I sat by the door of the auditorium. A guy was on-stage, the subject escaped me. Big red letters on the screen read TEDx. I was calm. I had done this dozen of times and speaking before audiences was no big deal. His speech was over. I heard applause. I sat on the front row and waited while they set the stage, the projector, the microphone. I thought back to a year earlier on the Boston T-line. The train stopped....

Black holes are among the most intricate and baffling objects in outer space. Some are powerful enough to gather whole galaxies around them. They sit there, parsimonious, not understood, alone. Yet, when two black holes encounter, they come closer and closer orbiting each other until they merge, creating a breathtaking spectacle. A black hole is formed when a star's gravitational pull overcomes its inner forces, making it collapse into itself. Passionate people are just like black holes. Most of them...

I hold the basket upon my head as he hands me fruits the size of golf balls. The face worn off by life, he still takes pleasure in time spent with me, the orchard, the sweet smell all around us. Summer has just begun. Mangaba season. Nonexistent anywhere else in the world, mangabas are a symbol of my hometown, my home state. Spherical, chartreuse in color, infused by a strong carmine whose dispersion on yellow seems like the distribution of...

I was five when my father caught me with his black tie on and a portfolio of cars in his old suitcase. "What are you doing?" "Practicing." "For what?" My lungs filled with pride, I ceremoniously told him about Powerhorse - the next ginormous supercar manufacturer. Don't laugh, I didn't know much English at the time. "We are going to be better than Ferrari! I am the CEO, have my card" I said. I always wanted to be a leader....

Most definitely not. Transcripts and test scores only quantify our level of competence in certain fields, and tests acknowledge the information collected and some ability in connecting dots. Indeed, grades were good and all. However, high school years were a time of experiencing to me, far beyond the classroom. What enthralled me does not show in academic records. It has been almost four years of being challenged by my own will. Curiosity, my lifelong companion and instigator, had now learned...

A forklift. No. Its pieces. Motor, controllers, accelerators. Everything I could get my hands on. I was the incredible Hulk tearing apart that tall electrical device. You might be wondering why a rascal would murder such a kind machine. But believe me, it was worth it. Let’s rewind a little. Watching Formula 1 races with dad had triggered my passion for cars. This encouraged me to build an electric kart – not for fun, not for racing, but to inspire change....

A forklift. No. Its pieces. Motor, controllers, accelerators. Everything I could get my hands on. I was the incredible Hulk tearing apart that tall electrical device.You might be wondering why a rascal like me would murder such a kind machine. But believe me, it was worth it. Let’s rewind a little. Watching Formula 1 races every Sunday with dad had triggered my passion for cars. This encouraged me to build an electric kart – not for fun, not for racing,...

A forklift. No. Its pieces. Motor, controllers, accelerators. Everything I could get my hands on. I was the incredible Hulk tearing apart that tall electrical device. You might be wondering why a rascal like me would murder such a kind machine. But believe me, it was worth it. Let’s rewind a little. Watching Formula 1 races every Sunday with my father had triggered my passion for cars. This encouraged me to build an electric kart – not for fun, not for...

Hey, Roomie I’m Felipe, a seventeen-year-old from Brazil. They say college is where you meet best friends for life, so, hey, future bestie. I’m curious about your dreams, ambitions, values or anything that defines you. I love meeting humans! (nothing against aliens) People tell me I say whatever pops into my mind, like how soothing Van Gogh’s Cypresses is; whether The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is better than Ender’s Game; or how we can harness...

Tantric Buddhism does not differentiate sacred from profane. There is only a continuum in which both are extremes of the same phenomenon, the same energy. In India, there are two tantric temples in the cities of Khajuraho and Konarak, whose outer walls are decorated with figures in multiple sexual positions. As you get in, sexual images are replaced with amity and love. In the temple core (gharba), all figures disappear into a state of enlightenment. Living in Brazil, I cannot...

“I’m going to make you study so hard you’re going to puke blood.” That was professor Valdenberg Silva’s “commencement address” when we first met at his Future Mathematicians Project. Nearly a prophecy. A curse. Not that I ever actually puked, but he did add weekly tasks to my routine: devouring books on various math theories and writing and delivering seminars to younger students. I would spring out of bed at 6AM and crawl back at 3, still with...

Because of our aversion to change, humans get stuck with old, sick habits. With regard to climate change, we head for stronger storms and fiercer droughts. Yet, some call it a Chinese hoax and keep their fossil-fuel engines and bloody meat. Change demands courage and initiative, strong-willed leadership.

Because of a surgery, I spent three-fourths of my last summer vacation stranded in bed. Yet, I was able to attend the Brazil Leadership Bootcamp, a 1-week program focused on social entrepreneurship. I had spent my previous vacation studying Linear Algebra and also auditing Real Analysis classes at IMPA.

The discovery of Relativity. That is when the whole physics paradigm was changed for good; a moment of intellectual blossom. It would be exhilarating to watch Albert Einstein as he conducted his thought experiments and opposed Newton’s laws with the Maxwell equations. That would have been something worth watching.

Nerdy, analytical, intense, irreverent, clumsy

I enjoy reading books on business/economics such as Predictably Irrational. Also fiction classics as Dune or Frankenstein. I like political satire on TV - Last Week Tonight - and comedic series - Rick and Morty. Concerning my music taste, I can't live without Aoki, Vivaldi, Eminem or Jack Johnson.

When I envisioned Quanta Racing, I wanted to power go-karts with high-end supercapacitors. During my research, Stanford Professor Yi Cui’s article on Flexible and Stretchable Energy Storage astounded me. Although supercapacitors were not cost-effective, Professor Cui had a strong effect on me and I hope to research alongside him.

Reflect. My schedule is tightly packed so I can handle everything in 24x7. That leaves little time for me to reflect on what the next big thing is. I can’t conceive how productive this 60-minutes could be. Yet, I’m sure an extra timespan for that would be more than welcome.

According to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, "The Answer to the Great Question... of Life, the Universe and Everything... Is... Forty-two" Would this be x? Before we solve for answers, we must have questions. Those I had plenty as a kid. Here's the story. I hold the basket upon my head as he hands me fruit the size of golf balls.The face worn off by life, he still takes pleasure in time spent with me, the orchard, the...

I was five when my father caught me wearing his black tie with a portfolio of cars in his old suitcase. "What are you doing?" "Practicing." "For what?" My chest swollen with pride, I ceremoniously told him about Powerhorse – the next ginormous supercar manufacturer. Don't laugh, I didn't know much English at the time. "We are going to be better than Ferrari! I am the CEO, here’s my card" I said. I always wanted to be a leader. I...

A forklift. No. Its pieces. Motor, controllers, accelerators. Everything I could get my hands on. I was the incredible Hulk tearing apart that tall electrical device.You might be wondering why a rascal like me would murder such a kind machine. But believe me, it was worth it. Let’s rewind a little. Watching Formula 1 races every Sunday with my father had triggered my passion for cars. This encouraged me to build an electric kart – not for fun, not for...

Tantric Buddhism does not differentiate sacred from profane. There is only a continuum in which both are extremes of the same phenomenon, the same energy. In India, there are two tantric temples in the cities of Khajuraho and Konarak, whose outer walls are decorated with figures in multiple sexual positions. As you get in, sexual images are replaced with amity and love. In the temple core (gharba), all figures disappear into a state of enlightenment. Living in Brazil, it is...

An odd book, with a half-orange half-blue cover that read “Predictably Irrational” which made me consider a whole new world. The intricacies of the human mind. Before the fifth chapter, I had decided what I wanted to study at college - Behavioral Economics. This book was written by the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics, Dan Ariely, which sparked my urge to explore the nature of human behavior and impulses, and how they affect Economics. I figured...

I was five when my father caught me wearing his black tie with a portfolio of cars in his old suitcase. "What are you doing?" "Practicing." "For what?" My chest swollen with pride, I ceremoniously told him about Powerhorse – the next ginormous supercar manufacturer. Don't laugh, I didn't know much English at the time. "We are going to be better than Ferrari! I am the CEO, here’s my card" I said. I always wanted to be a leader. I...

A forklift. No. Its pieces. Motor, controllers, accelerators. Everything I could get my hands on. I was the incredible Hulk tearing apart that tall electrical device. You might be wondering why a rascal like me would murder such a kind machine. But believe me, it was worth it. Let’s rewind a little. Watching Formula 1 races every Sunday with dad had triggered my passion for cars. This encouraged me to build an electric kart – not for fun, not for racing,...

Four bright young leaders around a table planning a structure – a strong, tall one. All silent and focused as they drew, calculated, scratched heads. They peered at the surrounding tables. Theirs should be the tallest. Pasta, string, tape and marshmallow before them: the Marshmallow Challenge, a dare famous for stumping CEOs as they perform worse than children. 18 minutes. I gather noodles and fasten them with tape, demonstrating how our group should proceed. I look up to see each working in...

I was five when my father caught me with his black tie on and a portfolio of cars in his old suitcase. "What are you doing?" "Practicing." "For what?" My lungs filled with pride, I ceremoniously told him about Powerhorse - the next ginormous supercar manufacturer. Don't laugh, I didn't know much English at the time. "We are going to be better than Ferrari! I am the CEO, have my card" I said. I always wanted to be a leader....

A go-kart, a prototype for my electric motoring startup, evoking a generational change, luring youth to spread a love for electric cars. A propeller in my search for knowledge. The greatest spin-off of my utter curiosity. If choosing an activity is inevitable, I stick to Quanta Racing. There, I am a businessman, an engineer, a mechanic, and all else is expected of me. There I perform calculations seeking sheer perfection while still able to deal with people and manage the...

Imagine you live in a room with a window. You are locked in. Outside you can see the universe; stars, atoms, particles altogether. They are intangible and you will never understand them. That is where I lived as a kid. I would spend whole nights queering myself about how the world worked. Adults told me not to worry because my questions would be answered in high school. serThere, however, I was told that they would be addressed later in college....

I was five when my father caught me wearing his black tie with a portfolio of cars in his old suitcase. "What are you doing?" "Practicing." "For what?" My chest swollen with pride, I ceremoniously told him about Powerhorse – the next ginormous supercar manufacturer. Don't laugh, I didn't know much English at the time. "We are going to be better than Ferrari! I am the CEO, here’s my card" I said. I always wanted to be a leader. I...

Imagine you live in a room with a window. You are locked in it. Through that window, you can see the universe; stars, atoms, particles altogether. Conversely, they are not tangible and you will never understand them. That is where I lived when I was a kid. I would spend whole nights queering myself about how the world worked. I had many doubts, and the more I studied, the more doubts aroused. Adults told me not to worry about them...