By Katie Krahulik

Staff Writer

By the time she was 32, Lisa Seacat DeLuca was named one of MIT’s “35 Innovators Under 35” for 2015, Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” a 2014 “Working Mother of the Year” and one of Network World’s “50 Most Fascinating People in the World of Technology.” The decorated IBM Commerce technology strategist came to Hofstra on April 19 to talk about her many patented ideas as well as her other accomplishments for “An Inventor’s Vision of the Future: Innovation and Creativity.”

DeLuca, a native of the Midwest, introduced her presentation by emphasizing the importance of imagination. She explained her ability to be innovative and visionary is rooted in her childhood adventures.

DeLuca was the first woman as well as one of the youngest inventors at IBM to ever reach the 100th Invention Plateau Award, having patented 250 issued inventions over the course of her career. She talked about her journey of trial and error in making it big as an inventor with a slideshow featuring several of her patented ideas. These ideas included individual conference call tones to avoid introductions during meetings, an app that provides directions and a ticketing sales deal that enables people to sit in multiple locations throughout a sports event.

“Some of the things that you might think are stupid are really great ideas,” Athelene Collins, the Executive Director of Hofstra Cultural Center, said. “This event gives students an opportunity to come and interact with a professional. She said so herself, she didn’t learn these skills in school. It wasn’t until she met and worked with professionals that she gained that hands-on knowledge.”

DeLuca pushed herself to be daring and bold in the engineering field, traveling all over the country and constantly attempting new things. Throughout her presentation, DeLuca encouraged students to step out of their comfort zones.

“Don’t be afraid to do things that you love. I think people feel the pressure to have a career and go a certain route,” she said. “For me, I’ve always continued to do the things I love outside of work which was playing with technology or writing kids’ books.”

During her presentation she talked about her climb to success and the role being a woman played in that rise. “One pro is that everyone knows who you are. You go to a conference and you stand out because there aren’t a lot of women,” she said. “Everyone knows me and knows my name, but that’s definitely a pro because you can stand out. I don’t really see any cons of being a woman in the field because I work from home, but I never feel excluded or discriminated against or anything.”

Victoria Bermudez, a junior rhetoric major, was impacted by DeLuca’s achievements. “I definitely think she’s an inspiration just for the fact that she’s a very successful woman in a very male-dominated field,” Bermudez said. “I’m not into inventions, really. I’m more in the entertainment field, but I guess the idea aspect of it is the same.”

Creativity was central in this event. DeLuca emphasized the fact that the ability to be creative and innovative will open many doors for people.

Daniel Williams, a sophomore double majoring in entrepreneurship and marketing, considered DeLuca’s message carefully. “Creativity doesn’t mean creating something brand new,” Williams said. “All I have to do is add my own touch to something existing.”

Despite not being interested in inventions, Bermudez was happy she attended. “I can definitely take some of her advice and apply it to my own dreams and visions that I have for myself,” she said. “I definitely enjoyed coming today.”