Editor's Note: We’ve all heard of the scientist-turned-tech CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg. But what if you want to break into fields like biotechnology and tech without that BS or PhD in STEM? How much science do you really need to know, and where should you learn it?

Scientista sat down with Nanxi Liu, a business-major-turned-STEM-entrepreneur. At the age of 23, she has already co-founded two biotechnology companies—Enplug Inc., recently featured in the Wall Street Journal, and Nanoly Bioscience. Read on to learn how she did it.


By Vijayalakshmi Kalyanaraman

Though Liu majored in business at UC Berkeley, her passion for biotech drove her to spend countless hours teaching herself biology and computer programming, along with a number of other interesting skills.  

While she was still an undergraduate, Liu co-founded Nanoly Bioscience, a biotech firm that develops polymers to prevent the denaturization of vaccines.  In 2012, she founded her second company—a technology company called Enplug Inc. that creates and manages a network of electronic billboards. Both companies’ products require advanced engineering and research skills.