SXSW Sixth Street Showcase shines tech spotlight on Texas higher education

UT, meet SXSW.

In association with the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, The University of Texas System will give a sneak peek to cutting-edge technologies that students and faculty members at the state’s higher education institutions are developing.

The Sixth Street Showcase at SXSW, spearheaded by UT System’s Office of Technology Commercialization, will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 8 on the plaza located south of Ashbel Smith Hall, 201 W. 7th St. (on the northwest corner of West 6th and Colorado streets).

Students and faculty will exhibit and discuss more than a dozen emerging technologies, including the use of mobile apps to monitor pregnant patients, behavioral intervention via mobile apps and advances in identity recognition.

Participating universities include UT Austin, UT San Antonio, UT Health Science Center-San Antonio, UT Health Science Center-Tyler, Texas State University, Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University.

“We wanted to include other institutions of higher education because we know that collaboration is critical to the development of new and innovative technology,” said Dr. Patricia Hurn, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the UT System. “And we want to build an extensive network for students and faculty members to foster this collaboration.”

The Sixth Street Showcase also will feature presentations from UT’s top researchers and innovators including, “Transforming health care through technology innovation,” by Dr. Lynda Chin, of UT MD Anderson; and “Can a virtual world become real?” by Dr. Yusheng Feng, of UT San Antonio.

Students, faculty, venture capitalists and industry representatives will be in attendance, and a limited number of general admission tickets are available. The tickets are free of charge.

This is the first time the UT System has held an event during SXSW Interactive, a five-day festival that is expected to draw more than 30,000 people to Austin March 7 to 11 to preview emerging technology.