Sharena Rice, PhD
Neuroscientist + Cybernetician + Storyteller.
In startups: expanding what humans, machines, and narratives can do together.
Mapping + remapping how
minds + machines
make sense of reality
Sharena's Story
Throughout my life, I have run visual simulations and thought experiments in my imagination: a natural gift that allows me to solve problems in the real world. As a child, I volunteered, tinkered with electronic circuitry, trained my dog, and wrote a 45-page documentary on my observations of human behavior. I invested gift card money in science kits.
Fast-forward to the present. I solve problems in neurotechnology + startups. My current roles:
1) Research Scientist at a medical technology startup in stealth. This is a Public Benefit Corporation. After the founders, I am the first hire.
2) Nerd (Advising Consultant) of Nobody Studios, a high-velocity venture studio launching 100 compelling startups in 5 years. Here, I contribute to the research and development of startups in Nobody Studios's Ideation Lab. My current project within this is building Revstand, a platform I came up with to efficiently assess product-market fit while creating accountability within crowd-infused systems.
3) Contributing Editor at Neurotech Reports. These articles are written for a corporate audience and available to Neurotech Reports subscribers.
4) Scientific Advisor of Valence Vibrations, an affective computing company.
My goal is to take as much suffering as possible in this lifetime and invert it by expanding what humans, machines, and narratives can do together.
I like to consider myself first a philosopher, then a scientist, then a technologist. By focusing on the whys, then the whats, then the hows, specifications have a strong foundational underpinning.
Some examples of my works:
Neuroscience research:
- Debugged hardware, software, running behavioral experiments, performing surgeries. Observed and interpreted the how the brain processes spaces.
- Studied neural plasticity, how different molecules are involved in neural signal transmission.
Meditations:
- I have lived in the community of the Zen Buddhist Temple, Ann Arbor, for 22 months. Observed, adjusted interactions between body and mind, relations between beings.
Leadership:
- Notice peoples' potentials and bringing the best out of them.
Strategy in artificial intelligence and machine learning startups I have led or advised:
- Automotive computer vision software that learned to predict pedestrian behavior and sends warnings to the driver - Intvo.
- Wearables that learn based on voice data - Valence Vibrations.
The best is yet to come.
What is Cybernetics?
Cybernetics is a thread that runs through everything I do.
Cybernetics is an interdisciplinary field about circular feedback loops: systems of systems.
Cybernetics is in both natural and artificial intelligence systems.
I am creating across many domains.
The best way to connect with me is on LinkedIn, with a good rationale.
Sharena's List
