University of Illinois at Chicago & Spacebot Capstone Project Presentation
• Gowatham Kumar, UIC Student • Jigyasa Sachdeva, UIC Student • Meher Phani Ujwala Ambarkhana, UIC Student • Rachana Manjuath, UIC Student • Dave Turner,
May 26, 2021
On Friday, January 18th, the Chicago Connectory hosted Sente’s Industry Forum for Innovation in Urban Mobility, where industry experts and founders of various technology startups shared their views on new trends and developments in the urban mobility space. This event was coordinated by Sente and supported by startups in Sente mobility program by participating as panelists for the two panel discussions.
The event kicked off with a keynote speaker, Yann Kulp, head of electric mobility strategy of Schneider Electric and Co-founder of eIQMobility on the topic of electric mobility with the focus of connected fleets. Yann discussed in depth on why fleets are interested to “jump into the electrification industry”, what the future holds for connected fleets, and what companies have already started to implement this. Next, Yann discussed the global perspectives of connected fleets and how it can differ from the US.
The event transitioned into the first panel discussion about connected vehicles that was moderated by Jerry Quandt, CEO of Illinois Autonomous Vehicles Association. Following the first panel, the second panel took place about MaaS and Urban Mobility Analytics that was moderated by Gerod Carfantan, COO of Sente Foundry.
• Jerry Quandt, CEO of Illinois Autonomous Vehicles Association
• Thurston Adams, Co-founder of xMotion
• Nicolas Jamal, Co-founder of dox
• Gerod Carfantan, COO of Sente Foundry
• Jean Claude Gouesse Founder, Moja Ride
• Florian Grüning Founder, Powerplace
• Emre Alparslan Co-Founder, Drivebuddy
Each panelist was able to elaborate on the topics and engaged the audience in a Q&A session. “I’ve presented on panels before, but this was the friendliest environment to be in,” said Emre Alparslan, co-founder of Drive Buddy. “In Chicago, people know the business and technology and can give great feedback.”
“Events like this are a great opportunity to showcase our startups and their insights on urban mobility with specific people who are investing or innovating in this space,” said Gerod Carfantan, COO of Sente Foundry. “We like to do these, rather than big, splashy demo days, because it creates a forum for intelligent conversation and meaningful connections, rather than just PowerPoint slides and a sales pitch.”
• Gowatham Kumar, UIC Student • Jigyasa Sachdeva, UIC Student • Meher Phani Ujwala Ambarkhana, UIC Student • Rachana Manjuath, UIC Student • Dave Turner,
The Chicago Connectory is proud to announce our collaboration with Haworth, HumanSpace, and Spacebot! Together, we will conduct a research study using sensors, furniture and
mHUB Accelerated Incubation is a six-month, hands-on startup accelerator focused on the product development and commercialization of early-stage, high-potential hardtech startups. mHUB will focus on
