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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

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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.

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