Archinect
George Valdes

George Valdes

New York, NY, US

 

About 

George Valdes serves as the VP of Product at IrisVR, a company dedicated to bringing the efficiencies and new opportunities afforded by virtual reality to the A/E/C industry and beyond. 

Prior to this role, George served various leadership roles at Augmate, the wearable environment management platform helping to build a wearable ecosystem in order to improve the way we work.  

In 2013, he co-founded Built-In: The Architecture and Entrepreneurship Meeting, the largest meetup in NYC devoted to fostering entrepreneurship within the A/E/C industries. 

Prior to his work with Augmate, George was in charge of the successful re-accreditation of Columbia University's Master of Architecture program. He has received numerous awards including the national Alpha Rho Chi Bronze Medal for leadership. In 2014, George, along with his colleagues, received the prestigious Graham Foundation grant to continue their on-going research on the notion and practices of company culture and their spillover effects onto the city.

George has also served as Research Scholar at the Center for Urban Real Estate at Columbia University and has held served as instructor for the summer introductory courses in Architecture and Real Estate within the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. Through the online program at Florida International University, George is an Adjunct Instructor in a course entitled "Designing Models" which introduces students to the product development process in order to produce working prototypes for startup ideas.

Prior to his transition into technology, George worked as a designer for a select number of prestigious firms including The Living (acquired by Autodesk), MOS, Monad Studio, and Arquitectonica.

Through a diverse set of experiences, George has always tackled every challenge with a sense of curiosity,  drive, and passion to execute. 

His interests include:
Wearables
New Interfaces 
VR 
Synthetic Biology
Data Science
Product Management

Elsewhere:

Employment 

IrisVR, New York, NY, US, VP of Product

Aug 2015 - current
 

COLADA, Brooklyn, NY, US, Co-Founder

COLADA is a design consultancy for startups and entrepreneurs.

Aug 2013 - current
 

Feather and Mint, Brooklyn, NY, US, Co-Founder

May 2013 - current
 

Augmate, New York, NY, US, Director of Business Development

Oct 2013 - Jul 2015
 

Columbia University, New York, NY, US, Administrative Coordinator, Accreditation

Organized GSAPP's 2013 NAAB accreditation.

Jun 2012 - Jun 2013
 

Education 

Columbia University, New York, NY, US, MArch, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation

Aug 2009 - May 2012
 

Florida International University, Miami, FL, US, Landscape Architecture

Aug 2004 - Dec 2009
 

Awards 

"Avery 6" Student Award, Award

Student nominated award for Leadership

2012
 

Alpha Rho Chi Medal, Award

In 1931, the Grand Council of Alpha Rho Chi established the Alpha Rho Chi Medal to "encourage professional leadership by regarding student accomplishment; promote the ideals of professional service by acknowledging distinctive individual contributions to social life; and stimulate professional merit by commending qualities in the student not necessarily pertaining to scholarship".

2012
 

William Kinne Traveling Fellow, Award

2012
 

ASLA Honor Award, Award

2008
 

Areas of Specialization 

Skills