skip to main content
Tra Vu
Tra Vu
00:57

Tra Vu

OhmniLabs

San Jose, CA USA

"Where you come from doesn’t define where you’re going."

Career Roadmap

Tra's work combines: Business, Technology, and Working with Others

See more careers and stories that connect to your interests.

Take Roadmap Quiz

Day In The Life

COO

I manage the company's operations in order to scale our robotics and AI products and services.

My Day to Day

At its core, my job is to make everyone's job easier. I provide (or remove) the guide rails, structure, framework, processes, and tools that my various teams need to focus on their work. I also ensure that we grow our team and expand our talent pool, while maintaining our culture of innovation, compassion, and tenacity.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Civil Engineering

    New York University

  • Graduate Degree

    Financial Engineering

    New York University

  • Graduate Degree

    Transportation Engineering & Planning

    New York University

  • Certification

    Professional Engineer License

Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a COO:

Bachelor's Degree: Social Studies

Learn more about different paths to this career

Life & Career Milestones

I've taken a lot of twists and turns

  • 1.

    I was born in a small village in Vietnam and eventually moved to the United States with my parents.

  • 2.

    I got into New York University on an athletic scholarship for soccer—I spent my first two years of college focusing on soccer and kept my major undecided.

  • 3.

    During my junior year of college, I decided to major in civil engineering because of its great impact on everything around us.

  • 4.

    After graduating, I earned a master’s degree in financial engineering and a Ph.D. in transportation planning and engineering.

  • 5.

    I started my career as a technical director for an engineering company and an adjunct professor at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering.

  • 6.

    I met the co-founder and CEO of OhmniLabs, Thuc Vu, at a young professionals event—I was inspired by his talk about robotics and decided to volunteer to help him by writing a technical paper.

  • 7.

    After getting to know the team and the work they were doing, I was invited to stay on and help operate the company.

  • 8.

    I left civil engineering, moved from New York to the Silicon Valley in California, and joined OhmniLabs as the chief operating officer.

Defining Moments

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

Click to expand

  • I felt a lot of depression while doing my Ph.D. because it's very isolating work. My friends and family were very supportive. They told me it was okay if I didn't want to finish but that they knew I could finish if I wanted to—so I did.

Related Leaders

No related leaders found