Remotely Piloted Systems Research Blog

 

This past Thursday (April 6) I had the pleasure of heading down to San Pedro for the IGNITE22, a first of its kind Tech Innovation throwdown designed to bring together folks from tech start-up, academia, and finance/Venture Capital worlds.  Billed as a tech showcase and collaborative experience by organizers Ann Carpenter & Jim Cooper of Braid Theory, this one-day meeting offered a chance to network, try out, and hear about specific current innovations and general trends in BioTech, AgTech, and BlueTech.

Overview Talks

I first met Ann and Jim at a meeting here in Ventura County (at our MAST facility in the Port of Hueneme…see Christina Birdsey’s talk below) where they invited our AARR Lab to attend the IGNITE22 event they were organizing.  We were also happy to be part of a strong cadre of scientists and engineers from the California State System under the umbrella of two of our chief innovation organizations: COAST (Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology) and CSUPERB (California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology).  Both our CSU groups were well represented at the event with numerous faculty and students showcasing their most recent work.

IGNITE22 was a nice blend of short talks from featured speakers, lighting talks from scientists and business leaders, and free time to explore tables harboring tech from many of our labs.  The space (CRAFTED at the Port of LA), a large cavernous warehouse) gave us a wonderful open floor plan that was functional and reinforced the conversations and mixing that this meeting sought to foster.  We wrapped up the day across the street at brouwerijwest brew pub for another few hours of great conversation with a host of folks.

Below are videos from several of the individual speakers’ presentations.  While I’ve posted these for my students back at CSU Channel Islands, many of you who were not able to attend may enjoy some or all of them.

BioTech

AgTech (and Resource Conservation)

Note: this group of speakers all focused on terrestrial agriculture and water resources.

It was awesome to see several friends a colleagues at IGNITE22, especially Dr. Subodh Bhandari and his lambmates from CalPoly Pomona.  Check out his very brief lightning talk below, which touches on a lot of the themes and work we our also working on here at CSU Channel Islands.

BlueTech

AltaSea is a consortium we happen to be members of, along with the other nine LA-area CSU campuses that comprise the Ocean Studies Institute (the core of the Southern California Marine Institute).  While we have been waiting a very loooooong time for the formal opening of our new AltaSea facilities in San Pedro, AltaSea is supposedly now poised to become a key node for public-private partnerships for innovation and science-based industry and management for the greater Los Angeles area.

In sum, it was another great networking opportunity.  We can’t wait to follow-up with so many of our potential new colleagues and partners we met at this San Pedro shindig!