Houston—In just a few days, Xconomy’s Disruptors conference will bring some of the brightest innovators in Texas together.
The daylong forum, being held Thursday at the Texas Medical Center’s TMCx accelerator in Houston, features innovation in healthcare, space, transportation, energy, artificial intelligence, and other sectors. Here are some of the highlights:
—Edward Jung, co-founder and CTO of Intellectual Ventures in Seattle. The firm is known for its accumulation of patents and was co-founded by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold.
—Being innovative is one thing; doing it in space or at the South Pole adds another degree of difficulty. Former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski will talk about his work on space missions and as chief medical officer for UTMB’s Center for Polar Medical Operations.
—Advances in robotics and virtual reality are becoming an increasingly important part of the way we live, work, and play. Morris Miller, the CEO of Xenex in San Antonio, will talk about how the startup’s robot is helping to kill bacteria in hospitals (and demonstrate how the robot works), while Jan Goetgeluk, the founder of Virtuix, will talk about his Omni treadmill and the growing virtual reality market.
—Houston is the energy capital of the world. We’re bringing together four seasoned Houston investors (Alex Rozenfeld, Chris Robart, Chip Davis, and Kirk Coburn) to discuss the trends in software, hardware, sensors, and other devices that can help to better find and extract oil—especially in this challenging economic environment.
—Universities have historically had a dual mission: teaching and research. Technology pioneer Bob Metcalfe, the Ethernet inventor, venture capitalist, and now a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, believes there should be third leg to that stool: innovation.
