Miral Kotb

<p>Miral Kotb is one of the entertainment world’s trail-blazing entrepreneurs—a software developer, dancer, and choreographer who found a way to combine her passion for writing code with her love of dance. Miral’s entertainment technology company, iLuminate, blends state-of-the-art tech with exhilarating dancers who perform in the dark and deliver the ultimate visual experience.</p><p>Because she worked in both software engineering and in dance, Miral’s entrepreneurial story punctuates the value of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.) She shares the challenges she faced in developing iLuminate and offers insight on how her she created a vibrant atmosphere of teamwork, collaboration, and co-inspiration. Miral inspires and encourages audiences to make the most of life by identifying the things they love and bringing them together. </p><p>The idea—dancers wearing costumes illuminated wirelessly to compliment the music—came to her while she was developing iPhone applications. That vision took audiences by storm in 2011 when America voted her dance-in-the-dark sensation to a top finalist position on<i> America’s Got Talent. </i></p><p>Since AGT, Miral has become an advocate for STEAM, women in computer science, and is a mentor for young women in coding. Her unprecedented technology, programming, choreography, and artistic direction have catapulted iLuminate into a mesmerizing international stage sensation. Miral has developed iLuminate programs for such Grammy-winning superstars as Chris Brown, Christina Aguilera, and The Black Eyed Peas. The technology has also been featured on <i>Dancing with the Stars, The American Music Awards, MTV’s Video Music Awards, </i>and others. </p>