Seven questions with Bartu Kaleagasi

This week, meet Bartu, a law student and a member of the

ucle.co/" target="_self">UCLU Entrepreneurs Society, who hails from Brussels, but conversely isn't a fan of chocolate. Bartu is also on the leadership committee for the Artificial Intelligence in Business and Entrepreneurship (AIBE) Summit on 4 February, which is being organised in conjunction with LSE Entrepreneurs.

What are you studying and when do you graduate?

I am now in my final year of Law at UCL, set to graduate in 2017. This year, I am also taking classes in Technology Management & Philosophy of Science as an intercollegiate student at LSE.

Why are you interested in this subject and what do you plan to do in the future?

As a general point, I am fascinated with understanding how things work. Law was my way of fulfilling this interest by exploring how society functions, through the lenses of politics, economics, business, and philosophy. Although it does involve studying a lot of specific legislation, it also pushes you to address some of the grand questions: What is law? How do we determine if a law is valid? Can morality be reconciled with this? What do we mean by justice? To what extent should business interests be weighed against public policy? What about economic interests against environmental policy?

Now, the next step of my adventure is to understand how the universe works. Once I graduate, I plan on studying computer science to complement my logical thinking skills from the legal realm with those in the technological realm. I also plan on continuing to learn more about physics and mathematics, as I have been doing at LSE, in an attempt to address yet another set of equally grand questions: What is the nature of reality? How does intelligence emerge from artificial neural networks? Are there exoplanets out there with astrobiology? How can we explain such elusive concepts as spacetime, consciousness, and quantum mechanics?

I have yet to draw a concrete end to my path, but the areas which interest me the most so far are technology, venture capital, and space exploration. Only time will tell where I end up!

What is the most interesting thing you've done, seen or got involved with while at UCL?

It would definitely have to be UCL Entrepreneurs. I was lucky enough to be on the society's leadership committee during the first two years of my studies, surrounded by some of the most creative and multi-talented people I've ever met. Not only did it give me a unique experience with startups and venture capital, but I also made some great friends along the way, with many shared interests and aspirations.

Last year, I managed our VC Fund which invests seed capital into startups at UCL, and we ended up winning NACUE's award for "Best Enterprise Society" in the UK. This year, the new committee has continued and even surpassed our legacy, organising talks with Tesla, Google Deepmind, Boston Dynamics, Seedcamp, Andrew McAfee, Blockchain, and Seedrs, as well as starting our own accelerator programme called Moonshot Launchpad.

Recently, I have also been involved with the UCLU Green Economy Society, which hosts a wide range of events related to sustainability in economics, business, and technology. As humanity continues to develop, it is very important that we retain our connection to the natural world and protect the Earth's environment at all costs.

Tell us more about your involvement in the AIBE Summit and what the event will entail:

The AIBE Summit is a conference on Artificial Intelligence in Business & Entrepreneurship. It is set to be the largest event of its kind ever to be held, taking place on the 4th of February at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre.

In the past few decades, the world has witnessed an astronomical rise in the pace of technological innovation. We believe that, out of all areas, the most defining one will be artificial intelligence. Within the next 5 years, it will begin to permeate its way into every aspect of our daily lives. Yet, very few people know how it works, or what impact it will have on businesses and startups.

Our speakers are some of the most distinguished AI academics and business leaders in the world, including Dr. Stephen Cave (Centre for the Future of Intelligence), Dr. Stefanos Zafeiriou (Imperial College), Ed Newton-Rex (Jukedeck), Dr. Carsten Sorensen (LSE), Calum Chace (bestselling author), Carlos Espinal (Seedcamp), Hugo Pinto (IBM Innovation), and Dr. Daniel Hulme (Satalia & UCL).

We also have an exciting line-up of exhibitions, including Tesla Motors (self-driving cars), Opto VR (virtual reality), Aiva Technologies (AI music composer), Aire (machine learning credit ratings), Your.MD (AI health assistant), Cyra (AI smart recruiter), Cyberlytic (risk/security intelligence), Bibblio (content recommendation), IntelligentX (AI-brewed beer), and more.

For those who may be interested in attending, tickets for the AIBE Summit 2017 are still available, visit our event page for more info and tickets.

Where is your favourite place on campus?

Although it may not be very original, it has to be the Main Quad for me. I find the combination of neo-classical architecture and natural elements to be quite awe-inspiring. Whenever it is even mildly sunny (or rather, not freezing), I grab some lunch from the UCL café and find a spot on the steps to enjoy the view, as well as the student-life atmosphere.

Aside from that, the Scandinavian section of the Main Library is a great place to study when you need some quiet time.

Give us your top three things to do/see/go to in London:

1. Regent's Park claims the top of my list. While it may get quite busy when the weather is nice, I always find it a relaxing place to be. The arrangement of paths, lakes, flowers, and trees is very creative, and it is surprising how much fresh air you can get despite being only minutes away from Central London. For those who enjoy biking like myself, the outer and inner circles are all you need!
2. The Royal Institution is my second pick. I first attended one of their talks this past September, and I enjoyed it so much that I immediately got a student membership. They present an absolutely fascinating array of subjects in an easily digestible format, including things like cosmology, astrobiology, quantum field theory, artificial intelligence, and philosophy. Once, I even got to meet a NASA astronaut! Highly recommended.
3. Finally, the London Science Museum deserves a spot. Last year, I attended their exhibition "Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age", which took us on a journey through the USSR's space program, all the way from Sputnik to Gagarin. They also have great viewings at their IMAX cinema, which is where I first watched the movie Interstellar.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

Although I'm from Brussels, I don't like chocolate. Yes, you heard that right. Sorry if I have offended anyone. I'm quite a fan of our beers and fries though, if that's any consolation!