Rick De La Guardia is President and Founder of DLG Engineering, Inc. (DLGE), a consulting firm specializing in the design, analysis, and forensic inspections of building envelope systems to help mitigate or assess storm damage in hurricane prone regions of the country.
DLGE was founded in South Florida in 2009 during the height of an economic downturn, now known as the Great Recession, when many engineering firms were struggling and opening an engineering firm was considered ill advised. Since the founding, his firm has been recognized as one of the top minority owned businesses in South Florida by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Miami in 1995. He has presented to numerous student and professional engineering associations on entrepreneurship, leadership and success. Due to public demand, in 2016, he decided to author a book on Engineering Entrepreneurship titled “Engineer to Entrepreneur: Success Strategies to Manage Your Career and Start Your Own Firm” published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Based on the success of his first book he has written a second book on entrepreneurship tailored to all professions tentatively titled “TAP into Your Potential: How to Think, Act and Practice Like an Entrepreneur” published by Business Expert Press.
Mr. De La Guardia served as president of the University of Miami, College of Engineering Alumni Association from June of 2010 to May of 2012, chaired an advisory committee on Entrepreneurship and Innovation for the University of Miami College of Engineering and was member of the University of Miami Herbert Business School Entrepreneurship Advisory Board. He has mentored and advised many students and young engineers and is passionate about giving back to the community.