Oscar Fernando

Project manager, Startup, Student

Co-founder of the Peruvian startup Water-Rock for the prevention and warning of avalanches and floods in real time. Peruvian student of 7th cycle of Administration and International Business. Scholar of the Pacific Alliance and best student of the student exchange program of the University of Viña del Mar. I love learning, developing projects with high social impact, reading, playing guitar, composing poems and playing soccer.

I love to learn, to know different things, to be surprised. I love helping, feeling useful knowing that I can contribute something to someone, to society. Provide the best solutions or work for a better future. I am an active volunteer in a home for orphaned children, where I have learned to appreciate the small details of life. I have traveled, known places, people from different countries, different cultures and different languages. Where every experience has done nothing but show me that we are all connected, that it is better to collaborate than to compete, that we all have a common feeling, which is love, whether it is your partner, your family, your friends , nature, animals or yourself. I am passionate about sharing what I know, creating new ideas, discovering perspectives, motivating others to get the best version of themselves. Because I witness how all this can impact in the best way in this world.

Idea: "The importance of an interdisciplinary team - Water-Rock" Water-Rock is founded by three guys from different careers (Marketing, Engineering and International Business), who did not even know each other, to participate in the Hult Prize Challenge 2018. At first, it was very common to hear comments like "What a weird combination!". That is because most of the teams were formed by students of the same career, whether Engineering, Design, Chemistry. Even ourselves seemed strange to be developing a project. Sometimes, we felt that we spoke different languages. However, we learned that each one contributed from his experience and perspective. We realized that if we combined different knowledge and skills, we could reach a better result. It was in this way that we created a synergy between everyone and we were able to present Water-Rock before the Hult Prize at UPC, where we won. Nowadays, with more experience, we are a great team. An extraordinary woman has joined, an education teacher! But with experience in data analysis and applied research. We are in the second stage of the prototype and we have obtained recognition both in our university and in the United States Embassy in Peru. Our goal is common: Reduce the greatest number of people affected by avalanches and floods.

When I entered the university, I got to know the TED talks for the courses of my career. They showed us videos where they presented ideas out of the ordinary. I liked it very much, it surprised me. It's amazing how this format has so much influence and impact on society. However, one of the things that made me sad is that an independent event like TEDx has never been developed in our university. That is why, together with a great friend of the university, we decided to start the process to apply for the TED license. And so we can take this great format to our community. We are sure that it will be very beneficial for us and we will be able to contribute to the personal and professional development of our colleagues.

!Dancing salsa! I love dancing salsa, especially when alone at home.