The Man Behind the Voice Summit

Joel Bloom, the president of NJIT, is doing his part to establish Newark as the world capital of advancing technology. In July, he brought MODEV’s VOICE Summit to NJIT, winning bids against New York and Los Angeles, among other cities.

The groundbreaking event focused on emerging voice technology, also called natural language programming—the same tech that powers iPhone’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. MODEV, a leading tech community, chose to hold their summit in the heart of NJIT specifically because of its leadership in tech innovation.

“Our goal is to get people to recognize Newark,” Dr. Bloom said. “The summit brought nearly 3,000 people to our campus from eight countries. And we partnered with the city and the convention bureau to make sure this was lucrative for Newark.”

Part of Dr. Bloom’s focus as the president of NJIT is equity—he wants to make sure developing tech benefits Newark and its residents rather than displacing them or leaving them behind. He has been working toward this mission since he became NJIT’s president in 2011, rising from his previous position as Dean of the Honors College.

“We’re working to close the digital divide,” Dr. Bloom said, referring to the university’s pre-college programs and recruitment outreach activities that target women and minorities, two groups that are vastly underrepresented in STEM fields. The university is also cooperating closely with Newark’s administration on the Smart

City kiosks, improving the quality of life for city residents and training a highly-paid workforce to upkeep and innovate the city’s tech infrastructure.

NJIT is in a growth trajectory. More students enroll every semester. More research grants are bestowed and more projects are started every year. The university has hired more than 100 new faculty members, and it has just added over a million square feet of new facilities. NJIT’s growth is having a significant impact on Newark as well as the entire state of New Jersey, both economically and socially.

“This is the best job in the world!” said an optimistic Dr. Bloom. “I’m looking forward to all the great work we have yet to do.” —Rose

Driscoll