090926 ~ SPARK: Ann Arbor Mobility Summit - Janis Seabolt

0:00the Ann Arbor Mobility Summit, one of eight signature events during A2Tech 360, such a popular event, is coming up on Wednesday, September 30th at the American Center for Mobility in Ipsilani. The one-day summit will bring together leaders from industry, government, academia, and startups to explore the technology, partnerships, and research driving the future of transportation. We're going to get a sense of what that future looks like today. As we welcome, Janice Sebalt, she is Director of Mobility Programs at Ann Arbor Spark. What a phenomenal event this is really shaping up to be. Yeah, I'm really, really excited about it. You know, having it at American Center for Mobility this year, I think is a pretty exciting place to be. So that is where technologies across mobility, not just cars, but you think like autonomous trucking, even things like drones, can be tested and proven at ACM. And so having it there means we'll have tours of the space, but you're also just going to be in the space where emerging technology happens, right?

1:03It gets tested, gets proven. Right here in our backyard, and so many people don't realize it. Yeah, that's right. It's a global proving ground. And so to think that we're having our Mobility Summit there, it's pretty cool. It's coming up on September 30th, 9am to 3.30pm. That's a Wednesday. And the American Center for Mobility is located on airport drive in Ypsilanti. Tickets are $100. They include a continental breakfast and lunch will have more details on that in a moment. The Mobility Summit overall though, give everyone an idea of what that involves. Yeah, sure. So I think a lot of times when we talk about mobility, people think about cars, and they think about features on cars. But mobility is defined so much broader than that. It's bigger than that. Of course, it's autonomous trucking, which is one of the topics that we'll be covering during the day. But it's satellite technology. It's drones. And if you think about how our connected vehicles are today, getting alerts on things, that's also satellite infrastructure. And so we think

2:08of Mobility as the movement of people and goods in more innovative, sustainable, safer ways, and any of the technologies that go into that. So it's almost hard to narrow down what should a Mobility conference be about. But I think we hit it pretty well with some of the content. So who are some of the speakers and what are the topics? Yeah, so I'm really excited to say that we have the global head of autonomous vehicles from woven by Toyota coming to do our keynote speech. So if you think Toyota, great partner in our community, right? Great jobs partner with WCC. woven by Toyota is one of the pillars underneath the Toyota Corporation that focuses on emerging technologies. So where is transportation going to be? Not just what cool things can we put on cars today? So so Deshant Vattakar is going to be our keynote speaker. He heads up the woven by Toyota. The A-DES globally and he's in Ann Arbor. So great job opportunities with them, but also a really

3:14interesting focus on emerging mobility technology. I'm also really excited we are going to have a live podcast recording of At the Wheel. So it's Tulee who is a global analyst and Joe White who is an automotive reporter. They have this really great podcast where they talk about what's going on globally from a policy perspective, from an economics perspective. What's the scuttle sort of you know what's happening with the Chinese EVs coming in and all the things. So live podcast recording means folks will be able to ask questions and kind of be in the room where emerging technology gets discussed. That's great. Who else is coming? Let's see we have we are doing a talk on autonomous trucking so we'll have Kodiak. We have Sarah Bennett from Varnam La who has a policy background in automotive technologies and so she's going to be kind of talking about the legal issues. Greg Brunner from MDOT is going to be kind of anchoring that panel. How is

4:21our Michigan Department of Transportation getting ready for autonomous trucking to start testing on the roads. I think that's going to be a pretty cool conversation. How does all of this come together when you talk about mobility and you've got a lot of different players that are going to be at this summit. Everything from law to the current technology. How do you see the future for all of us when it comes to transportation? Yeah I think that's a really great question. I think we can't ignore what's happening globally. There are some concerns around what will mobility and transportation look like. People need to get places quickly and safely. Toyota for example has a vision of zero accidents. That's going to require technology in vehicles but also that connected technology that comes from satellites in order to get people where they need to be. It's

5:26got to be more sustainable. We have to be more sustainable with our vehicles operate. So are there ways to share rides? Are there ways to use buses and cars to eliminate some of the traffic on the road? We're a little ways away from pure autonomy. I think 10 years ago we thought it was going to be now. I thought we would all just be riding in the back of our car to get to work each day and it's proven to be a little bit more challenging. Do you think that it'll help towns like Ann Arbor that we have a great bus service but it's not a Chicago. It's not the subway in New York. It's not something that people rely on generally to get to work in mass. There are people that have to. Do you see that this technology is going to help towards that in the future to help us get out of our cars and use this technology in a smarter way? Yeah. I think it's possible. I think we have here in Southeast Michigan a real steady focus on our own cars and our cars as an extension of what we

6:28want to say about ourselves. We like our big cars. We like our fancy cars. We like the equipment, the fancy equipment inside a car. I don't know how we change that in our community. It's a little trickier. That being said, cities and the city of Ann Arbor especially is very focused on how do we make it a seamless experience getting from one place to another and being more sustainable and safer while we do it. So for them it's it's adding bike lanes. It's a bus system that is regular and connected. It's getting those last mile locations. I was meeting with Washington County yesterday and one of the things that they're working on with aging is how do you get people if they can get to the bus? How do you get them from the bus to their appointment? Right. So there's so many concerns to it. I think technology will help us get there. And Janice, that's what would change it for me if it picked it up at my house. If it brought me right to my destination. I could see that happening and I

7:28can use that time in whatever vehicle I'm in in a wiser way than I do when I'm actually doing the driving. Yeah and I think I think there's a bit of a mind shift that we might want to think about taking with that which is walking a few blocks to get to that final destination as long as you're healthy and fit and able to do that. We want to be dropped off right at the door and a piece of community transportation might look like well you walk a few blocks right and in a city you could be walking a few blocks from your parking lot to your office anyway. I see that Joe Tenbush is coming from Boston Dynamics. That's the group that's doing all that robotic work. Yes and I think we're going to have a spot robot. Oh really? It's so cool. Wow. That's going to be neat to see. Yeah. And we're talking these walking talking robots. Yes, practically. Right. And the spot is the one that looks kind of like a dog. Yeah. So it can get into you know those dangerous or unsafe areas instead of people. What role and there's a lot of controversy over the data centers in our

8:30community here. But what role do they play in the future of all of this when it comes to advance mobility? So I think one of the cool emerging technologies is the potentiality of putting these data centers in space. And as we talk about space as infrastructure as future infrastructure at the panel. If we could move that stuff off of earth. It's kind of impossible. Yeah, it's happening. They're talking about that. They're doing it. Yeah. Really? Yeah. And so there are you know issues and topics that we will talk about when we talk about space as infrastructure as the future of infrastructure. But you know, I don't know if you've Googled something today, you've used AI. You've tapped into a data center. So you know nobody really is excited about having it near their home. But we're all using it every day. And so we have to figure out what are some better ways of having that information available to us. But and I think sometimes it's lost on some people.

9:31The critical nature that these are are providing for the future for the technology that is trying to be advanced. I don't think that connection has been made for a lot of people. I think that's right. I think that we kind of get alarmed by the idea of having something that's you know, and going to suck energy. And you know, we hear the stories about all the bad things that are going to happen with it. But I really know that everybody is probably everybody. Almost everybody is using it every single day. And so we have to figure out what what do we do with that? Are we willing to not do that? So if we're able to put these data centers in space, we wouldn't need them here. Why are we building them here in the first place then? Yeah, we're not ready to deploy on mass in space. It's starting to happen. I think there's also an issue of, you know, you need redundancy. So this kind of goes back to an automotive term, right? Of you need something

10:34that works and then you need a backup that's going to work and maybe even two backups that are going to work, right? Because if it goes down, then what? Right. Very interesting. Tell me a little bit about your background. We're talking about Janice Sebalt from Ann Arbor Spark. What is your background? Yeah, sure. So currently a mobility director at Ann Arbor Spark, which means I work with across the mobility ecosystem, primarily with innovators, startups and with some kind of mobility technology, helping them scale and grow, get the resources they need, the training they need to be successful, or to acknowledge maybe that they have a cool idea that doesn't have a market right now, faster. My background was that I worked for an automotive sensor company and emerging technology. And I loved the startup world. So I don't have a technical background. I could only speak as far as my data sheet gave me information on the technology itself. But what I could do was figure out how to plan our marketing events. I did our financials. I did our bookkeeping. I

11:40prepared reports. I went in sales calls. All the other things that have to happen to scale a business. And I had tech people who knew the tech side. That company was acquired and into a much more corporate environment. And I really like this sort of startup emerging technology space. So when Spark had an opening, I jumped into it. And that presented nicely to what Spark does for people that may not be familiar with Ann Arbor Spark. Explain how they are changing the landscape of all of this technology for people. Yeah, sure. So Ann Arbor Spark is the economic development organization for Washington County and a little beyond. And we do a number of different things in order to support economic development in our region. And primarily the good tech high paying jobs. We have our team that does entrepreneurial services. So I'm part of that team. We work with our entrepreneurs across different technologies. We're closely with University of Michigan and

12:45Washington, a community college. And and and and then also the folks who have like built something in their basement, their garage, their. That amazing. It's so cool. Yes. And so we help them develop the skills that they need. And we provide them with some resources to, you know, get the legal help or accounting help or whatever. So they don't get stymied by the day to day type of things that you know you've you've got expertise in. Sometimes when I'm working with somebody else, say if there is something that you've been avoiding or something that makes your stomach clenchup, that's when you need to reach out to me because we might have a resource to help you. Right. Then you know, rather than get stuck or ignore a problem. So that's entrepreneurial services. But we also help larger companies grow in our ecosystem. Companies that are thinking about moving here, getting the permits that they need, finding real estate. All of these services are free to organizations who reach out to us. We do marketing events and then we have all of A2Tech 360, which is super exciting. Yes. And part of that is the Annabra Mobility Summit.

13:47We've been talking about today. But let's look at the broader expansive that. What is A2Tech 360? Yeah. It's our week long, a week plus long series of tech events. And so it kicks off on September 22nd. It ends on October 2nd. We have tech homecoming, which is our job fair, recruitment fair. So companies that are looking to hire can participate. So many people have found jobs by attending that. Oh my gosh. It's huge. I don't know. I think 400 people registered. So if you are looking to hire somebody and you want some good tech talent, you should probably sign up for our tech homecoming. And if you're looking for a job, you definitely want to sign up. Definitely. You can go to A2Tech360.com for all the information on this. A, the number two tech360.com and all the details are on there. But it's just going to be a phenomenal event. And part of that, again, the Annabra Mobility Summit, it's open to the public. So anyone can attend this. Anyone can attend it. And you know, there are going to be some pretty amazing people in that room

14:50discussing how technology, how mobility technology is moving forward. And I think that's a space where if you're interested in mobility and automotive technologies, you'd want to be in that room. The Annabra Mobility Summit is 9 a.m. to 3 30 p.m. Wednesday, September 30th at the American Center for Mobility in Ipsilanti. Tickets are $100 and they include a continental breakfast and lunch. And this is one of the eight signature events during A2Tech360 Annabras Barks annual celebration of innovation. It runs September 22nd through October 2nd. The 10-day series features more than 20 events, including conferences, networking opportunities, pitch competitions, career events, and community celebrations, bringing together these amazing entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, startups, industry and community leaders to showcase the region's thriving innovation ecosystem. Before I let you go, Janice, tell us about a couple of the companies and what they're doing here in Annabra. Give people an idea of what's percolating out there.

15:52Yeah, it's pretty neat. So going back to satellites, I'm not sure why I'm stuck on it quite so much, but General Orbit is one of the companies that we work with. They have a satellite system that can bring it up or down in space, which can help with communications. We have a really interesting one called Ghost Lura. Ghost Lura is a defense technology. And it blocks drones. So what I love about this is it was created by a local chef who had an idea and started developing it and has availed himself of every kind of resource he can. He's not a tech guy, but he is a curious learner and he's gone to the right places. He's now doing testing with the Army. So is he still sheffing? He's still got to have his day job. He's got to pay the bills, but this is progressing really nicely with some grants from the Army to continue this testing and development of this product.

16:58Do you foresee Ghost Lura being able to be used by individuals? Sometimes you worry about drones going over your house, something like their capturing, or would this just be a government entity? So I think it's more, I'll say a government entity, but not just necessarily Department of Defense. It might be something like a city that says, oh, drones are coming over and they could like put these, they're, I mean, they're like balloon-like devices that just trip up drones. So they're inexpensive, they're quick. It's a really interesting invention. There are some amazing people amongst us. Yeah. Right, happening right here. Right here in the Washington County region. Yep. Fascinating. Thank you so much. So great talking with Janice Sebel today from Ann Arbor Spark, Director of Mobility. And again, you are invited to take part in A2Tech 360. And especially this mobility summit that's coming up on September 30th as part of this event, you can go online to a2tech360.com and get more information. Thank you so much. Oh, thank you very much. Great to see you.

17:59Just think about what I can invent. I don't know. It's true. It can happen to anyone, right? Yep. You're listening Ann Arbor's talk station 1290 WLBY.