Tech shows its fun side at YoCWR’s opening week

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Year of Code Waterloo Region drew 1,300 people to its launch and tech showcase July 4 at Kitchener City Hall.

EthanDerouchie YoCWRlaunch — Ethan Derouchie, 9, tries out a virtual-reality demonstration at the Year of Code Waterloo Region launch and tech showcase July 4 at Kitchener City Hall. The demonstration that caught Ethan’s eye was put on by REAP (Research Entrepreneurs Accelerating Prosperity), a University of Waterloo project based in the Felt Lab at Quarry Integrated Communications, St. Jacobs.

That wrapped up a strong opening week for the project, which seeks to help more people in Waterloo Region understand the technology they use to manage their lives. YoCWR set the timer July 1 at Canada Day celebrations at the University of Waterloo.

YoCWR launch1 — A yoga-ball-tossing robot proved to be a big crowd-pleaser at the Year of Code Waterloo Region launch July 4. Students at St. David Catholic Secondary School in Waterloo, Ont., built the machine.

“We are absolutely thrilled with how the launch went today,’’ YoCWR director Stephanie Rozek said at the tech showcase. “We had way more people than we thought we would. The kids are happy, and we have just insane technology chaos.”

Independently developed and managed, YoCWR joined Capacity Canada as an associated agency last month. The project set itself four key goals for 2015-2016:

Tech education to increase digital literacy for all;
Community engagement through tech and tech literacy;
Broaden diversity by raising the representation in the tech sector of women, minorities and people with social and mental health challenges;
Advance Waterloo Region’s global position as a leading technology centre.

YoCWR will invite people to explore such things the emerging field of 3-D printing, the computer languages (or code) behind how things work in the digital world, and the art of writing secure passwords.

The July 4 showcase brought out several companies thriving in Waterloo Region’s tech ecosystem.

IanGeorgeYoCWRlaunch — Ian George, 8, fixes his attention on a robotic spider built by Conestoga College students. The college participated in the July 4 launch of Year of Code Waterloo Region, a project that wants to broaden the understanding of the technology people use every day.

Participants included Binary Tattoo, a company that helps people understand — and make use of — the digital trail their online activity creates; Clearpath Robotics, a maker of autonomous vehicles for land, air and water; and engineering students from the University of Waterloo, promoting UWaterloo’s Catalyst programs and ESQ (Engineering Science Quest) camps for young learners.

Families meandered from booth to booth, trying out basic technology that leads to bigger, useful things. Though vastly separated by size and function, the cart-sized robots that Clearpath builds share digital DNA with smaller models that rolled around on tabletops elsewhere at the showcase.