Sebastián A. Cruz Romero

Another ML Nerd

Dimelo!

I’m the founder and CEO of Capicú. While founding Capicú, I earned my B.S. in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Under the advisement of Dr. Wilfredo Lugo Beauchamp, I worked on applied Edge AI for remote smart health and computer vision applications. I’m currently pursuing an M.S. in Bioengineering, studying how mechanical cues affect extracellular vesicle (EV) production under the advisement of Dr. Maribella Domenech and in collaboration with the NSF AIRFoundry. My career goal is to develop efficient and intelligent systems that can be deployed directly where biomedical data is collected, bringing supercomputing capabilities to environments with limited infrastructure.

Contact

scruzromero [at] capicu [dot] ai


Capicú Technologies
62 Calle Ernesto Ramos Antonini Mayagüez, PR 00680

Google Scholar
ORCID
LinkedIn
GitHub

Publications

A Remote Smart Health Framework for Anemia Risk Stratification via Edge Medical Vision Systems 2026
S.A. Cruz Romero, M.J. Mercado Hernández, S.Y. Ali Rivera, J.A. Santiago Fernández, W.E. Lugo Beauchamp*
MDPI Applied Sciences

Performance Analysis of Post-Training Quantization for CNN-Based Conjunctival Pallor Anemia Detection 2025
S.A. Cruz Romero, W.E. Lugo Beauchamp*
Proceedings of the International Symposium on Intelligent Computing and Networking 2025

LSTM Model for Sepsis Detection and Classification Using PPG Signals 2024
M. Alvarez Navarro*, L. Huallparimachi Saire, S.A. Cruz Romero, H. Sierra Gil
Proceedings of the International Symposium on Intelligent Computing and Networking 2024

Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Activity of ZnS and Mn-doped ZnS Nanostructures 2021
J. Luciano Velázquez, Y. Xin, Y. Su, C.I. Quiles Vélez, S.A. Cruz Romero, G.E. Torres Mejías, J. Rivera De Jesús, and S.J. Bailón-Ruiz*
MRS Advances, 6, 252-258

News

Apr. 2026

Capicú has been accepted to NSF I-Corps Puerto Rico!

Apr. 2026

Submitted journal paper to TMLR.

Apr. 2026

Submitted to OSV Fellowship Program.

Mar. 2026

Paper accepted at MDPI Applied Sciences titled A Remote Smart Health Framework for Anemia Risk Stratification via Edge Medical Vision Systems!

Feb. 2026

Capicú got awarded VentureWell’s E-Team Propel (Stage 2) Program’s grant!

Feb. 2026

Capicú is part of parallel18’s Life Science Incubator, BioLeap’s Gen. 3!

Jan. 2026

Submitted journal paper to MDPI Applied Sciences.

Jan. 2026

Landed in Miami, FL for VentureWell’s E-Team Workshop! FYI. Cara Barnes is awesome!

Nov. 2025

Capicú got awarded VentureWell E-Team Pioneer (Stage 1) Program’s grant!

Jul. 2025

Accepted into NVIDIA Inception and AWS Activate programs!

Jul. 2025

Granted NSF ACCESS support for project titled Compression and Profiling of Machine Learning Models in Biomedical Embedded Sensing!

Jun. 2025

Completed the Cyberinfrastructure-Enabled Machine Learning (CIML) Summer Institute 2025 at the San Diego Supercomputer Center!

May 2025

Founded Capicú, a deep tech startup focused on deploying AI/ML directly where biomedical data is collected. Learn more about Capicú here.

May 2025

Selected to be part of the Dorm Room Fund Blueprint Student-Investor Track.

May 2025

Submitted conference paper at IEEE GHTC 2025.

Apr. 2025

NSF SBIR Phase I Project Pitch was invited for Full Proposal submission!

Apr. 2025

Abstract accepted for 43rd PRISM/58th ACS JTM titled A Hybrid Ensemble-Distillation Approach for Compact Deep Learning Anemia Screening!

Feb. 2025

Paper accepted at ISICN 2025 titled Performance Analysis of Post-training Quantization for Conjunctival Pallor Anemia Detection!

Jan. 2025

Abstract accepted for SIAM CSE 2025 titled Evaluating Neural Network Quantization for Conjunctival Pallor Anemia Detection!

Dec. 2024

Submitted conference paper at ISICN 2025.

Nov. 2024

Abstract submitted at SIAM CSE 2025.

Sep. 2024

Submitted summer conference paper at HotMobile 2024.

Summer 2024

Completed the Apple-NACME Inc. AIML Intensive Bootcamp hosted at USC.

Aug. 2024

Our paper titled LSTM Model for Sepsis Detection and Classification Using PPG Signals was published!

Awards

Current & pending (other)

BioLeap Gen. 3 Life Sciences Incubator 2026

VentureWell E-Team Propel Program 2026

VentureWell E-Team Pioneer Program 2026

NSF ACCESS (Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem Services & Support) 2025

Fellowships

Center for the Advancement of Wearable Technologies (CAWT) Undergraduate Research Internship 2024–2025
National Science Foundation/University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

Bernard & Sophie Gould MIT Summer Research Program in Biology & Neuroscience (MSRP Bio) 2023
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) UPRM Trainee 2022–2023
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)/University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

Computational Bioengineering Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) 2021
National Science Foundation/University of Iowa

Research Opportunities for Undergraduates in STEM (ROUSS) Program 2020–2022
National Science Foundation/Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minoritized Participation (PR-LSAMP)

Scholarships

Engineering Community Summit (ECoS) Scholarship 2025

Apple Pathways Academy Scholarship (×4 awards) 2022–2025

Nagnoi, LLC Scholarship 2022

Boston Scientific Scholarship 2022

Bristol Myers Squibb Scholarship 2022

Boeing Academic Excellence Scholarship 2022

Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) Scholarship (×3 awards) 2021–2024

EcoEléctrica Scholarship (×4 awards) 2019–2022

Travel support

Cyberinfrastructure-enabled Machine Learning (CIML) Summer Institute 2025
National Science Foundation/San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC)

Building Engagement (BE) Program for Computational Science & Engineering 2025 2025
Sustainable Horizons Institute (SHI)/Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)

NSF I-Corps Site UPRM Travel Award 2024
National Science Foundation/University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) Full Travel Award 2023
American Society for Microbiology

Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) Partial Travel Award (housing) 2022
American Society for Microbiology

Broader Engagement (BE) Program for Mathematics of Data Science 2022 2022
Sustainable Horizons Institute (SHI)/Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)

Collaborators

Dr. Wilfredo Lugo Beauchamp, Assistant Professor
Edge Computing Group, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

Jacob Delgado López, Ph.D. Student
ARCADE Lab, John Hopkins University

Chibuzor Okocha, Ph.D. Student
UF Data Studio, University of Florida