FIU showcases tech innovations at eMerge Americas

FIU has partnered with the Technology Foundation of the Americas to host eMerge Americas Techweek, a conference that brings together civic leaders, industry titans, entrepreneurs and global thought leaders with the purpose of establishing a technology hub for the Americas. The conference is an opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors to come together to develop and fund innovative projects and discuss the role of education in a tech-driven economy.

FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg together with J.P. Morgan’s head of U.S. Southeast Private Bank, Phil Conway, and Florida State Rep. Erik Fresen, will host a discussion about the use of innovation and technology in education reform at 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, May 6 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

eMerge Americas 2014 from eMerge Americas on Vimeo.

On hand at the conference will be representatives of the Florida Small Business Development Center at FIU, who will be providing no-cost consulting to entrepreneurs and businesses. Representatives of the FIU Applied Research Center will be available as well.

At its pavilion, on May 5 and 6, FIU will showcase work recently funded by the National Science Foundation to develop greater network infrastructure in the Americas — OpenWave 100G project and Americas Lightpaths (AmLight).

In addition, leading FIU entrepreneurial research will be featured:

• Wall of Wind:  The 12-fan Wall of Wind (WOW) at FIU is the largest and most powerful university research facility of its kind, capable of simulating a Category 5 hurricane.

• Telebot: A team of students from FIU’s Discovery Lab has created a real-life RoboCop that can help disabled police and military personnel do their work. The Telebot, a combination of telepresence and robotics, is a humanoid machine that can be operated remotely.

• Aquarius Reef Base:  The world’s only underwater laboratory. It is located the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, at a depth of 63 feet. Through saturation diving techniques, Aquarius allows scientists to live and work underwater for days on end.

• EyeTalker: EyeTalker is an innovative pair of eyeglasses that allows people with severe vision impairment to hear the text in books, newspapers, magazines, menus, product packages, signs, and other items, in multiple languages.

• Geospatial Data Management and Analytics: Experience “flights” over maps made of aerial and satellite images and explore geospacial information in multiple levels. The geospatial system’s programming interface allows for rapid development of interactive web applications for projects in disaster mitigation, ecology, real estate, and tourism.

• Neural-Enabled Prosthetic Hand: Researchers in FIU’s Adaptive Neural Systems Laboratory have developed an advanced prosthetic system that will provide sensory feedback to an upper extremity amputees using sensors embedded in the prosthetic.

• CATE: Scientists at FIU’s Center for Advanced Technology and Education (CATE) are performing pioneering work on the use of neuro-navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, a powerful tool for mapping the eloquent cortex of the brain that also provides great potential for new insights into brain disorders.

• Explosive Analysis: Revolutionizing on-site explosives detection techniques with a new, simple, fast and inexpensive technology for first responders. The new microfluidic devices can identify exactly what type of explosive may be present at crime scenes through rapid analysis.

• Drones, Dogs and Disease: FIU researchers have deployed a research program to train canines in the early detection of the laurel wilt pathogen, a vascular disease that impacts agriculture and affects the Florida avocado industry in particular.

• perform[D]ance House: This is a solar-powered house that preforms in real time by sensing and responding to the generation and acquisition of energy. It “dances” in response to the external conditions of its environment and the internal conditions of its use.

• Engineering Yeast: FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management is working on developing a strain of yeast that will consume Ochratoxin-A, a harmful carcinogen found in wine, and simultaneously allow for the production of safe, quality wines.

• Blender Bikes: Students at Miami Northwestern Senior High School and FIU College of Engineering and Computing have designed bicycle-powered blenders to promote healthy eating and living.

FIU College of Business alumni Frankie Coletto, founder and CEO of PassTheNotes, and Andrés Domínguez, co-founder and managing director of Natural Sins, as well as FIU Entrepreneurship Center Chairman Mike Tomás, president and CEO of Bioheart, Inc., will showcase their innovative startups.

For more information about eMerge Americas Techweek, click here.