Tech Jam Spaceman Jump

Thanks for Jammin’ With Us!

Vermont Tech Jam is an annual career and tech expo, organized by Seven Days, that showcases some of Vermont’s most innovative companies.

More than 1,000 people attended both the 2021 and 2022 events which took place at Hula, a coworking campus on the Burlington waterfront.

Since 2008, thousands of job seekers, career changers, tech professionals, college students, and curious Vermonters have connected with local companies at the Tech Jam.

When’s the next Jam?

Save the date: Saturday, October 21, 2023 at Hula.

Take a look back at 2022…

Looking Back at 2022

Photos © Daria Bishop

The Vermont Tech Jam, Seven Days’ career and tech expo, returned to Hula Lakeside in Burlington on Saturday, October 22. More than 40 employers came to the tech campus with open jobs to fill.

They met with nearly 1,000 Jammers who wandered through the former factory to talk tech: job seekers, college students, entrepreneurs, FIRST robotics coaches, tech professionals, candidates and elected officials including Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger. Crowds congregated outdoors, too, in front of Beta Technologies’ MobileDome flight simulator.

The Tech Jam concluded with a keynote presentation featuring inventor, philanthropist and Boston Scientific cofounder John Abele and CoreMap CEO Sarah Kalil. 

Thank you to our hosts at Hula, to all of our community partners and to the exhibitors for a day of fascinating conversations and new local connections.

2022 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

The Heart of Collaboration with John Abele and Sarah Kalil

Atrial fibrillation, more commonly known as A-fib or AF, is a heart condition marked by a rapid and irregular heartbeat. If untreated, it puts people who have it at increased risk of heart failure or having a stroke. 

Most of us know someone affected by AF — tens of millions of people around the globe suffer from it. The condition is caused by misfiring electrical signals in the heart. Doctors can treat it with a procedure called ablation, which can disrupt and normalize the signals — but only if they know which area of the heart to target. That can be frustratingly difficult to determine.

Vermont-based med-tech startup CoreMap aims to make it easier. Its promising proprietary mapping technology could offer a way of visualizing A-fib, which would help doctors “see” AF and target treatment.

CoreMap’s technology has been decades in the making. It’s based on the research of UVM Medical Center cardiologist Peter Spector. Experts in the field who’ve assessed its potential have described it as “a quantum leap” in the treatment of patients with AF. 

To make that vision a reality, Spector cofounded a med-tech startup, CoreMap, with CEO Sarah Kalil. A native Vermonter and UVM engineering grad with a law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law, Kalil has held leadership positions in numerous med-tech companies, mostly out of state. In 2017, she returned to Vermont to take on the challenge of turning Spector’s research into an approved medical device that could have a positive impact on the millions of people affected by AF. Since then, the company has raised $33 million toward achieving its goal. Read more about Kalil and CoreMap in Chelsea Edgar’s story “Tough AF: CoreMap CEO Sarah Kalil is building a better way to treat atrial fibrillation,” in this week’s Seven Days.

If CoreMap is able to grow in Vermont, the company could have a significant impact on the state’s economy. CoreMap’s analysis indicates that making even four percent more AF sufferers eligible for effective treatment could bring the company $1.4 billion in product revenue.

To do that, CoreMap must first navigate a complicated regulatory landscape. For help in that process, Kalil turned to another collaborator — a Shelburne resident who’d been through it all before: inventor, investor and philanthropist John Abele. 

In 1979, Abele famously cofounded medical device company Boston Scientific, driven by a conviction that medical interventions could be less invasive and more accessible. The company was one of the early manufacturers of ablation catheters — one of thousands of products it’s developed that now affect the lives of millions. A recipient of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Gold Medal Award, the group’s highest honor, Abele, who initially earned a degree in physics and philosophy at Amherst College, has received honorary degrees from several universities, including UVM. 

He’s renowned for his generosity. In 1997, Abele established the Argosy Foundation. Through it, he and his family have given away more than $100 million to organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Center for Biological Diversity, and local nonprofits, including COTS and Shelburne Farms.

Abele is also a champion of FIRST Robotics. He served as the U.S. chair of the organization from 2002 to 2010 and has supported FIRST teams in Vermont — including through a new, multi-year $375,000 grant. FIRST’s impact on local kids is the subject of Alison Novak’s story, “Machines With a Mission,” in Seven Days. 

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Covers for the Tech Issue and Tech Jam Program Guide

Read Up on the 2022 Presenters and Exhibitors

Find bios for all the exhibitors, get some background about our keynote presenters and read more about Vermont’s tech scene in the Tech Jam Program Guide and the Seven Days Tech Issue.

Program Guide
Tech Issue

I love Tech Jam!

Kylin Willis and Jabez Boyd

Our growing company, Biocogniv, leverages artificial intelligence to tackle sepsis, the leading cause of in-hospital death in the United States, as well as other acute conditions before they become irreversible. Our offices are in Burlington’s Hula coworking campus and when we found out the 2021 Vermont Tech Jam was happening here, we knew we had to participate.

Exhibiting at the Tech Jam paid off. We were fortunate to meet Kylin Willis, a biomedical engineering student from the University of Vermont, who stopped by our office to learn about Biocogniv. Not long after, she started as an intern and is now our latest full-time hire. We are thrilled to have her on the team and glad we were able to keep a recent graduate turned young professional in Vermont.

Our team is looking forward to the next Tech Jam at Hula in October.

Jabez Boyd
COO, Biocogniv Inc

Martine Rothblatt and Kyle Clark

I’ve attended as a job seeker and as an exhibitor on behalf of my employer, VEIC.

At my first Tech Jam, I was considering a career change into data analytics. The event gave me a chance to chat with recruiters and professionals in the field. Everyone I met was more than happy to offer advice and encouraged me to apply for jobs once I felt ready. I still remember having some great conversations with people from two companies that I hadn’t even been aware of previously: Greensea and MicroStrain (now Parker LORD). A couple years after my first visit to a Tech Jam — and after taking much of the free advice I got there — I found a position with VEIC that has been more satisfying than I could have expected.

In the years since, I’ve attended on behalf of VEIC. The Tech Jam is a great way to connect with people from all different fields — it’s surprising how often people in very different industries are facing analogous problems in data analytics. This event is a rare opportunity to meet people from a wide range of local companies all under the same roof. I look forward to it every year.

Mike Fink
VEIC energy data analyst

Jammers Unite!

Jammers Unite!

Job Seekers

Looking for work? Speak with recruiters from dozens of local tech companies looking to expand their teams. Update that résumé and start researching the companies you want to connect with. It’s time to get back in the ring.

Techies

Step away from the computer and chat with humans IRL. It’s rare to find so many like-minded individuals under one roof, so come connect with them and learn what they’ve been up to. You could come away with an awesome new idea or some help for that next big project.

Teachers & Parents

Plumber, doctor, artist and chef are all great career choices, but what about inventor, scientist and engineer? Bring your students to Tech Jam to show them future career paths they may not have known existed — especially in Vermont.

College Students

Looking for a job? Internship? Get that résumé up to date because dozens of local companies working in tech will be at the Jam and are ready to meet you. So go iron that button-down shirt and practice — you’ve got this!

Marvell
Hula
Vermont Information Processing
Norwich University
Vermont Technology Council
HPI - Health Plans Inc.
Data Innovations
Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman
Mascoma Bank
Gravel & Shea Attorneys at Law
Seven Days
Vermont Technology Alliance
Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development
Vermont Biz
WCAX
Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing

Tech Jam 2021

The Vermont Tech Jam career and tech expo, returned to Burlington on Saturday, October 23, 2021. The weather was perfect, and so was the timing. Dozens of employers came to Hula with open jobs to fill.

Roughly 1,000 mask-wearing Jammers wandered through the former oven factory to talk tech including job seekers, college students, entrepreneurs, FIRST robotics coaches and teachers — including Karen McCalla, the recently announced Vermont Teacher of the Year. Exhibitor space sold out; so did the afternoon session.

The Tech Jam concluded with a keynote presentation featuring Beta Technologies founder and CEO Kyle Clark and Beta’s first customer, Martine Rothblatt, CEO of United Therapeutics. They spoke to a standing-room-only crowd about their unique partnership, and where they see Beta going over the next few years. 

Watch the 2021 keynote

Thank you to our hosts at Hula, to our community partners and to the exhibitors for making this one of the best Tech Jams ever. Looking forward to Jamming again in 2022!

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