Avant South Encourages Innovation as Atlanta’s Tech Industry Grows

Avant South, held at Tech’s Exhibition Hall, showcased the future of Atlanta through the lens of sports, media, entertainment and entrepreneurship. // Photo by Nikolaos Constantinides, Student Publications

Avant South showcased local entrepreneurs and experts to highlight the growing potential of future technology on Monday, Sept. 7. Hosted on Tech’s campus in the Exhibition Hall, the event brought together creatives and leaders from sports, media, entertainment and entrepreneurship. The day consisted of giving guests the chance to interact with leaders from the field and concluded with a keynote address from Maria Taylor, host of Football Night in America on NBC.

The morning sessions of the event included three breakout periods, where attendees could join panels diving into more in depth discussions with industry experts. Discussions ranged from the impact of Georgia’s involvement with the film industry to the growing market for Esports. The panelists for each of the breakouts included executives from companies like Netflix and Xbox and faculty from colleges such as Georgia State University and u[sic]GA.

Outside of the panels, guests were encouraged to interact with companies and startups at permanent stations in the main hall. Many universities from the Atlanta area used this to showcase some of the startups their students had been working diligently on.  

The Atlanta University Center (AUC) Data Science Initiative is a joint effort between Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse University and Morehouse School of Medicine. Jamal Ware, AUC Program Coordinator for Student Development, said that the initiative is a first step for students to break into data science as a career.

“We’re preparing students to work in data science,” Ware said. “We’re here to connect our students with industry and for our students to see the other projects happening.” 

Other Atlanta universities in attendance included Georgia State University (GSU) and Emory University. GSU, through their Creative Media Institute, offered a dazzling full body Virtual Reality display. Emory highlighted their student entrepreneurship through “The Hatchery,” which supports student founded innovation and startups.

Tech also featured a station of their own, showcasing some products of the CREATE-X program, its own startup organization for students. Arpan Bhavsar, MS EE ‘20 and a CREATE-X alumni, presented his startup, Kinemo, which allows for those who have lost mobility in their hands to use technology. Kinemo offers these individuals the chance to operate devices such as touch screens and wheelchairs through remote control. The controls themselves resemble ear pieces worn by newscasters and security guards, attaching to a part of the body that would still be mobile and are wired to an emitter.  

“Imagining if someone has lost the ability to use their hands, we thought that they could utilize their neck, head or shoulders, to operate devices.” Bhavsar says. With a control attached to his ear, he showed off by turning his head how he could move a mouse across an iPhone screen. The controls utilize bluetooth and read off the movement of the user. Bhavsar currently does research with the Institute to further advance this technology.  

At the event’s conclusion, Tech President Angel Cabrera took the stage. He said the Institute’s recent growth, particularly the record number of undergraduate applicants, is an indicator for the growing demand for innovation in Atlanta. He also praised the other universities in attendance for the event. “Something is happening in higher education,” he said, adding that it is a “big deal for the school — a big deal for the city.”

Cabrera then spoke about what it would take for Atlanta to be considered a leading innovator in the United States. “We went to the Boston Consulting Group to see if Atlanta could be one of the leading innovative cities.”   

According to Cabrera, Atlanta’s universities are the driving factor to reach this goal.  He went on to say that colleges are what create entrepreneurs, pointing to Tech’s programs like Create-X.  In order to become the fifth most innovative city, Atlanta has some work to do. “We need 2,000 [more] start ups to break the charts,” he said.

Cabrera then introduced the keynote speaker, Maria Taylor. Taylor, a prominent sports journalist, believes that being an Atlanta native and an athlete played a part in her career journey and led to her success.  

“[In sports], you have to continue to change,” she said, noting how being dynamic is not only important on the field of play but in the industry as well.  “You have to believe before anyone else.” She also compared running a startup to her experience in journalism. “There’s no practice,” she said.

Taylor called her transition from sideline reporting to being a host, an “innovation moment.”

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