Candace Mitchell Harris, CS 11
Co-Founder & CEO | MYAVANA
Candace Mitchell Harris was looking for answers to untangle her haircare questions when she thought about how computer science could provide a solution. Braiding science with technology, Candace created a system that uses artificial intelligence to analyze hair type and texture to provide personalized haircare recommendations. She pitched her idea during Tech’s InVenture Prize competition making it to the semi-finals. A year after graduating from Tech, she was accepted to the Flashpoint accelerator program based in Tech Square. “I received my first seed investment and the rest is history!” Candace says. The technology is now used in her company Myavana, where customers can have their hair analyzed by texture, curl pattern, and overall health and receive specific haircare product recommendations. For her work, she’s been recognized by the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list as well as earned accolades from leading companies across the beauty industry. “The journey in becoming an industry disruptor and establishing a successful business has come with gaining the courage to break down barriers and overcome obstacles,” Candace says.
Fun Fact: She would love to own a neighborhood restaurant that cultivates community and can be a place where families celebrate their milestones.
40 Under 40 Class of 2020
Fellow and Faculty at Harvard, Lead of Mozilla Responsible Computer Science
She finds a book more enjoyable when she reads the ending first.
Assistant Professor in the G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering
He once hiked across the Sierra Nevada Mountain range in California and then hiked back because he only had one car (this was pre-Uber).
Patent Attorney | Amin, Turocy & Watson, LLP
Braxton matriculated through the Dual Degree Engineering Program where he received a degree in physics from Morehouse College and a degree in electrical engineering from Tech.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, George was paged over the PA system more times than any other foreign dignitary. It happened so often that The Today Show’s Katie Couric wondered on air who this Burdell person could be.
Managing Director, Biolocity | Emory University & Georgia Institute of Technology
She fell off a skateboard outside the Klaus building on her way back from a lab and ended up needing several dental implants. “This is unofficially a world record for the nerdiest skateboarding injury,” she says.
Partner | DM Capital Management, LLC
He’s officiated four weddings (his younger brother and three good friends—two whom are GT grads).
President & CEO | Moonlight Therapeutics
I like to grow vegetables. I come from a family of farmers and while in India I spent time on the family farm. I feel like my early joy in farming is linked to my later joy in being an entrepreneur/ creator/ builder.
Applied Science Manager | Amazon AI
She was a flag football referee as a work-study job as an undergraduate at Mississippi State University.
Director of STEM Education Outreach | Southern Research
She has a reoccurring dream of getting stuck in the tunnels beneath the Biotech Quad. While it changes each time, her favorite version has been one where she meets and mingles with the legendary George P. Burdell.
COO & Co-founder | Sanivation
She started playing rugby at Georgia Tech in 2006 and has since played the sport competitively in nine different countries including playing on the National Kenya Women’s Rugby team.
Chief Technology Officer | Energy One Consulting
He and his wife have seen five of the seven wonders of the world. Some of his favorite memories traveling include being charged by a Rhino and being tricked out of granola bars by monkeys in Cambodia.
Project Engineer | NuVasive
He served in AmeriCorps NCCC, primarily in the post-Katrina region of the Gulf Coast.
Co-founder & CTO | Credit Karma
Growing up, he wanted to pursue a career in comedy writing. His ambitions shifted toward technology after his neighbor showed him a computer program that blew his mind.
Founder | Algorithmic Justice League
She’s a former pole vaulter with aspirations for the Olympics.
CEO | Avana
She once followed a professor around until he gave her a waiver to enroll in his Medieval Literature class.
Executive Director | HINRI Labs
With a love for salsa music, he helped create his high school’s first-ever salsa club and wrote songs and performed them in Spanish nightclubs throughout Atlanta.
Founder | Woodbridge Foundation & Chairman & CEO | Huxley Medical, Inc.
You would never guess with such an outgoing personality now that he was extremely shy as a child. He began opening up in high school and eventually became social chair and president of his fraternity.
Staff R&D Clinical Engineer | Abbott
She’s a true crime podcast-junkie and she once kept a cooler full of pig hearts in her apartment ahead of a conference presentation.
International Consultant | PAHO/World Health Organization
He was once a contestant on America’s Got Talent.
4-Time Olympian and American Record Holder | U.S. Olympic Team
Her husband proposed to her 15 years ago on the Georgia Tech track! She went into labor with their first child during a finals review session for computer science.
Translational Bioinformatics Lead | Solarea Bio
She used to play underwater hockey (yes, you can play hockey underwater) back in Colombia.
Chief Operating Officer | Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice (BACCH) and Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospital (KACCH)
On her bucket list is having a “foodie vacation” in Italy.
Chief Engineer, Black Hawk Modernization | Lockheed Martin
He loves spending weeknights in the kitchen with his two children inventing new recipes to cook.
CEO & Founder | Hera Health Solutions
He loves to cook and even started on his own quarantine times cookbook, but he absolutely can’t stand the taste or smell of raw onions.
SVP, Integrated Supply Chain at Peloton
She was part of the Yellow Jacket Marching Band in college, which cemented her love for Georgia Tech football and “Game Day!”
Founder & CEO | Clean Hands-Safe Hands
He has worked as a captain and divemaster in the British Virgin Islands for a company that ran live-aboard sailing and diving programs.
Founder & CEO | Supply Chain Wizard, LLC
He considers time his most valuable asset, so he tracks every hour of his time 24/7 to learn how to improve his time management.
Senior Strategy Officer | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
He’s an avid rugby fan, writes poetry, and loves to cook.
CEO, Executive Director & Founder | Wish for WASH
She’s summited Mount Kilimanjaro and is a traditional dancer of the Nanticoke Nation with the tribal name Bright Smiling Sage.
Co-founder & Chief Medical Officer | OXOS Medical
He taught himself how to play guitar and piano and has been playing regularly for 20 years. He’s recently started teaching his 7-year-old son to play piano, too.
Senior Transportation Policy Advisor | City of Atlanta
He once hosted an MTV countdown show at Tech called Dean’s List where he counted down 10 music videos and got the chance to interview the head of NASA and CEO of IBM.
CEO | Keyfactor
He now knows how to completely navigate his computer using just keyboard shortcuts after accidentally spilling liquid on his laptop during the last three weeks of a study abroad experience.
Senior Business Analyst | The Task Force for Global Health
This jet-setting humanitarian dreams of becoming a kindergarten art teacher in retirement.
Co-Founder, COO | Jackson Medical
He’s a bookstore person. Ordering online just won’t do. Perusing the aisles becomes an Easter egg hunt for new and interesting books.
CEO | OneTrust
He once ran with the bulls in Spain and got leveled by a bull.
Assistant Professor | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
He’s a big fan of the NBA and if he doesn’t have time to watch a game, he still watches the highlights.
Chief Technology Officer, Co-Founder | Flow MedTech International Corp.
Aside from being an engineer, his passion for fashion, art, and design has led to scholarships to participate in related courses from the Parson’s New School of Design.
Planning Advisor | ExxonMobil
He never gives a “yes” or “no” answer immediately—not even to his 4-year-old son. He prefers thinking deeply about any question before answering.
CEO | New Georgia Project
She’s an avid gamer and speaks four languages.
Co-Founder & CEO | MYAVANA
She would love to own a neighborhood restaurant that cultivates community and can be a place where families celebrate their milestones.