David Mantilla

Current Projects

My business partners and I are currently researching the feasibility of cane-based ethanol production project in the Caribbean. There are two main components to any biofuels project: an agriculture play, and an energy play. Regarding agriculture, access to land and cost-competitive labor are both key to the economic viability of the project. We have identified a promising region of land containing good soil and weather characteristics, and are investigating crop agreements favorable to both farmers and investors. Key challenges include overcoming cost barriers that currently make sugar cane cultivation less favorable than other cash crops at this particular location.

I am working on developing educational / language learning games for the iPhone and other mobile devices. As a Chinese (Mandarin) as a Second Language learner, I struggle learning and remembering Chinese characters and hope to someday improve both my vocabulary and reading speed to be able to read newspapers, Mandarin-subtitled movies and TV programming.
My goal is to create an educational program for mobile devices that allows one to learn characters more easily and effectively than flashcards. While there are many flashcard programs currently available on the market today, I have not found any mobile apps to date that are truly meet the needs of serious language learners. Higher-end language learning software offerings, such as Rosetta Stone, may pose a competitive threat in the future, but currently do not intrude in this niche play.

I offer a hands-on workshop on advanced data modeling techniques using Excel. Geared towards MBA students and working professionals, this workshop teaches participants how to approach difficult data models, prepare and sanitize data, perform analysis, and present results for a (senior) management audience. Participants work individually and in groups on examples derived from real-world situations. Intermediate level of proficiency with Excel is required. Advanced usage of pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, and dynamic functions are covered. Participants learn how to create "executive dashboards" using key drivers, form controls (e.g., scroll bars and radio buttons), and linked charts.
I have been invited by Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business' Consulting Club to present the workshop for two consecutive years now, and hope to return to CMU and to teach at other schools in the near future. Please contact me if you would like to host a workshop at your school or organization.

Started in 2004 by John Moore and Alexa du Pont, Cents Ability follows a workshop format to teach financial literacy to teens and young adults in the New York City area. Cents Ability obtained its 501(c)3 nonprofit status in May 2004. Since then classes have been taught at The Door, the Union Settlement Association, Monroe Academy, Washington Irving High School, The Chinatown Manpower Project, SCAN La Guardia, Harlem RBI, The Albert G. Oliver Program, and the John V. Lindsay Wildcat Academy Charter school.
I was involved with Cents Ability early on, as a founding member of the organization, and helped with marketing and teaching efforts.

Article published (International Journal of Speech Technology, Volume 4, Numbers 3-4 / July, 2001. (Preview article at SpringerLink) and patent issued for work related to research project while at Bell Labs.
Abstract. Domain experts frequently know what questions they want to ask about a data set, but they do not necessarily know the mechanisms of using an information visualization (infoVis) system for investigating these inquiries of interest. In our work, we are researching the addition of a natural language (NL) interface for bridging this gap between NL questions and data exploration within an infoVis environment. In this paper, we present our approach to integrating an NL interface into an existing infoVis system.We illustrate the power of combining direct manipulation with NL interfaces, and we provide a real-life example of applying our approach to the analysis of a large, complex data set.

I developed a data acquisition and analysis application suite for Cornell University Medical College's Biophysics/Physiology Lab. Lab research focuses on structure-function studies on ion channels, molecular determinants of peptide folding, and lipid bilayer-protein interactions.
Chan2000 first acquires and digitizes voltage signals from patch clamp experiments using National Instruments data acquisition instruments. Next, channel openings and closings (identified by step-function changes in current) are automatically identified given experiment parameters. Finally, channel lifetime values and histograms are generated. Chan2000 can perform (and analyze) both constant-voltage and voltage-ramping experiments in real-time.
Chan2000 has been actively used by the laboratory for the past decade.

How technology enables business | Finance (options strategies) | Quantitative/Analytical Marketing (using AI concepts to boost sales and profitability) | Machine learning and how it applies to marketing | iPhone development | Web 2.0 solutions | Entrepreneurship in emerging markets | Clean fuel and alternative energy | Analyzing Twitter feeds for real-time trends | Mentoring students | Teaching students financial literacy | Educational games | Language learning | Doing business in China and Latin America | Creating autonomous agents (AI) | Salsa dancing | Golf | Travel | Photography