A Kansas City-based tech conference formerly known as Compute Midwest will be held in Chicago this year on Nov. 3 with new name Dare Mighty Things.
The conference was named by Inc. magazine as one of the top tech conferences in the nation. It was built off of the momentum of Kansas City being the first city chosen for Google Fiber and was set to inspire attendees by highlighting bold ideas and edge-cutting technologies.
Since its launch in 2012, it has attracted a broad audience including entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, innovators, executives and more from many industries. Moving it to Chicago this year, Founder Michael Gelphman said he expects to attract more people and build a wider community in the Midwest tech hub.
“It’s got the same DNA, but it’s a new venue,” Gelphman said. “We want to engage the larger tech community in Chicago and create a bigger collision of ideas and people.”
As of Monday, about 650 people from 17 cities across the country had registered to attend the event and the number continues to grow, according to Gelphman.
The one-day conference will showcase a curated group of innovators in tech including Vern Brownell, D-Wave CEO; Andy Grignon, Apple’s senior engineer, who helped Steve Jobs build the first iPhone; and Jordan Evans, engineering director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who will highlight the NASA Mars 2020 Mission, to name a few. Chicago entrepreneur Jason Fried, co-founder and CEO of Basecamp, will also join a talk with TechCrunch writer Fitz Tepper.
Speakers are expected to talk about what they’re building and the stories behind them, and share insights on where things are going next in their industry.
The Dare Mighty Things, as its name suggests, will touch on a variety of future-focused technologies including quantum computing, DNA editing, augmented reality, virtual reality, robotics and more.
“The new name reflects how inspiring the conference was and what it meant,” said Gelphman. “The purpose is to show people anything is possible and inspire them to make their own impact in the world.”
The conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. at the Auditorium Theatre on Nov.3. An after party will run from 3:20 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Here’s a list of speakers and keynotes to expect:
The Future Of Quantum Computing
- Vern Brownell, CEO of D-Wave
The Future Of Supersonic Travel
- Josh Krall, Co-founder and CTO of Boom Supersonic
The Future of DNA Editing
- Dr Renee Wegrzyn, Program Manager of DARPA
The Future of Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality
- Vic Luo, VR/AR Lead of NASA
The future of Mobile
- Andy Grignon, Apple’s senior engineer who built the first iPhone for Steve Jobs
Mars 2020: The future of Mars exploration
- Jordan Evans, Engineering Director of NASA
The Future Of Robotics
- Melonee Wise, CEO of Fetch Robotics
The Future of UI & Gesture interfaces
John Underkoffler, Co-founder and CEO of Oblong & science advisor for Steven Spielberg
Fireside Chat:
- Alex Knapp, Forbes Science Editor
- Devaki Raj, Co-founder & CEO of Crowd AI
Fireside Chat:
- Fitz Tepper, TechCrunch Writer
- Jason Fried, Co-founder and CEO of Basecamp
