Tech showcase to feature the latest in autonomous vehicles | News
The eighth annual Technology Showcase in downtown Mountain View will be held July 19-20 and features exhibits from local companies making new discoveries in areas such as robotics, extraterrestrial exploration, autonomous vehicles and healthcare.
Mountain View is known for its tech giants like Google, but the city has a lot more innovation to offer from a variety of companies big and small, who will be showcasing the latest technologies next week.
“Mountain View is a pioneer in technology in many ways. So many of the larger companies got their start here… and Mountain View encourages that creative thinking,” said Peter Katz, President and CEO of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, the organization hosting the event.
The two-day presentation at the Civic Center Plaza begins July 19 from 5-7 p.m. with an opening panel discussion on autonomous vehicles. On the following day, companies present their interactive exhibits, including product and app demonstrations as well as vehicle presentations 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event ends on July 20 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. with a concluding panel discussion on the subject of medical technology.
Companies and organizations featured at the exhibition include big names like Google, Lockheed Martin, Waymo and NASA – but also some lesser-known startups.
“(The Showcase) is an opportunity to talk to companies and get to know the people behind these innovations. Some people use it for networking, others use it to build partnerships. It’s a wonderful way to bring the public and all sectors together,” said Katz.
In the opening panel on autonomous vehicles, moderated by Mountain View Mayor Alison Hicks, companies including Aurora, Gatik, Kodiak and Waymo will discuss the latest advances and upcoming challenges.
Many of these companies are developing autonomous truck vehicles to move goods across the country without a human operator. With the passing of Bill 316 by the California Assembly last week that would keep autonomous vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds off California roads without a trained operator, viewers can learn how the legislation could impact the future success of these projects .
“Today, most states allow our team to deploy our autonomous trucks and provide value to our freight customers. “However, autonomous trucks are currently banned from public roads in California,” said Sydnee Journel, Aurora’s senior manager of government relations. “It means we can’t bring the benefits of our self-driving technology to businesses and consumers here in our country.” Home State. We hope California leaders will take action to embrace this native technology and prioritize safety on our roads.”
Aurora uses trucks day and night for its merchandise and logistics partners across Texas, as does Kodiak, another company involved in next week’s panel discussion.
Daniel Goff, head of external affairs at Kodiak, said autonomous vehicles could help solve serious problems the trucking industry is struggling with, such as long and tiring work hours for drivers.
“We believe it’s really important to be able to attend this event in Mountain View to give people the opportunity to see the technology up close, understand how it works and understand the potential it has for Increasing the safety and improving the efficiency of our movement of goods.” said Goff.
The second panel, focused on medical technology, will include speakers from the Fogarty Institute, El Camino Hospital and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.
One development for healthcare panelists to talk about is FloPatch, a portable ultrasound system that allows physicians to more effectively treat patients with sepsis.
A few months ago, El Camino Hospital became the first hospital in the world to adopt FloPatch after testing the technology for a year at Fogarty Innovation, the medical technology and startup incubator run out of El Camino Hospital.
“Being on the El Camino Health campus and within Mountain View, we are literally working on devices that help the community,” said Allie Gregorian, panelist and Chief Alliance Officer of Fogarty Innovation. “We get notes every day from their nurses and frontline workers saying, ‘Oh my God, (FloPatch) has made our workflow so much better.’ We can take better care of our patients.’”
Panelist and El Camino Health Chief Information Officer Deb Muro said the healthcare industry has traditionally been “reactive,” waiting for patients to show and report symptoms. She said she hopes innovations like FloPatch will improve healthcare for both providers and patients.
“The goal of technology – like AI, machine learning and other skills – is to help us predict what types of patients we will see tomorrow. What kinds of supplies do we need to prepare?’” Muro said.