Closer Look
Karelly Ramirez Gonzalez
Age: 25
Education: Senior at PSU
Company: GENER8
What the company does: Created an alternative to fossil fuels via a fuel cell system that uses ethanol
Founded: 2019
Accelerators, incubators or competitions: Past participant in the PSU Business Accelerator and Center for Entrepreneurship. Winner, CleanTech Challenge; Finalist, InventOR
Outside funding: Assistance with initial material costs; Assistance from PSU for prototype development
QA
How did your company come about? Our friend and Mechanical Engineer master student, Jacob Brauer, brought us together after realizing we shared a passion for finding sustainable solutions using already available and consumer friendly systems or mechanisms. We are all in various branches of engineering and having those intertwined has been key to our success.
What is your ultimate vision for your company? We would love to pitch this to vehicle companies and gas companies. With the rise of electric cars, and charging stations, oil and gas businesses might want to consider a product that does not require an entire dismantle of their existing stations.
Have you always wanted to be an entrepreneur? If yes, then why? When I was growing up, I would put up a sign in our living room that read 'Karelly Ramirez, Mujer de Negocios' which translates to business woman. I would negotiate chores with my mom and godmother. As I got older, I couldn't quite find my niche in entrepreneurship until I realized we can revolutionize systems to help communities and the planet.
Do you ever feel like you are missing out on anything because you are following
this path at such a young age? Not really. If there is something I learned from a young age is to work hard, stay humble and to dream big. Being able to study in the U.S was a result of years of hard work in Mexico. Having the support and trust of my peers and my family has also been a result of hard work and my values. I love knowing I can do something at this young age!
Have felt any specific challenges around your work because you are still so young and early in your career? Yes! Definitely. In my culture, family comes before anything else. I want to take care of my family and the road to success is not a straight line. It’s more of a curvy, but beautiful road through the coast. Does not mean it’s not scary, but it’s well worth it. I don’t have assets or years of experience to back me up which can make it challenging when I also need to
provide, but hard work pays off in the long run.
What are you most excited about for your future? Being able to show that resilience is definitely worth something. Despite the many bumps along the road, I am hopeful and trusting that my drive to share science and better our communities will make an impact. I am looking forward to exploring the opportunities available to reform the way we relate to our planet while nurturing our society.
