I WORK TO MAKE THINGS FROM SCIENCE FICTION REAL.

Hi, I'm Manu. I am an interactive creator and developer whose work has been showcased in film festivals worldwide, and led to the successful exit of multiple startups.

I specializes in Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality production, and I'm particularly drawn to exploring the spatial and sensory affordances that make the medium so unique. I wake up with the goal to make XR experiences that can both captivate and meaningfully impact people's existing reality.

The “+” means a lot to me, because I am just as confident writing a script when coding elements for an XR experience I’m creating + as I am writing a script and shot breakdown for a film I’m directing + as I am scripting a formula analyzing data for a product I’m building + as I am scripting a presentation for a creative direction I’m pitching.

MY JOURNEY

A California kid for my first 18 years, I packed a new winter jacket along with my flip flops when I earned my Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University, where I concentrated in Business and Film. Following graduation from Northwestern, I managed the product and creative for two startups focused in digital marketing analytics and interactive video advertising, which successfully were acquired and IPO'd respectively.

I then pursued a personal entrepreneurship dream endeavor, where I co-founded and led am immersive studio in NYC creating both VR + interactive media, which have received worldwide accolade and awards being showcased in 13 film festivals.

This experience led me to desiring an even deeper foundation in XR development and human-computer interaction - and I recently graduated from earning a Master's degree in interactive technology from the ITP Program in New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

While at ITP, I was the recipient of the program's Tisch Scholarship and Red Burns Scholarship — named after the founder of the mad scientist, technology-meets-creativity program — and concentrated in VR/AR Development and Accessibility Technology, and was selected by professors for Master's internships in both respective areas.

From there, I had the chance to work on some groundbreaking, multi-sensory XR at New Reality Co. where I shaped the UX and interaction design on a number of projects in both VR and AR.

Vector Space Biosciences then provided me the unique opportunity to combine a couple of my favorite passions: space + XR + AI, while working with some of the pioneers of Language Modeling. I lead XR product strategy and co-lead engineering of an AI-driven protein-discovery platform for space biotech, collaborating and working with tremendous folks at NASA, Oracle, NVIDIA, etc. I was invited by Oracle to speak on this amazing intersection of space, biottech, XR, and AI in a fireside chat at the Oracle Health Conference.

All to “FTL travel” along my quest in attempting to make the virtual and physical realities as one!

WHAT’S IT LIKE HANGING WITH MANU?

I’m a film-loving, show-binging space nerd. Water is my happy place - a chance to ride the ocean or swim laps in a pool, and I’m smiling all day.

At any time, my Kindle is probably some percent through a space opera, my tv screen is likely showing Seinfeld or a game (diehard fan of the Niners, Warriors, and Northwestern Wildcats!), and I’m more than likely consuming pizza, Gatorade, or a Hazy IPA.

My biggest dream for as long as I’ve had memory is to go to space and experience the final frontier.