From electric skateboards to self-driving cars: Schulich Leader James Xu is the future of getting around
![James Xu working at a laptop in front of a window. He wears a Waabi t-shirt and a Schulich Leader baseball cap.](https://defygravitycampaign.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/James-at-Home_top-1024x1024.jpg)
Before he was old enough to get his driver’s license, James Xu (BASc 2021) wanted to find a quicker way of getting to and from high school.
Most kids his age would have taken the bus or just walked a little faster. Xu built an electric skateboard.
“I’ve always been interested in mobility and how people can get around more efficiently,” says the now-25-year-old. “That’s also why I started volunteering as a sit-ski instructor for youth with disabilities—trying to answer that question of how we can help people with physical and mental disabilities move around and have a better quality of life.”