UP.Summit Awards
Each year, the firm I helped co-found hosts an dynamic event titled the UP.Summit. The event is curated by my partner Cyrus Sigari, and attracts an eclectic audience from around the globe. Cyrus chooses a deserving individual that has had an outsized impact in their respective field during the calendar year. Somehow, I got roped into designing the awards, which have gotten more elaborate with each passing year.
In 2023, the award went to JB Straubel, the co-founder of Tesla, and the founder of Redwood Materials for his leadership in the EV revolution. The award was a riff on James Watt's invention of the Geneva Wheel which converts continuous motion to intermittent motion. This was incredibly fitting for a variety of reasons - JB is arguably the modern Watt, and definitively a leader in creating a circular economy in mobility.
In 2024, the award went to Jared Isaacman, an entrepreneur, pilot, and astronaut. Jared had recently returned from leading the Polaris Dawn mission, and performing the first spacewalk by a civilian astronaut, all while raising hundreds of millions for St. Jude Children's Hospital. He is a brave, accomplished, and interesting person. I chose to try and capture the beauty of flight through a robotic sculpture. I believe I was successful in some small way as when the gift was first actuated, one of the astronauts (Anna Menon) turned to me and said, "That looks exactly like I felt the first time we were weightless."
In 2023, the award went to JB Straubel, the co-founder of Tesla, and the founder of Redwood Materials for his leadership in the EV revolution. The award was a riff on James Watt's invention of the Geneva Wheel which converts continuous motion to intermittent motion. This was incredibly fitting for a variety of reasons - JB is arguably the modern Watt, and definitively a leader in creating a circular economy in mobility.
In 2024, the award went to Jared Isaacman, an entrepreneur, pilot, and astronaut. Jared had recently returned from leading the Polaris Dawn mission, and performing the first spacewalk by a civilian astronaut, all while raising hundreds of millions for St. Jude Children's Hospital. He is a brave, accomplished, and interesting person. I chose to try and capture the beauty of flight through a robotic sculpture. I believe I was successful in some small way as when the gift was first actuated, one of the astronauts (Anna Menon) turned to me and said, "That looks exactly like I felt the first time we were weightless."
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