We are officially on The Road to Intersect! Are you? Tickets are very nearly sold out, so get yours today before it’s too late!

Udacity - The Road To Intersect - David Silver

You may recall last year, when we debuted this rather unique interview series. We invited some of our distinguished speakers to chat on camera in advance of the conference, but the experience had a twist. Each conversation took place in “Carla”—Udacity’s own self-driving car!

These were wonderful interviews, and you can enjoy some of the 2017 highlights here.

This year, as we travel down the road towards Intersect 2018, we begin our interview series with none other than David Silver, the head of our Self-Driving Car Engineer Nanodegree program! This was a special opportunity to put David in a seat he doesn’t normally occupy—the passenger seat of a self-driving vehicle.

As he did last year, Udacity’s Director of Marketing Chris Morell plays host, but given who he’s interviewing, he turns the conversational reins over rather quickly, and David is pretty much off and running, talking about what is clearly his favorite subject in the world, our Self-Driving Car students!

You may have heard or read about the fact that students in this program actually get to run their own code on Carla. It’s true, and David describes in detail how this process works, and why it’s so important for building a career in this incredible field. He also provides insider answer to questions like “When will self-driving cars become a norm?” and “How far has this industry come since we were talking about self-driving cars at this time last year?”

You can watch David’s full interview below, or click here:

We’re thrilled that David will be hosting a Learning Workshop at Intersect 2018; here are the details:

This workshop will cover three topics. First, David Silver, head of Udacity’s Self-Driving Car Engineer Nanodegree program, will explain how self-driving cars work by sharing student projects. Next, you’ll learn from David how to successfully prepare for a job in the field, working for Udacity hiring partners like Mercedes-Benz, NVIDIA, Uber ATG, and more. Finally, David will be joined by a rep from Baidu, who will discuss their latest open self-driving platform, Apollo 2.0, and provide an update on the Apollo curriculum in development by Udacity and Baidu. If you’re interested in the world of self-driving cars, this is the workshop for you.

David joins an incredible roster of conference speakers that includes Aubrey Blanche (Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Atlassian); Eric Schmidt (Technical Advisor, Alphabet); Anne Toth (Head of Data Policy, World Economic Forum), and more!

Tickets are still available, but only barely. Get yours today, and when you assemble your personal conference itinerary, make sure to leave a little room in your schedule for this:

“We will have Carla there, and I’ll be giving rides to conference attendees, and you can get your first ride in a self-driving car if you’ve never tried it out before.” —David Silver

See you at Intersect 2018!

Christopher Watkins
Christopher Watkins
Christopher Watkins is Senior Writer and Chief Words Officer at Udacity. He types on a MacBook or iPad by day, and either an Underwood, Remington, or Royal by night. He carries a Moleskine everywhere.