José Gómez-Márquez is interested in innovative uses of technology to empower citizens in the process of actively making. Following a DIY philosophy, Gómez-Márquez’s programs will focus on the tangible aspects of building your own city and hacking space through the use of tools for rapid prototyping and creative construction.
José Gómez-Márquez is the program director for the Innovations in International Health (IIH) initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and cofounder of LDTC+Labs, a design and strategy consultancy for international development technology. Among the projects under his technology practice at IIH is the Aerovax Drug Delivery System, a device for mass delivery of inhalable drugs and vaccines to remote populations. His IIH invention portfolio also includes SafePilot, a wireless cane for the blind, and most recently, the X out TB program, which aims to increase tuberculosis-therapy adherence in developing countries using novel diagnostics and mobile technology. Recently, the group has developed the MEDIKit, a series of design building blocks that empower doctors and nurses in developing countries to invent medical technologies. The lab’s work has been profiled in Discover, Wired, and The Economist. Gómez-Márquez is also an instructor of MIT’s D-Lab: Health, a course on designing global health technologies.
Gómez-Márquez serves on the European Union’s Science Against Poverty Initiative Task Force and has participated as an expert advisor on the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. He is a three-time MIT IDEAS Competition winner, with two Lemelson Awards for International Technology. In 2009 Technology Review included Gómez-Márquez on its “TR35” list of innovators under 35 and named him Humanitarian of the Year. In 2011 he was selected as a TEDGlobal Fellow. Gómez-Márquez arrived in the United States from his native Honduras on a Rotary scholarship in 1997. After working in institutional investments and international development, he studied at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he focused on policy research studies covering international technology transfer and small-team innovation. He currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Photo: TEDGlobal 2011