As Brooklyn increasingly redefines itself as the Silicon Valley of the east coast, tech movers and shakers are looking to harness the resources, know-how, and innovative spirit of local universities. With that purpose in mind, Brooklyn Tech Triangle U, a series of events lasting from April 21 through April 27, will bring together professors from Pratt and other institutions of higher education to discuss tech trends and ways for students to launch careers and start-ups in the area.
The relatively new term “Brooklyn Tech Triangle” refers to the area encompassing Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, known for its rapid growth of technology-based companies in the past few years. The Brooklyn Tech Triangle was responsible for over $3 billion in revenues last year alone. Nearly half of the tech businesses in the Brooklyn Tech Triangle hope to double their number of employees, thus creating tens of thousands of jobs, and to greatly increase their profitability by 2015.
Five Pratt professors and administrators will be speaking in the following panels during the week: Jessie Braden, director of the Spatial Analysis and Visualization Initiative, “Making Sense of Big Data” (April 23); Jeanne Pfordresher, an adjunct associate professor of Industrial Design, “Emerging Trends in Biotech” (April 23); Jaime Stein, visiting assistant professor and academic coordinator of Urban Environmental Systems Management, “Advanced Technologies for Design + Construction” (April 24); Debera Johnson, executive director of the Center for Sustainable Design Studies, “The Startup Curve” (April 24); and Brynna Tucker, associate director for the Center for Career and Professional Development, “Start-up 101 Panel” (April 24).
In addition, recent graduate Colleen Stufflebeem, a creative strategist at Buzzfeed, will participate in a discussion with alumni from Tech Triangle colleges discussing how they launched their careers.
Events are free and open to the public. For more information, and to register, visit this website.