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The most influential Hispanic leaders in technology

As part of our ongoing coverage of Hispanic Heritage Month 2020, Digital Trends compiles a list every year of the most influential Hispanic leaders in the technology industry.

We highlight the work of those men and women holding important positions at companies both enormous and tiny, people doing everything possible to make sure that the Hispanic community is best represented in the technology industry. Without further ado, we present this year’s winners.

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Hispanic Heritage Month 2020
To celebrate the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the cultural, historical, and technological achievements of the United States, Digital Trends has put together this collection of exclusive features and in-depth reporting from our industry-leading Digital Trends Español team — translated for your convenience, of course. SEE MORE
Hispanic Heritage Month

Evelyn Miralles, from the University of Houston-Clear Lake

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Miralles was the leader of NASA’s Virtual Reality Laboratory at Johnson Space Center, where she built a distinguished career of over 25 years and received multiple awards for her innovations, mainly in the software field. Her Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics has been used to simulate space operations. She claims that it is inspiring to be part of space explorations through virtual reality. She grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, and has lived in the United States for 30 years.

Guillermo Diaz Jr., from Kloudspot

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Of Mexican ancestry, Guillermo Diaz Jr. recently signed on as the CEO of Kloudspot, an AI and IOT analytics platform. But before that, he spent two decades at Cisco, where he was Chief Information Officer, a technology company with which he shares the concept of the Internet of Everything: The smart connection of people, processes, data, and things. In an interview, he said that when asked if he was ready to be CIO at Cisco, emotions ran high and he couldn’t help but feel honored to lead the IT area of one of the most important companies in the world.

Álvaro Celis, from Microsoft

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Family, integrity, and passion are the values with which Álvaro Celis defines himself. At the age of 15, his passion for technology led him to study Computer Science in Caracas, Venezuela. Upon graduation, he landed a job at Microsoft. Since then, 28 years have passed, and he continues in the Redmond, Washington, company. He is Vice President of Device and Channel Sales. Without abandoning his Latino origins, he is part of the firm’s HOLA initiative, which seeks to create leadership and opportunities for Latinos in the U.S. technology industry.

Víctor Delgado, Strategic Alliances, Global Mobile B2B at Samsung

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Víctor Delgado a Latino, whose current role at Samsung is to establish Global Strategic Alliances from South Korea, announced the Galaxy Z Fold 2 folding phone to the world. Delgado is an expert in marketing and communications and holds an MBA, which made him the ideal person to reveal the long-awaited Z Fold 2. But Delgado’s career in tech began much earlier: He was Senior Manager of Corporate Sales at Verizon Wireless — and previously worked for its competition, Sprint.

Nina Vaca, from Pinnacle Group

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Nina Vaca is one of the most influential Hispanics in the business world. This Ecuadorian-born entrepreneur moved to Los Angeles at a very young age, with her father and mother, and with the American dream in her suitcase. Currently, she leads Pinnacle Group, one of the largest Latino companies in the United States, and has promoted education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Lilian Rincón, from Google

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This Venezuelan has influenced one of the most disruptive services in recent years: The Google Assistant. Lilian Rincón leads the group that creates new features and functions for the platform. She was nine years old when she arrived in Canada and while unable to speak English, she found a kind of universal language in mathematics. Focused on the technology industry and always versed in artificial intelligence and machine learning, she was previously working on Skype.

Marcelo Claure, from Softbank

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Of Bolivian origin, Marcelo Claure was the most visible face of the telecommunications firm Sprint, where he worked as an executive director. Today, he is the chief operating officer of SoftBank Group International, a Japanese holding company that invests in artificial intelligence and other transformative technologies. Previously, Claure founded Brightstar Corporation.

Kety Esquivel, independent consultant

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Kety Esquivel, of Mexican and Guatemalan origin, seeks to change the way the world of technology operates. Esquivel is a firm believer that women must participate more in this industry to be represented more effectively. We invite you to read more about her. She was formerly Vice President of Marketing and Communications at AnitaB.org.

Ignacio Contreras, from Qualcomm

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This Chilean is one of the most important people when it comes to our perception of the 5G network. He holds a management position at Qualcomm, where he has already been working for more than 10 years. From his childhood, he remembers that his father gave him money and, instead of spending it on comics, he bought everything he needed to build small circuits. In an interview with Digital Trends en Español, he assures that soon the 5G network will cease to be premium and will become standard.

Diana Trujillo, from NASA

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This Colombian woman is one of the most important Latin Americans at NASA and perhaps one of the few who have managed to fulfill her childhood dream of working for this organization. Diana Trujillo has worked for the Goddard Space Flight Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and now she is part of Mars 2020, the mission that seeks to prove if there was life on the red planet.

Digital Trends Español
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Like its English sibling, Digital Trends Español has a simple mission: to help readers easily understand how tech affects…
Juiced Bikes sold at auction for $1.2 million, report says
The Juiced Bikes Scorpion X2 adds more power, upgraded tires, and an improved battery to the popular moped style e-bike.

Juiced Bikes, the San Diego-based maker of e-bikes, has been sold on an auction website for $1,225,000, according to a report from Electrek.Digital Trends recently reported how the company was showing signs of being on the brink of bankruptcy. The company and its executives had remained silent, while customer inquiries went unanswered and its website showed all products were out of stock. In addition, there were numerous reports of layoffs at the company.Yet, the most convincing sign was that the company’s assets appeared as listed for sale on an auction website used by companies that go out of business.Now, it appears that Juiced Bikes’ assets, including a dozen patents, multiple URLs, and the company’s inventory in both the U.S. and China, have been sold at auction, according to the report. It is likely that the buyer, who remains unknown, can capitalize on the brand and the overall value of the 15-year old company. Founded in 2009 by Tora Harris, a U.S. high-jump Olympian, Juiced Bikes was one of the early pioneers of the direct-to-consumer e-bike brands in the U.S. market.
The company had quickly built a reputation for the versatility of its e-bikes and the durability of their batteries. Over the years, the popularity of models such as the CrossCurrent, HyperScrambler, and RipCurrent only bolstered the brand’s status.Last year, Digital Trends named the Juiced Bikes Scorpion X2 as the best moped-style e-bike for 2023, citing its versatility, rich feature set, and performance.Juiced Bikes’ getting sold quickly might be a sign of what consulting firm Houlihan Lokey says is a recovery in the North American e-bike market.
The industry has had a roller-coaster ride during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A huge spike in demand for e-bikes had combined with disrupted supply chains to create a supply/demand mismatch of “historic proportions," Houlihan Lokey said.

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Rivian gets Knight Rider spooky for Halloween
Michael Knight sitting on the hood of his car KITT in a scene from Knight Rider.

Rivian vehicles are known for giving drivers the chance to take the party on the road, whether it’s stowing a travel kitchen onboard or using its elaborate software systems to spice things up.With Halloween just around the corner, the automaker based in Plymouth, Michigan, is pulling out some treats from its bag of tricks: Rivian owners are getting a number of options to turn their vehicles into traditional spooky or full-on sci-fi entertainment hubs.A software update available on the Rivian Mobile App until November 4 provides Car Costumes, which take over the vehicle’s screen, lighting, and sound systems while in park to transform it into three different cars.Nostalgic fans of the Knight Rider TV series will be pleased with the option to turn their Rivians into the famous K.I.T.T. crime-fighting car. After choosing the option on the app, the car’s interior display system features K.I.T.T.’s diagnostics on screen while playing the original show intro music. Here's an extra treat for Rivian Gen 2 owners: The exterior light bar will feature K.I.T.T.’s iconic beaming red light while playing its scanner sound effect.No-less nostalgic fans of Back to the Future movies will also get their treat with a chance to turn their vehicle into the DeLorean Time Machine. With this option, the screen turns into the classic time-traveling interface while the audio system plays the movie’s music and acceleration sound effects. Once again, Rivian Gen 2 owners get an extra treat. Hitting the key 88 mph button will engage the car’s lighting and sound effects in the front and back of the car to whizz you through the sound barrier.For a more traditional spooky time, you can opt for the Haunted Rivian car costume, featuring eight different sound effects and three different color themes. Static and ghosts will take over your interior display.Rivian Gen 1 owners get a green animation on the outside of the vehicle. Gen 2 owners can turn the exterior light bar into whichever color option they find most frightful.

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The Nissan Rogue is joining the plug-in hybrid club in 2025
nissan rogue hybrid 2025 2024

It might have taken a while, and slumping sales of its most popular SUV, but Nissan has finally taken the step to offer hybrid vehicles in the U.S. The Japanese automaker will add a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain to the 2026 Rogue compact SUV, which should be available stateside sometime next year, Nissan Americas chief planning officer Ponz Pandikuthira told Automotive News.A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) typically runs on electric power until its battery is almost depleted, at which point it automatically switches over to using a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine. The battery can be recharged conventionally from the outside or through regenerative braking.
While Nissan has been offering popular fully electric vehicles (EVs) such as the Leaf and the Ariya for years, it has surprised many by not joining the hybrid bandwagon, especially for the Rogue. Competitors such as the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V, which do provide the part-fuel, part-electric power capacity, have seen their sales surging. Meanwhile, sales of the Rogue have slumped this year.
That’s why Nissan is partnering with Mitsubishi to start offering its first-ever electrically assisted car in the U.S. next year.
According to the Automotive News report, the Rogue will be outfitted with a similar powertrain found in the Mitsubishi Outlander. In that model, a 2.4-liter gas engine powers the front wheels, while two electric motors create an all-wheel drive system that can either work on its own or in conjunction with the gas engine. As the Outlander is able to deliver 248 horsepower, that would make the Rogue PHEV more powerful than the existing model’s 201 hp. The Outlander is also rated for 38 miles of electric driving by the EPA.
In addition, Nissan is planning to bring its non-plug-in, e-Power series hybrid technology to the U.S. in 2026. This technology, already available outside the U.S., also uses electric motors to power the wheels while using the gas engine to charge the battery.

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