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At TEDxUofT, Professor Angela Shoellig (UTIAS) gave a talk about artificial intelligence and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and the Hatchery Hub helped people with bright ideas find each other. (Photo: The Entrepreneurship Hatchery)

TEDxUofT gathered the brightest minds in the University of Toronto community to spark conversation and connection, and U of T Engineering was a big part of the action.

Held March 19 at Toronto’s St. Lawrence Theatre, the conference explored groundbreaking ideas with U of T’s most talented leaders, innovators, creatives and researchers. For example, Professor Angela Schoellig (UTIAS) gave a talk about artificial intelligence and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones. By teaching drones to fly more autonomously, that is, without the need for a ground-based pilot, Schoellig and her team are enabling advances in environmental monitoring, agriculture, resource management and more.

“For me, robots are a tool, like computers, to allow us to reach bigger audience, to simply our lives, and in general, empower us,” says Schoellig.

Another key component of the event was the “Ideas Worth Building” service operated by U of T Engineering’s Entrepreneurship Hatchery. Conference attendees were invited to register with the Hatchery and be matched with people of similar interest and complementary skills via an exclusive algorithm. They could then proceed to the “Hatchery Hub” on the second floor of the event, which included a photo booth, an idea sharing board and meeting points for participants to share ideas and collaborate.

“It was an eye opening experience to see the vast amounts of ideas being generated within the sphere of University of Toronto and the city of Toronto,” said attendee Isaac Seah, a first-year architecture student and a member of The Hatchery 2016 Cohort working on the team VR Class. “There were some talks that were particularly inspiring and the TEDxUofT experience is definitely going to be one of the most unforgettable and worthwhile moments in my tertiary education.”

See photos from the event below, provided by The Entrepreneurship Hatchery

Hatchery Hub at TEDxUofT

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Fahad Pinto
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