Roll Call Tribute

Fernando Albertorio 

March 20, 1976 - October 22, 2024 

Fernando Albertorio, PhD passed away on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, at Tampa General Hospital after a 3 week stay. He fought a valiant and courageous battle since 2022 with Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Fernando was born on March 20, 1976, in Ponce, Puerto Rico to Sarah Carpintero Nazario and Ramon Enrique Albertorio Giribaldi.

Fernando will be cremated by Florida Mortuary; there will not be a funeral. But we will plan for a Celebration of Life, with the date and location to be determined later.

Fernando had earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico in Ponce in 1999 with Cum Laude honors. He graduated with his Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) from his favorite alma mater of Texas A&M University in 2006, proud to be an Aggie and many fun memories in College Station. Afterwards, He moved to Boston and worked in the labs at Harvard University, earning a post doctorate degree in Physics.

Using his scientific, business and leadership experience, he started his career as a successful entrepreneur, an international speaker and advocate for integrative disabilities technologies. He mentored many startups through MassChallenge, TSP and Techstars. He was a board member for Massachusetts Association for the Blind for many years. He loved technology, seeking solutions for those with disabilities. He was very involved in the creation of Cambridge HackSpace as a maker space. He taught at several universities classes and seminars on user experience design, disability considerations in product design, customer centricity and entrepreneurship.

He created a platform called Liboo, connecting authors to readers. Afterwards, he cofounded a wearable device, the Sunu Band, for blind and low vision users to navigate their environments using sonar and haptic feedback. He also worked for the integrative sportswear company Whoop, as a senior product director, providing guidance and leadership on the product vision and roadmap. Fernando and Steve created their own company Vacca Technologies to allow them both to provide consulting and development services, and support ventures.

After he and his spouse moved from Boston to Tampa in December 2022, he founded his own company Rulewise AI, a bilingual application used by homeowners' associations, that used large language AI models for sifting through tens of thousands of pages of legal statutes, laws, bylaws, and documents to clarify compliance and procedure questions.

Fernando is survived by his beloved husband Steven Vacca. They met in Boston in May 2012, were married at Ft Myers Beach in June 2016. He is also survived by his mother of West Palm Beach, brothers Carlos Albertorio (Karina) of Rockwall, Texas, Enrique (Heather) of Illinois, Ricardo (partner Alec) of West Palm Beach, Florida. He was especially proud of his nephews Marco and Jameson and nieces Laura, Veronica, Victoria, and Anna. He is preceded in death by his father Ramon (Qui Qui).

Fernando lives on in us, in our hearts and our memories. Two other people enjoy new life. Immediately after Fernando's passing, his liver and kidneys were harvested by LifeLink, with a match for a local man. Tampa General Hospital recognized Fernando's donation by raising a flag on their campus, celebrated with short ceremony. He received a hero's walk by the gracious staff as they moved Fernando from the Cardiovascular ICU to the surgical operation room. The family would like to thank the staff, transplant team, doctors, nurses, technicians and chaplains of Tampa General Hospital and Lifelink for the compassionate and capable care we received.