In our Women in Science and Technology TV series from Silicon Valley we speak with  Linda Pouliot and Dr. Kristina Yu. Pouliot is a serial entrepreneur & founder of Dishcraft Robotics, while Yu is Director of the  Living Systems Department at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

Pouliot and Yu share who mentored them, how they discovered their passion and chartered their career paths. What is striking is how different both their stories are and how they came to discover their current passion in technology and science.

Pouliot has a somewhat of an unusual story of how she became an entrepreneur. She studied fine arts and worked for a B2B company in New York before she decided to relocate to Silicon Valley to work in the tech sector. She ended up founding 2 robotics company and is a serial entrepreneur. 

Pouliot did not have a background in robotics or technology when she co-founded her first company. In 2004 she co-founded her first robotics company Neato and went on co-found a second robotics company. Currently she is CEO and founder of Dishcraft Robotics. Besides being an entrepreneur she is an investor and helps advice other entrepreneurs.

Yu discovered her love for the outdoors and science at a young age. A high school biology teacher helped shape her interest in the subject. Mid-way through her undergraduate studies she had a change of heart and wanted to pursue a liberal arts degree. When she ran that idea by her father he persuaded her to to stick to science. She followed his advice and ended up getting a PhD in science.

After getting her PhD from University of California, Santa Cruz she applied and got a job at San Francisco’s Exploratorium. As she puts it the microscope is her gateway to the world of science. She is currently the Director of the  Living Systems Department at the Exploratorium. 

This interview aired on TV in the US.

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