For most of this year we have been learning about disruption! We learned all about the people who are pushing the boundaries of innovation and creating the jobs of the future. These people are called Entrepreneurs. Now it’s time to meet these amazing brilliant people at the BCTech Summit Youth Innovation Day!
Our driving question was: How has BC’s economy been disrupted by the tech industry?
To make sure we got the most out of this experience we had a few tasks when we were there.
1) Choose 2 of the speakers that we will hear from that day. Research their company and how they are impacted or how they drive the tech industry. When we arrive, be prepared to take notes while they speak, snap some photos or videos, and explain
their role in the tech industry.
2) Choose 1 area of tech you MAY be interested in (video games, medicine, art, computer science, communication, etc). Find one/two
schools that offer programs that are designed for this interest area.
3) Interview at least 1 Mentor at the Mentors Table section of the summit. Design your own interview questions around your interests! Your final video or podcast must be approximately 1-2 minutes.
I decided to pick Brent Bushnell and Valerie Song to research.
Research:
Brent Bushnell is an entrepreneur, engineer and CEO/co-founder of Two Bit Circus, a Los Angeles-based experiential entertainment company. They created STEAM Carnival, a traveling event to inspire kids about science, technology, engineering, art and math. The two big circus has robot bartenders, interactive supper club and more. Microsoft and intel took an interest to there passion project which was them making games. Says there just a big band of nerds.
The goal of these games and the curriculum is to inspire kids the way we have been inspired by science technology engineering art and math. Brent said, “The inspiration side of education is even more important”.
I learned that
A nerd is someone that has the tools needed to solve problems and the motivation
It’s easier then ever to make change because there is so much aces ability
“Inspiration usually comes during work rather than before it”
Learn to make then you can discover solutions
S.T.E.A.M is the art and creativity with math and technology
Vitural reality, augmented reality, mixed reality together makes you be able to actively participate. This is now being used for things like prescription video games that help pations with ADHD, post traumatic stress.
Research:
She uses all aspects of STEM to develop AVA Byte smart gardens. Gives the capability to grow food in your own home. This technology grows you fresh fruit unlike what you find in grocery stores, “the average fruit you buy in grocery stores is actually 13 months old”. The device simulates the environment that is needed and the pods have the plants in them. For restaurant you can grow up to 200 plants in one machine.
Valerie figured out what the cared about, which was food, and what needed to change which was sustainable food production.
Song says one of her company’s biggest mandates is to employ an equal number of men and women who come from diverse backgrounds, both culturally and in terms of experience. AVA’s team comes from ethnic backgrounds including India, Pakistan, China, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Italy, and South America
I decided to create a video of my interview with the two mentors I spoke with.
I found it interesting that in medicine they are starting to use coding to create better patient care. I thought this was cool because it really dies prove that we need to teach kids about things like coding because it is being incorporated into jobs aswell as creating new jobs.