VIEWPOINT: Delaware can be home to future dream-makers

Gloria Ruci

By Gloria Ruci
Guest Columnist

When I first graduated from the University of Delaware almost four years ago, I was drawn to the shimmering illusion that a city job, such as working in Philadelphia or New York City, would solve all of my problems at the time. I’m here to tell you that is a myth because Delaware’s manufacturing and biotechnology sector continues to gain traction as state and local leaders deploy avant-garde programs to incentivize biotechnology entrepreneurship, as well as retain local talent.

This humble, yet promising, state is where you want to be if you are truly ahead of one’s time because sooner, rather than later, Delaware will finally mature into the East Coast fairytale that gives Silicon Valley billionaires, and their bravados, a run for their money. Delaware’s business mavericks in the biotechnology sector are currently capitalizing on the ambitious promises of augmented reality and artificial intelligence (AI) technology for individual applications and enterprise-level solutions – the kind of work that attracts angel investors and institutional hedge funds, alike.

Any word of waning profitability would demolish this budding industry early in its tracks, since some investors tend to bail on primitive, yet innovative technology companies, deeming them enigmatic or drab, far before the developed technology reaches mainstream adoption.

This is why Delaware’s eclectic technology visionaries must stay the course, because we are less than a decade away from Wilmington’s technological renaissance. I was lucky enough to partner with product engineering firm Magic Leap Inc. as they continue to showcase their capabilities as a self-proclaimed utopic, futuristic kingpin of augmented reality optics.

Magic Leap develops consumer electronics that can superimpose 3-D digital images onto a real-life canvas. Don’t be surprised if Magic Leap’s catalog of superficial, artificial, holographic figures (anyone can go on their website and contribute as a software developer) might be able to eat, breathe, and talk, just like you. Remember though, you must look closely. Although these fascinating entities can join forces with the physical world, they are not living creatures.

Magic Leap’s consumer applications range from individual pleasures, such as wanting to connect virtually with a friend on the West Coast as you sip your morning coffee on the East Coast, to enterprise-focused solutions, like a physician displaying a 3-D representation of your x-ray results as a patient in real-time. That revolutionary ability to allow users to experience unprecedented experiences will continue to fuel the augmented reality industry for decades to come.

After working directly with a product engineer at Magic Leap to streamline their laboratory operations in Austin, Texas, we both concluded that using augmented reality and AI to improve the quality of life can be universally adopted by individual consumers and seasoned businessmen, alike. The definition of ‘human desire and satisfaction’ is boundless, and inclusive – and so, AI and augmented reality uses the purest forms of human desire and satisfaction (freedom, comfort, pleasure, security) to drive innovation for humankind as a whole and pushes the envelope as to what dreams are really made of.

Delaware’s hunger for new business development opportunities in the biotechnology sector is greater than ever, even as we navigate the worst pandemic in a century. The DuPonts and Gores of previous generations gave Delawareans a chance to consider themselves among elite chemists, manufacturers, and researchers, and these ingenious scientists became leaders because they found opportunities in seemingly inhabitant industries at the time.

They did so not just with intelligence and grit, but with flair. The contemporary argument for Delaware’s next generation of trendsetters is that our ecosystem will be vastly powered by the biotechnology, AI, and augmented reality sectors, but the million-dollar question is who will lead us down this unparalleled path of success? If you think you’re the next DuPont or Gore, stay the course, and stay here in the First State. The best is yet to come.

Gloria Ruci is a pharma/biopharma account manager for Agilent Technologies, which works with Magic Leap, and a 2020 DBT40 honoree.