Headshot of Jose MaldonadoJose Maldonado is a software engineer at Microsoft in the xBox – xCloud division, where he is working to enable gamers to play their favorite games from any device through game streaming. Born in Ecuador, Jose immigrated with his family to Miami at the age of seven. In high school, he was introduced to programming, where he began exploring how to merge art and computers together to build immersive experiences.

During his time as a student, Jose pursued his passion by developing the Pilot Virtual Reality system and co-founded a startup to develop immersive experiences for physical therapy patients. He also is a founding member of the FIU UPE chapter, fostering an inclusive community that anyone can be part of to learn, grow, and innovate.

As a proud FIU alumnus, Jose has continued to find ways to stay involved and engaged with the college since his graduation. He attended the announcement of the Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Science and looks forward to the opportunities it will provide for students.