Smartest People in Philadelphia: 13 technologists Philly mag highlights

Vijay Kumar, Penn robotics professor, whom Philly Mag named one of the smartest people in Philadelphia. Photo by Jonathan Barkat via Philly Mag.

We don’t need to tell you, but yeah, duh: the Philly tech scene is full of insanely smart people. So it’s no surprise that the community had a strong showing in Philadelphia Magazine‘s list of more than 30 of The Smartest People in Philadelphia.

Here’s a recap of the tech scene mentions, along with a few newer faces. Also, don’t miss the whole category of Philly’s smartest in Medicine, which we’re not listing here, and the magazine’s cover story on eight big trends that are reshaping Philadelphia, which includes various innovations.

• Vijay Kumar: The Penn robotics professor built the university’s GRASP Laboratories, a robotics research lab, and is known for his popular TED talk on his quadrotors, or small, flying robots.
• Frank Lee: Lee is the co-director of Drexel’s game design program. His students won the worldwide Microsoft Imagine Cup this year.
• Youngjin Yoo: The Temple professor heads both Temple’s Urban Apps and Maps Studio, where students can create civic apps, and its Center for Design and Innovation.
• Evan Rosenbaum: This Penn student is working on an e-reader venture, and as PhillyMag reports, has already raised a seed round.
• Puneet Mashehwari: Read our previous coverage of DocASAP, Mashehwari’s on-demand doctors’ appointment startup.
• Robert Cheetham: CEO of Callowhill GIS firm Azavea, here’s just taste of what Cheetham has been working on recently: Hacks4Democracy politics hackathon, expanding OpenTreeMap with a National Science Foundation grant and a potential Philadelphia Inquirer collaboration.
• Richard Vague: Here are some tips for entrepreneurs from the local venture capitalist and former credit card mogul.
• Josh Kopelman: The First Round Capital managing director who, of course, moved the venture capital firm into the city proper. Find our recent coverage of Kopelman here.
• Bob Adelson: Read our previous coverage of Osage University Partners, which Adelson heads.
• Wayne Kimmel: Kimmel is a managing partner at investment firm Artists & Instigators, which backed social gaming startup Ryzing that was acquired this summer.
• Alex Gilliam: Gilliam’s Public Workshop will be part of the upcoming Department of Making and Doing in NextFab‘s University City space.
• David Clayton & Dan Schimmel: The team behind Breadboard’s Art in the Air series is still going strong.

Technology, digital arts and innovation has made its way into Phillymag through its of Best of Philly series in recent years, and there was a 2010 cover story on the tech scene, though it had some problems.