMSA, para iniciar la empresa, que en ese entonces era apenas un proyecto universitario con mi grupo.

Desde ese entonces juntamos los esfuerzos del equipo y pudimos desarrollar poco a poco la compañía y el dispositivo automático que 

producimos, el cual aísla y analiza las células tumorales circulantes de muestras de sangre de pacientes con cáncer.

Mi sueño de convertirme en una exitosa emprendedora había comenzado y fue una lección para mis papás que siempre me insistieron en que estudiara medicina o ingeniería, pues estudiando negocios internacionales y pude juntar ambas en una misma empresa. Les agradezco inmensamente tanto a ellos como a mi hermana que es mi mano derecha en Delee y a mis socios, especialmente ahora que recientemente la tecnología que intentamos desarrollar ¡ya funciona en pacientes! Estoy muy emocionada por este avance y ahora el siguiente paso será financiarla, hablar con inversionistas y lanzarla al mercado globalizado.

No será algo fácil pero quiero demostrar nuestro potencial y que México tiene talento, porque sí lo tiene.

Por esta ideología es que también me dedico a dar Mentorías junto a otras mujeres emprendedoras para que más personas puedan contemplar la infinidad de oportunidades que se tiene y la importancia de demostrar lo que nosotras podemos lograr.
Soy un Outlier porque mi historia comienza en el Tec y termina cambiando el mundo.

Hi, my name is Arturo Casas, and I am the cofounder of Jóvenes Unidos para la Tecnología A.C. (Youth United for Technology) and a social listening intern. I started at Tec de Monterrey four years ago.

For me, it was like walking into Disney World and getting on all the rides I could. I joined student groups and participated in extracurricular activities and internships at On Campus Jobs.

I am a Business Strategy Management student, an area where I found my passion, although not straight away. I started studying Physics and Industrial Engineering and ended up switching to a B.A. in Business Administration (LAE). This transition was a low point for me and I wanted to drop a course, but then I met my mentor and found my passion for research. I participated in the UNAM Congress for Research in Administrative Sciences and in the Tec Congress for Research and Development. I have been working for the past two years with Social Listening, a tool I use to monitor what is said on digital media about Tec.

One of my hobbies is encompassing creativity in my student life. I believe that doing things in different areas serves to create new things. This is how my participation as a junior mentor for a robotics project in Guadalupe, Nuevo León, came into being. We went to the world championships with this team.

As the rookie all-star, we won the inspiration award, innovation award, and the social-impact award. In liaison with the State Youth Institute (INJUVE) in Guadalupe, I joined forces with a friend and a teacher to create the non-profit association “United Youth for Technology”, with a network of young volunteers and the vision of connecting science and technology to the community service and social impact facet. It hasn’t been easy. We face challenges in the organization, coordination and management of human talent and financing in order to make the project financially sustainable.

An experience that left its mark on me was when I once went with my dad to another country for a doctor’s appointment. They stopped us at the border because they thought we were undocumented immigrants. They just interviewed us, but on leaving we realized we didn’t have any means of transportation and I will never forget that my dad said, “Son, it doesn’t matter how, even if we have to walk, we’ll get there.” And that is what I think with all my projects, since:

difficulties just motivate me to keep going and help society progress.

Today, my aim is to transform reality and solve problems. I am an outlier because my story begin at Tec and end up changing the world

Hola soy Arturo Casas y soy Co-fundador de Jóvenes Unidos para la Tecnología A.C. y fui social listening intern en el Digital Lab del Tec. 

Para mí fue como entrar a Disney World, y me subí a todo lo que podía. Estuve en grupos estudiantiles, extracurriculares y prácticas en On Campus Jobs. 

En el Tec de Monterrey estudié la carrera de Administración de Estrategia de Negocios donde encontré mi vocación, pero no siempre fue así, empecé en ingeniería física y terminé cambiándome a LAE. En esta transición tuve mi peor época y quería dar de baja una materia, fue ahí donde encontré a mi mentora y mi pasión por la investigación. Participé en el Congreso de Investigación de Ciencias Administrativas de la UNAM y en el Congreso de Investigación y Desarrollo del Tec. Trabajé dos años en Social Listening, utilizando una herramienta con la que se monitorea lo que se dice en los medios digitales del Tec. 

Uno de mis hobbies es involucrar la creatividad en mi vida estudiantil, considero que hacer cosas de áreas diferentes sirve para crear cosas nuevas como en robótica. Así es como nace mi participación como mentor junior de un proyecto de robótica en Guadalupe, Monterrey. Con el equipo nos fuimos al mundial.

Siendo el novato estrella, ganamos el Premio de Inspiración, el Premio de Innovación y el Premio de Trayectoria Social. Tuvimos conexiones con el INJUVE de Guadalupe y creamos junto a un amigo y un profesor, la asociación civil “Jóvenes Unidos para la Tecnología” con una red de voluntarios jóvenes con visión de conectar la ciencia, la tecnología y la robótica con la parte de servicio e impacto social. No ha sido fácil, tenemos retos en la organización, coordinación del manejo del talento humano y financiamiento para poder hacer sostenible económicamente el proyecto.

Una experiencia que me marcó fue una vez que iba con mi papá a otro país por una cita médica, nos detuvieron en la frontera porque pensaban que íbamos como indocumentados. Solo nos hicieron una entrevista, pero al salir nos dimos cuenta de que no teníamos transporte y recuerdo muy bien que mi papá me dijo; “Hijo, no importa cómo, no importa si es caminando, nosotros vamos a llegar” y es lo que pienso con todos mis proyectos pues

las dificultades solo me motivan a seguir para ayudar al progreso de la sociedad.

Hoy busco transformar la realidad y resolver problemas. Soy un Outlier porque mi historia comienza en el Tec y termina cambiando el mundo.

Hi, my name is Estefanía Oseguera and I am a member of the second Mexican team to participate in the Mars Desert Research Station. I want to make history. I chose the new degree in Mechatronics at Tec hoping one day to go to NASA and realize my greatest dream of becoming an astronaut.

I feel that I am capable of achieving great things. I am filled with curiosity about the universe and, with the tools I am acquiring, I can say that I am getting closer and closer to my dream.

I have had the opportunity to form part of AIESEC, a group of young people who aim to create a connection between enterprise and entrepreneurs, which at the time helped me become who I am now.

I have also participated in student groups, such Mi Estado (My State) and Space Makers, where I am right now. The experience I acquired and continue to acquire in these projects gave me the confidence I needed when I received a call from JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. I immediately started raising funds to be able to go and make the most of the 15 days in which professional and student engineers have the opportunity to use the space station. I don’t think this would have been possible if I hadn’t previously developed the skills obtained in the student groups.

After participating in this experience, I began to join in several initiatives, which opened doors for me to work in December this year together with the Mars Desert Research Station. This project will take place in the Utah desert and has to do with a habitat used to simulate a space mission to Mars, where we will learn to work in this type of environment and be able to develop a mission. I am so excited about this.

Since I started at Tec, I have been participating in numerous projects, either related to my degree or the community. During this semester, I have also been growing my skills in the area of marketing for the Mechatronics Congress. I attend Space Makers meetings, go to the gym and also swim.

Since childhood, I developed the ideology that “It can’t be done” does not exist, because my family has never said no to all the wacky things I want to do, and they are always there with me and for me.

Their support has made me realize that I am capable of achieving anything I want and that I can impact other people’s lives through what I do.

I am an outlier because my story begin at Tec and end up changing the world