Continuing our exploration at the intersection of emerging tech and creative practice, this year’s focus is on the role of artificial intelligence, the challenges of sustainable design, and new approaches to career building and entrepreneurship. Through three days of dynamic sessions, Creative Tech 2024 will showcase ArtCenter’s legacy and significance as a vanguard institution that is leading conversations across creativity and technology.
As the complexities surrounding AI, digital infrastructure, and communication technologies continue to multiply, insights from change-makers outside of design are increasingly vital to be able to interpret and address the viability and effects of creative work. In keeping with ArtCenter’s mission to empower creatives as informed and impactful contributors in their fields, participants can expect to gain a broader understanding of how policy and practice shape the tools, platforms, and environments to which they contribute.
5:00 to 7:30PM
The widespread adoption and growing influence of generative AI technologies raise critical questions best addressed by cross-disciplinary expertise. Join us to hear from three distinct and influential voices and expand your perspective. Sanford Williams of the FCC brings a legal lens to the possibilities of future AI implementation and regulation; Bill Gross, Founder & CEO of ProRata.ai, represents AI's expanding entrepreneurial and economic potential; Founder of AI LA Todd Terrazas will contribute an intimate view of the community’s role, and to the social implications and innovation felt across Southern California.
Moderated by Maggie Hendrie, ArtCenter’s Dean of Media & Technology, this panel promises a dynamic examination—weaving through policy, profit, and people—each angle distinct, but interconnected, offering a multilayered look at AI’s impact as it continues to unfold.
Light food & drinks
Panelists: Sanford Williams, Bill Gross, Todd Terrazas
Moderated by: Maggie Hendrie
Presented in partnership with Innovate Pasadena
Sanford Williams is a Lecturer of Law at UCLA Law School, and Deputy Chief of Staff to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel at the FCC.
Bill Gross is Co-founder and CEO of ProRata.ai. He’s also Founder and Chairman of Idealab Studio, a leading technology incubator. Over the last 28 years, Idealab has created and operated more than 150 companies and had more than 50 successful IPOs and acquisitions. In addition to serving as Idealab’s board chairman and the CEO of ProRata.ai, Bill is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology and of ArtCenter College of Design.
Todd Terrazas is a social entrepreneur and collaboration catalyst, driven by a passion for connecting leaders, ideas, and capital to create innovative solutions that benefit humanity. His latest venture, FBRC.ai, unites academia, technology, and the entertainment industry to shape the future of content production through AI-driven tools, workflows, and content creation. Since 2016, his non-profit, AI LA, has championed the research, development, ethical use, and public education of artificial intelligence and frontier technologies across the Los Angeles region through media and events. Todd is also an alumnus of USC School of Cinematic Arts.
User experience pioneer Maggie Hendrie is the dean of the Division of Media and Technology and former chair of the undergraduate Interaction Design Department at ArtCenter, the first Southern California school to offer such a degree.
5:00 to 7:30PM
The fabric of our world is shifting. Across industries, businesses are confronted with new materials, processes, and strategies. Increasingly, demands are being leveraged at companies of all sizes with a clear mandate: to reduce the continuous harm to the earth and its ecosystems. In this session, ArtCenter president Karen Hofmann will invite alumni Vicki von Holzhausen and Jessie Kawata to the stage for an urgent conversation.
von Holzhausen, a trailblazer in material innovation, and Kawata, recently Director of Sustainability at Microsoft, put forth invaluable insights into how creativity and technology are transforming possibilities for sustainability at scale. These shifts have already begun to open new vocational pathways, from the entrepreneurs accelerating futures from the ground up to the intrapreneurs pioneering change from within. Together with Karen Hofmann, these leaders will address the tools and methods that students need to succeed in a world where sustainability is no longer optional or negotiable, but essential for survival.
Light food & drinks
Panelists: Vicki von Holzhausen, Jessie Kawata
Moderated by: Karen Hofmann
von Holzhausen began when former car designer Vicki von Holzhausen decided to make a vegan leather that could rival animal leather.
Jessie Kawata is a design director, co-founder, environmental advocate, part-time educator, TEDx speaker, and space exploration design pioneer whose work spans across our solar system.
Karen Hofmann is the sixth president of ArtCenter College of Design, an international leader of art and design education.
ArtCenter’s Careers in Creative Tech sessions are designed to present our students with opportunities to hear from and interact with professionals who are fearlessly building new possibilities and resiliently prioritizing impact and sustainability in their work. These presentations will give you a view behind the scenes into how creative careers can be thoughtfully designed and how you too can channel what you learn here at ArtCenter to make meaningful difference in the world.
12:00 to 2:00PM
Speaker: Jessie Kawata, User Experience Design Director, educator, co-founder, speaker, and Design x Space Exploration pioneer
12:00 to 2:00PM
Speaker: Iain Finch, Senior Manager of 3D & 2D Digital Visualization & Product Creation at Patagonia
Join industry leaders and innovators for a transformative experience. Secure your spot today!
Reach out to our team at ProDev@ArtCenter.edu or call us at extension x4202.