A Recap of Upgrade Your Life III

Last week, Intel hosted thirteen digital influencers including some Intel Advisors to visit Intel’s Santa Clara campus for our third annual “Upgrade Your Life” event. Most of the attendees have not visited our campuses before so it was fun to show them first-hand what we do here at Intel.

Suzanne Fallender, director of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy, presented on Intel’s commitment to sustainability. She explained Intel’s latest Progress thru Processors campaign and how people can make a difference just by downloading a Facebook application that allows you to donate your computer’s spare processing power into computing energy for organizations seeking to fight disease and study climate change. If you want to check out the Facebook app, you can do so here. It’s a quick and simple download. Here’s a 30-second video of Suzanne Fallender at Upgrade Your Life III.

Senior Researcher at Intel Labs, Alex Zafiroglu, discussed her global research project on cars and mobile technologies. As part of her research, she interviewed hundreds of people from all over the world about what they keep in their cars, and how it relates to the future of technology. Here’s a 30-second video of Alex Zafiroglu at Upgrade Your Life III.

Intel Fellow and Director of Health Innovation and Policy, Eric Dishman, joined us via Skype to talk about his research on healthcare, aging, and technology. Eric’s research revolves around how we can keep seniors in their homes longer and improve their quality of life.

We also hosted a “speed dating” lunch with a few female Intel executives who spoke about their career trajectories, goals, current projects, and how they manage both their personal and professional lives.

Later, attendees were able to explore Intel’s Innovation Open House, which showcases the latest technology developments in mobility, healthcare, education, sustainability, and fitness.

Photo from Maggie Mason’s Flickr
Pictured above, this affordable scale attaches to prescription bottles, which then connects wirelessly to a computer to indicate whether someone has taken their medication that day.

Photo from Jeff Sass’ Flickr
Pictured above, this Home Energy Monitor is designed as a command center to monitor your entire home’s energy activity. It can help identify which areas within your home consume the most energy so you can see what steps to take to manage and reduce your overall utility costs.

Photo from Jeff Sass’ Flickr
Pictured above, Dr. Joya Chatterjee is demonstrating how to use the Classmate PC.

Our day at Intel concluded with an inspirational session on education presented by Dr. Joya Chatterjee, who helped launch the Intel Education Service Corps. She talked about her experience traveling around the world, from Bangladesh to Vietnam, to teach students everyday life skills. Here’s a 30-second video of Dr. Joya Chatterjee at Upgrade Your Life III.

Photo from Jeff Sass’ Flickr 
After our educational and inspiring day at the Intel campus, we headed to downtown San Jose and participated in an Amazing Race-like mobile scavenger hunt called the “Go Game.” Each attendee was put into teams and asked to create short funny videos about an Intel product of the future, take paparazzi photos, and solve difficult missions.

Many thanks to our speakers and attendees for making this day possible:
• Intel Advisor Alli Worthington of Blissfully Domestic
• Annie Wang of Her Campus
• Catherine Connors of Her Bad Mother
• Christen Rochon of Divas and Dorks: check out her thoughts on Upgrade Your Life here
• Intel Advisor Jeff Sass of Dad-O-Matic: check out his video here and his Flickr
• Jessica Benton of That Tech Chick
• Judie Stanford of Gear Diary: check out her Upgrade Your Life post here
• Lori Cunningham of Well Connected Mom
• Intel Advisor Maggie Mason of Mighty Girl: check out her Upgrade Your Life experience here and Flickr
• Intel Advisor Michael Sheehan of HighTechDad: check out his video here and his Flickr
• Michelle Martini of Care2
• Stephanie Elie of Bizzie Mommy
• Susan Carraretto of 5 Minutes for Mom