press release
EmTech MIT Conference Features Today's Technology Leaders and Innovators, October 24-25 at MIT Media Lab in Cambridge
Sessions showcase executives from Dow, Facebook, Microsoft, Qualcomm, VMware, Warner Bros., Xerox
CAMBRIDGE — October 16, 2012 —The 2012 EmTech MIT conference will feature leaders in the fields of entertainment, social networking, enterprise IT, health care/genomics, and education discussing new technologies that are disrupting existing industries, creating entirely new markets, and changing society. Topics for this year’s event include scaling alternative energy sources, how digital technologies are overturning traditional education, the growing significance of personal genomics, and how big data and social technology are impacting our lives. The annual conference, hosted by Technology Review, takes place October 24-25 at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge.
“EmTech MIT examines emerging technologies that are poised to have a significant impact on our lives. Technology Review believes that technology will be part of the solution to the problems facing us today–from access to clean water and affordable education to traffic, disease and a rapidly changing climate,” said Jason Pontin, editor in chief and publisher of Technology Review. “This year’s line-up of speakers and sessions highlights the new technologies that promise to solve some of our era’s biggest challenges.”
The conference opens Wednesday, October 24 with a Prism Session entitled “Reigniting Innovation“ featuring: Rodney Brooks, founder, Rethink Robotics; David Keith, Harvard Professor; and Helmuth Ludwig, CEO of Siemens Industry North America, discussing how technology can encourage more purpose-driven innovation.
Featured speakers include: Joe Coray, VP Renewable Energy, The Hartford; Matt Grob, CTO,Qualcomm; Fleur Pellerin, FrenchMinister of Innovation; and Mandar Apte, GameChanger, Shell International. EmTech MIT will also spotlight presentations from this year’s TR35 honorees, Technology Review’s annual list of 35 innovators under the age of 35, including Entrepreneur of the Year, Ren Ng, Founder and Executive Chairman, Lytro.
Other speakers include:
- Andrew Fiore and Eytan Bakshy, Data Scientists, Facebook
- William Banholzer, EVP and CTO, Dow Chemical Company
- Charles Dages, EVP, Warner Bros.
- Steve Herrod, CTO and SVP, VMware
- Joi Ito, Director, MIT Media Lab
- Lawrence Lessig, Director, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University
- Nathan Myhrvold, Founder and CEO, Intellectual Ventures
- Kári Stefánsson, CEO, deCODE Genetics
- Sophie Vandebroek, CTO, Xerox
- Duncan Watts, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research
For more information and the full schedule of speakers, go to the EmTech MIT Website.