Today in Madrid the contents of the Europe Campus Party have been presented, an event which will turn the capital of Spain into a neurological global powerhouse where technology is concerned. This authentic futuristic party, that will be held from April 14-18 in the Magic Box, is a special edition of the largest gathering of technology, creativity and digital culture in the world. Campus Part Europe and will exhibit three areas of knowledge: Science, Creativity and Innovation. In these areas, 800 Campuseros from the 27 European Union countries, selected for their projects by the organization, will unfold their skills and learn in various workshops and conferences.
Science
Astronomy will be one of the protagonists in the area of Science, thanks to, among other content, the conference of French astronaut of ESA (European Space Agency) Jean Francois Clervoy, and the launching of a weather balloon where Campuseros can admire the curvature of the Earth as seen by astronauts. This view will be achieved thanks to the camera built into a balloon probe that will rise to a height three times higher than that achieved by any commercial flight.
In the science area you can also enjoy the presence of Sergio Bertolucci, Director of Research and Scientific Computing at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research).During the presentation, Sylvain Calinon, coordinator of the area and a specialist in robotics, has said that Campus Party Europe is “the perfect opportunity to bring together the best European professionals in Robotics.” The 30-year Swiss researcher has received several awards in his field such as the Grand Challenge on Human-Robot Interaction in theInternational Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA’2008).
In this area, sponsored by the Spanish bank BBVA, Modding and Advanced Hardware will also have an important weight. These areas will feature a presentation by Tomas Palacios, a Spanish scientist at MIT whose research with a new material, graphite, promises to revolutionize the world of electronics.
Digital Creativity
The basis of this area is to turn dreams into reality. This areas is coordinated by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, graphic designer and audiovisual producer, and multidisciplinary artist who has worked on international projects such as The Creativity Factory for Benetton. In this space you might Gump into the likes of Catalan publicist Toni Segarra, who created memorable campaigns such as’ Do you like to drive?” for BMW or the Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani, head of the controversial campaigns of the Benetton clothing company. Both are responsible for providing their knowledge and experience on how to succeed, as far as communication is concerned. In this area the technology will be touched by Sylwan Sebastian, of Weta Digital, responsible for special effects films like ‘Avatar’.
The Finnish telecommunications manufacturer Nokia is responsible for sponsoring the area of Digital Creativity at Campus Party Europe. According to the coordinator, Hurtado de Mendoza, “creativity, though not sufficient, is necessary and relevant and should be linked to innovation.” There will be a workshop on high speed photography, with a Phantom camera that can record 1500 frames per second in high definition.
This area also includes CampusBlog, which will be attended by Ben Hammersley, editor of the prestigious British edition of Wired magazine and one of the most influential people on the web. In addition, bloggers coming from several countries of the European Union will discuss the state of the European blogosphere at a round table.
Innovation
Campus Party Europe will opt for innovation and development. A decade ago the mp3 format was a revolution in computing and the world of music. Karlheinz Brandenburg, its creator, will come to the Magic Box to explain how did it. From one good idea comes another idea and that is what will be pursued at Campus Party Europe.
The search for new programming languages, telecommunication codes or platforms, are current themes, and are reflected by individuals such as Pau Garcia-Mila, the creator of the acclaimed EyeOS operating system, and Coordinator of the Innovation Area. For Garcia-Mila, Europe, and in particular, “Spain is a great host from innovative, it is not necessary to travel to America to see innovation. Campus Party Europe makes this possible.”
In this area, sponsored by Alcatel Lucent, Network security will also will be highlighted by Stefano di Paola (Italy), recognized as one of the top application security researchers, and the Polish Joanna Rutkowska, founder of Invisible Things Lab and who leads a team of researchers who are working on designing security Systems.
