Bath Digital Festival is back for the 10th year which is awesome! This year we are looking to inspire our event attendees and leave them feeling excited about the future of Bath. We’ve collaborated with TechSPARK Bath to bring you ‘A Slice of Inspiration’.
Our speakers will be talking about the exciting ongoings in their businesses, research projects and organisations. There will be something for everyone to take away from our event. Oh, and if that isn’t enough, there will also be a drink and pizza on us.
Event details:
Date: Wednesday 20th October
Time: 5:30pm-7:30pm
Where: Revolutions Bath, 1 George St, Bath BA1 2EB.
Get your festival pass and sign up for the event here!
Meet our speakers:
Dr George Stothart | Researcher | fastball
A simple but revolutionary approach to early Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Bio: Dr George Stothart is a cognitive neuroscientist who creates new tools for dementia diagnosis. His new method Fastball involves participants passively watching a series of flashing images on a computer for just two minutes, whilst their brain waves are measured using an EEG cap. The technique is highly effective at picking up small, subtle changes in brain waves that occur in the early stages of dementia. In partnership with Dr Doug Pulley, wireless technologist and former co-founder and CTO of Picochip and Fastball co-developer, Fastball Diagnostics will soon be a new spin-out addition to the Bath tech community.
Simon Poole | Tech Director | Smartbox Assistive Technology
How Smartbox leverage technology to help people who don’t have the ability to speak
Simon looks after the R&D team at Smartbox, developing assistive technology to help disabled people communicate and live more independent lives. Before Smartbox, Simon was a product leader at Just Eat, using AI and algorithms to connect people with great food. Prior to that he was at Amazon, leading the data technology team for IMDb.
Neil Morris | Co-founder and CEO | Kelpi
On current trends, by 2050 the plastic industry will account for 20% of the world’s total oil consumption. Kelpi aims to change that by creating bioplastics from seaweed.
Kelpi is a sustainable biotech business creating compostable, marine-safe, carbon-negative bioplastics from seaweed. Our premium performance bioplastic packaging replaces single-use fossil-fuel plastics, so the oil and natural gas can stay where it belongs – in the ground. From its base in Bath, Kelpi works with global businesses to meet their sustainable packaging requirements through the innovative development and application of proprietary biopolymers.
Catharine Brown | CEO | Designability
Born out of a collaborative partnership between the University of Bath and the Royal United Hospital, Designability is flying the flag for the city across the globe through the research, design and engineering of products to enable disabled people to live with greater independence.
Bio: Catharine Brown is the Chief Executive of Designability, a national charity based in Bath which enables disabled people to live with greater independence. Designability’s human-centred design process allows it to create products with and for disabled people to improve and enrich their lives, giving them greater choice every day.
Catharine started her career in marketing for well-known brands including Selfridges, Marks & Spencer and the Economist, eventually leading global teams in marketing, sales and customer service. She then switched to working in the third sector, using her skills to benefit others across a range of areas including fundraising and marketing, strategy and leadership development.
Catharine is also a trustee on the board of ActionAid UK, the international development charity.
Dan Yates | Co-founder and CEO | Greener
Collision as a catalyst for progress – how to build a better future, quickly.
Bio: Dan is co-founder and CEO of Greener, a Bath-based clean-tech startup building the world’s first algorithmic matchmaking platform for food and drink SMEs. Dan has an eclectic background, with time spent in technology hardware, software startups, and management consulting. Now directing his attention to the green revolution, Dan is on a mission to make sustainability work for businesses.
Nick Gompertz | Founder | Earswitch Ltd
The story from unlocking communication for people with Motor Neurone Disease to intent driven control of your devices from your earphones
Bio: As a medical student, Nick Gompertz wanted to help people with motor neurone disease/ALS to communicate for longer. An idea in the making for 30 years – Nick figured out how to do this after being inspired by a non-verbal 13 year old boy who had written a book, using only his eyes and a physical spelling board. Since then, Nick has stopped working as a GP to pursue this full time. Additional funding from the National Institute for Health Research and support from University of Bath has made this possible. The Earswitch has a proven working prototype and now provides opportunities for all as the future computer mouse replacement and a health monitoring device and more. All this from one sensor in your earphones.
