Daniel Kleinman (B.S., Mechanical Engineering ‘15) pursued his passion for marine robotics throughout his college career at the University of Florida. Upon graduation, he charged wholeheartedly into a challenging job with Bluefin Robotics, a division of General Dynamics’ Mission Systems. His dream job had him out at sea, piloting and testing unmanned underwater vehicles, often 12-14 hours a day. Daniel was living so “in the groove” that taking time for other parts of is life dwindled to the odd spare moment. All that changed, however, one day in June 2016.
In a powerful presentation Daniel made this past March to 350 attendees at the University Innovation Fellows (UIF) Silicon Valley Meet-up at Stanford University, he drove home the importance of valuing time. The video showing his talk makes a vivid statement that underscores the significance of taking time for work, family, relationships, education, relaxation and all the other things that make up a whole life.
Daniel is a member of the UIF cohort of 2015. On the UIF wiki page, his profile says, “Daniel has also followed a passion for leadership. In addition to being founder and President of UFMTS [Marine Technology Society], he worked his way up through Gator Robotics as the publicity director, treasurer, and finally president for 2013-2014. He also served on the Student Leadership Advisory Board for the UF Engineering Leadership Institute and as the president of Epsilon Lambda Chi: Engineering Leadership Circle, an honors society bringing together the student leaders in the UF College of Engineering.”
Laurie Moore, Communications Director of the UIF program at Stanford, said, “Daniel did an amazing job as a mentor and role model for the hundreds of Fellows in attendance, who will no doubt take the lessons they learned back to their schools around the world. Our team is honored to have him as a leader in this global community!”
About the UIF Program
The University Innovation Fellows program empowers students to become agents of change at their schools. The Fellows are a global community leading a movement to ensure that all students gain the attitudes, skills and knowledge required to navigate a complex world. These student leaders from schools around the world create opportunities to help their peers build the creative confidence, agency, and entrepreneurial mindset needed to address global challenges and to build a better future. The program has trained 1,838 students at 258 schools around the world. They range from undergraduates to PhD students and engineering majors to architecture majors.
Innovation Fellows at the University of Florida
The Innovation Fellows Program is a joint program between the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering and Warrington College of Business at UF. Learn more >>