Dr. Jorge L. Valdes is an Education Program advisor at the United States Patent and Trademark Office where he is a member of Office of Education and Outreach (OEO). OEO is responsible for K12 professional development at the intersections of intellectual property, STEM, innovation and entrepreneurship. Dr. Valdes is a STEM educator with knowledge and experience in learning modalities integrating IP, innovation, entrepreneurship and STEM education. Prior to his career in teaching, Dr. Valdes held senior executive roles at AT&T Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, and Alcatel-Lucent. While at Bell Labs, he was responsible for managing global R&D organizations and received the E.O. Lawrence Laureate gold medal award from the U.S. Department of Energy on behalf of the President of the United States for his pioneering work in reagent generation, a technology having profoundly positive implications for the energy efficient production of high purity chemicals, environmental health, and cost reduction in manufacturing. Dr. Valdes has a Ph.D. degree in Electrochemical Engineering from Columbia University and an executive MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University. He holds 33 U.S. and international patents, has published more than 100 science and technology research papers in peer-reviewed journals and magazines, and has won numerous corporate and industry awards for his contributions in science, technology, education, and diversity. Dr. Valdes is the co-founder of the Young Science Achievers program, a national program dedicated to inspiring and enabling more girls and students under-represented in science and math to pursue careers in STEM fields.