Education (Colleges & Universities)
Here's a look at documents from public, private and community colleges in the U.S.
Featured Stories
University of Chicago: Hawaiian Surfers Who Exposed Bias in Science
CHICAGO, Illinois, Oct. 11 -- The University of Chicago issued the following news:
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Hawaiian surfers who exposed bias in science
In 'Capturing Kahanamoku,' UChicago historian Michael Rossi explores how a 1920s anthropological obsession reshaped ideas about culture and science
By Sarah Steimer
In a time when the world was changing fast for indigenous Hawaiians, Duke Kahanamoku was already becoming a legend.
Best known today as the father of modern surf culture, Kahanamoku entered the public eye as an Olympic champion swimmer and charismatic lifeguard. By the 1920s, a little more than
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CHICAGO, Illinois, Oct. 11 -- The University of Chicago issued the following news:
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Hawaiian surfers who exposed bias in science
In 'Capturing Kahanamoku,' UChicago historian Michael Rossi explores how a 1920s anthropological obsession reshaped ideas about culture and science
By Sarah Steimer
In a time when the world was changing fast for indigenous Hawaiians, Duke Kahanamoku was already becoming a legend.
Best known today as the father of modern surf culture, Kahanamoku entered the public eye as an Olympic champion swimmer and charismatic lifeguard. By the 1920s, a little more thantwo decades after Hawaii had been annexed by the United States, Kahanamoku was known far from the islands for his sleek athleticism.
But his profile also attracted a more peculiar attention--and eventually became the focus of eugenicists. For his new book Capturing Kahanamoku, Assoc. Prof. Michael Rossi unearths the story of how leading anthropologists tried to square the surfer's apparent "perfect" form with his being from an "uncivilized" race.
In Duke and his brother David Kahanamoku, scientists saw both a marvel and a mystery. But in their myopic focus, Rossi said, their inquiry completely "missed the biggest breakthrough from the Kahanamoku brothers: the invention of surf culture."
"There's a question of what can we see with science--and what viewpoints are obscured," said Rossi, a scholar of the history of medicine at the University of Chicago. "Part of the major fulcrum of the book is that these guys are popularizing surfing, but they're also talented musicians and they're hustlers," he added. "Even as they're are carving out a space in a really new world, trying to cope with the bustling economy of Hawaii in the 1920s, the scientists who are supposedly studying them in their entirety can only see them as 'primitive' people.'"
Rossi stumbled upon anthropologists' obsession with the Kahanamoku brothers while working on a project about the blue whale model in the Museum of Natural History in New York City.
In going through the museum's exhibitions archives--largely a process of flipping through people's mail, Rossi says--he came across a note about sending a copy of a plaster cast of David Kahanamoku's body to a museum at Yale University.
It was relatively unusual for individual people to be referred to in anthropological records of the time, Rossi says, which caught his attention. He learned that David was the brother of the famous surfer Duke, but questioned why someone would want his cast.
Years after finding the note, Rossi returned to the archives to piece a history together.
The note came from an era when Henry Fairfield Osborn, a paleontologist who later co-founded the American Eugenics Society, was the president of the American Museum of Natural History. In searching the museum's archives, Rossi found a letter that briefly mentioned that Osborn received a surfing lesson from Duke Kahanamoku.
Osborn had visited Hawaii, after which he made an impromptu speech in San Francisco about how indigenous Hawaiians were dying at alarming rates because they held little resistance to imported diseases--in this case, the 1918 influenza pandemic.
He told his audience to prepare for the extinction of indigenous Hawaiians. But Osborn seemed captivated by Duke Kahanamoku, whose physical power seemed to gesture at the past greatness of the human form and maybe the future perfection of "civilized" humans.
In verifying the connections between the men, Rossi determined that Osborn's time in Hawaii aligned with Duke Kahanamoku's schedule, using dates in Osborn's notebook and Hawaiian newspaper reports about the local celebrity's appearances.
After his visit, Osborn asked a young physical anthropologist, Louis R. Sullivan, to conduct research on Hawaiians. Sullivan sent back meticulous, detailed reports, which Rossi was able to mine. He also pieced together much about Duke's life via the Hawaii State Archives, which holds the surfer's answers to fan mail and newspaper reports that mention him.
Spending as much time as he did with his subject's letters--seeing their personalities and understanding how they were immersed in their own worlds--allowed Rossi to tell a story infused with humanity, rather than just an institutional history.
The story of Osborn and the Kahanamoku brothers is a parable, he said, "about how an overly narrow mode of inquiry--asking questions that give just one answer--can attenuate our sense of the greater moral world around us."
"Science is a terrific tool and a powerful way of knowing about the world, but it works best when paired with philosophy, with art, with broader inquiry," Rossi said.
The book comes around, in a sense, with Harry Lionel Shapiro, the scientist who took over Sullivan's work at the American Museum after he died in 1925. After all his measurements and studies, Shapiro eventually put eugenics aside in favor of a more multicultural view.
"At the time, culture was seen as a ladder and most authorities assumed that you can't have multiple different kinds of cultures," Rossi said. "The research program that started with Kahanamoku ends up producing the notion of culture that can accommodate different ways of being people."
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This article was originally published on the UChicago Department of History website (https://socialsciences.uchicago.edu/news/new-book-throws-light-cultural-blind-spots-science).
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Original text here: https://news.uchicago.edu/story/hawaiian-surfers-who-exposed-bias-science
University of Birmingham: West Midlands Event Showcases Transformative Impact of Social Science Research on People and Places
BIRMINGHAM, England, Oct. 11 (TNSrpt) -- The University of Birmingham issued the following news:
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West Midlands event showcases transformative impact of social science research on people and places
The event marked the launch of a new report published by the Academy of Social Sciences, in partnership with eight Midlands-based universities.
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A new report demonstrating the positive impact of social science research on the Midlands region was launched at an event hosted by the University of Birmingham, University of Warwick and Aston University.
'Social sciences in the region, for the
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BIRMINGHAM, England, Oct. 11 (TNSrpt) -- The University of Birmingham issued the following news:
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West Midlands event showcases transformative impact of social science research on people and places
The event marked the launch of a new report published by the Academy of Social Sciences, in partnership with eight Midlands-based universities.
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A new report demonstrating the positive impact of social science research on the Midlands region was launched at an event hosted by the University of Birmingham, University of Warwick and Aston University.
'Social sciences in the region, for theregion: the Midlands' is published by the Academy of Social Sciences, in partnership with eight Midlands-based universities. The report explores practical social science research that uses innovative, collaborative, and multi-disciplinary ways of working to bring real benefits to the region. The featured case studies, from across the different Midlands universities, highlight the vital role of higher education partnering with regional government, businesses, and communities to stimulate opportunities for growth and respond to long-standing economic and social challenges.
The event gave attendees the opportunity to delve deeper into three of the nine case studies. Professor Monder Ram from Aston University discussed the Boosting Productivity from Below project. The project aimed to address the significant barriers to growth and productivity faced by ethnic minority owned microbusinesses, including limited access to resources, support networks and tailored business advice. Although microbusinesses are a vital part of the economy, contributing an estimated pound sterling55 billion in turnover, they are often overlooked in policy. The research conducted by social scientists, in collaboration with practitioner partners and local businesses in the West Midlands, led to several programmes to support microbusinesses and interventions to promote inclusive economic growth in the region.
The following case study, presented by Professor Rebecca Riley from the University of Birmingham, told the story of the West Midlands Regional Economic Development Institute (WMREDI). Regional policymakers often lack the information and analysis to help identify the most impactful investments for their region. Although universities are a major source of the knowledge and skills required for this, there was no bridge through which this research could reach policymakers. WMREDI was created to bridge this gap, providing evidence-led analysis of the various challenges and issues facing the West Midlands to inform and guide policy choices. This work was a huge collaborative effort between universities, local authorities and public bodies in the West Midlands region and has led to multi-million-pound investments boosting the regional economy in the face of challenges including Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The third case study was presented by Professor Nigel Driffield from Warwick Business School. The case study sought to understand the drivers of productivity and performance in the West Midlands. In 2019, labour productivity in the West Midlands was 11% below the UK average, and 33% lower than London. Following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, of the ten hardest hit districts in the UK, four were in Warwickshire. To support policymakers in addressing this productivity puzzle, Warwick Business School and the Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick, in collaboration with City-REDI at the University of Birmingham, identified factors contributing to this productivity gap and informed interventions to boost productivity and grow the regional economy.
Professor Nick Vaughan-Williams, Interim Provost and Vice-Principal at the University of Birmingham, said: "This report showcases for the first time the tangible benefits of applied, collaborative, interdisciplinary social science in a regional context. The starting point is that social sciences have a unique role to play in delivering the civic mission of Universities as regional anchor institutions: to understand and improve how people live and experience their lives.
"Taken together, the case studies evidence how social scientists across the Midlands are addressing socio-economic challenges including regional growth and development, workforce planning, the productivity puzzle, physical and mental health in the workplace, transportation and inequality, and poverty reduction.
"The report could not be timelier because these challenges are of course among those identified as priorities for action in the West Midlands Growth Plan, launched by Mayor Richard Parker in July."
Professor James Hayton, Vice-Provost, Chair of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Warwick, said: "We in social science collectively help society to sense and understand problems. Social sciences emphasises the essential relational dimension of collaboration with all stakeholders. It is vital that we work to futureproof social sciences and aim to create a future rather than predict it."
Professor Zoe Radnor, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean for the College of Business and Social Sciences at Aston University, said: "It was an absolute pleasure to co-host the event with Nick and James showcasing the brilliant place-based applied research from our three Universities. All the case studies highlighted the importance of carrying out social science research in the region for the region to address inequalities and build resilience. Importantly, to ensure we remember the human amongst the current loud voices and focus on technology and AI."
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REPORT: https://acss.org.uk/wp-content/uploads//Social-sciences-in-the-region-for-the-region-the-Midlands-for-website.pdf
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Original text here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/west-midlands-event-showcases-transformative-impact-of-social-science-research-on-people-and-places
Troy University Panhellenic Council and SHORT The Squirrel Delivered Books Across the Community
TROY, Alabama, Oct. 11 -- Troy University issued the following news on Oct. 10, 2025:
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Troy University Panhellenic Council and SHORT The Squirrel Delivered Books Across the Community
Troy University's Panhellenic Council partnered with SHORT The Squirrel, Alabama's Literacy Mascot, for a two-day community book distribution on October 6 and 7. The project was part of an ongoing partnership aimed at promoting literacy and encouraging children to read while waiting in offices and clinics across Troy.
Earlier in the year, as part of Panhellenic Spirit Week, members from each of TROY's six
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TROY, Alabama, Oct. 11 -- Troy University issued the following news on Oct. 10, 2025:
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Troy University Panhellenic Council and SHORT The Squirrel Delivered Books Across the Community
Troy University's Panhellenic Council partnered with SHORT The Squirrel, Alabama's Literacy Mascot, for a two-day community book distribution on October 6 and 7. The project was part of an ongoing partnership aimed at promoting literacy and encouraging children to read while waiting in offices and clinics across Troy.
Earlier in the year, as part of Panhellenic Spirit Week, members from each of TROY's sixsororities collected hundreds of new children's books. Those books were delivered to six local organizations--the Pike County Child Advocacy Center, Troy Resilience Center, Warren Behavioral Clinic, Kids First Pediatrics, Oak Park Dental, and Vision Center South of Troy.
Dr. Dee Bennett, SHORT The Squirrel Co-Founder and Troy University Associate Professor, said the effort represented the power of collaboration and leadership among Greek women. "The group project allowed our Greek women to collaborate and exercise servant leadership while helping our next generation of readers," she said.
Each sorority had members present at the deliveries to help distribute books and engage with community partners. For many students, the opportunity to serve locally was one of the most rewarding aspects of the initiative. "It was super rewarding to be able to go and serve within the community because you really got to see it with your own eyes," said Keeley Bulman, a member of Alpha Gamma Delta.
Community partners were equally excited to welcome the group. At Warren Behavioral Clinic, Office Manager Kanesha Burnett said, "We have a lot of kids who come here, so being able to offer them books to read while they wait is wonderful. These small moments of engagement help turn what can be an anxious wait into a positive experience. I hope we can continue collaborating on projects like this that truly benefit our visitors."
Sidney Armstrong Kane, Coordinator of Student Engagement and Leadership, said the project highlighted the University's shared values of service and education. "We loved partnering with SHORT The Squirrel because it gave our chapters a meaningful way to serve the community during Spirit Week and make an impact before recruitment began. This partnership not only supports literacy but also strengthens the connection between our students and the Troy community, which is at the heart of what Panhellenic life represents," she said.
The two-day delivery marked another step in the growing partnership between Troy University's Panhellenic Council and SHORT The Squirrel--turning waiting time into reading time for children across the community.
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Original text here: https://today.troy.edu/news/troy-university-panhellenic-council-and-short-the-squirrel-delivered-books-across-the-community/
McGill University: Injectable Gel Shows Promise as Voice Loss Treatment
MONTREAL, Quebec, Oct. 11 (TNSjou) -- McGill University issued the following news release:
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New injectable gel shows promise as voice loss treatment
McGill team develops hydrogel that outlasted current treatments in a preclinical study, a step toward reducing the need for repeat procedures
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McGill University researchers have engineered a new hydrogel that shows early promise as a treatment for people with vocal cord injuries.
Voice loss is often permanent when scarring forms on the vocal cords. Current injectable treatments break down quickly, which can force patients to get repeated
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MONTREAL, Quebec, Oct. 11 (TNSjou) -- McGill University issued the following news release:
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New injectable gel shows promise as voice loss treatment
McGill team develops hydrogel that outlasted current treatments in a preclinical study, a step toward reducing the need for repeat procedures
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McGill University researchers have engineered a new hydrogel that shows early promise as a treatment for people with vocal cord injuries.
Voice loss is often permanent when scarring forms on the vocal cords. Current injectable treatments break down quickly, which can force patients to get repeatedprocedures that can further damage the delicate tissue.
In a preclinical study published in the journal Biomaterials, the scientists report that their new gel resisted breakdown for weeks in lab and animal tests, outlasting current injectable materials and giving vocal cords a better chance to heal.
The gel is made from natural tissue proteins processed into a powder and converted into a gel. To make it last longer, the team used a process called click chemistry.
"This process is what makes our approach unique," said co-senior author Maryam Tabrizian, professor in McGill's Department of Biomedical Engineering and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Nanomedicine and Regenerative Medicine.
It acts like a molecular glue, locking the material together so it doesn't fall apart too quickly once injected."
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Causes and prevalence of voice loss
Vocal cord injuries are especially common among older adults who have acid reflux or who smoke, and people who use their voices professionally, such as singers, teachers and radio hosts.
Roughly one in 13 adults experiences a voice disorder each year, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Senior author Nicole Li-Jessen, a clinician-scientist as well as a pianist who works with singers, has seen first-hand how devastating voice loss can be for performers.
"People take their voices for granted but losing it can deeply affect mental health and quality of life, especially for those whose livelihoods depend on it," said Li-Jessen, associate professor in McGill's School of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Personalized Medicine of Upper Airway Health and Diseases.
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Next steps
The researchers are now looking to test the gel in computer simulations that mimic how it behaves in the body. Once those results are validated, they hope to move toward human trials. If successful, the work could pave the way for a minimally invasive, longer-lasting treatment for voice loss.
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About the study
"Click tetrazine dECM-alginate hydrogels for injectable, mechanically mimetic, and biologically active vocal fold biomaterials" by Mika Brown, Hideaki Okuyama, Ling Li, Zhen Yang, Jianyu Li, Maryam Tabrizian and Nicole Li-Jessen was published in Biomaterials.
The research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Canada Research Chair research stipends.
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Original text here: https://www.mcgill.ca/channels/channels/news/new-injectable-gel-shows-promise-voice-loss-treatment-368268
K-State's Bilbrey Family Event Center Boosts Student, Community Opportunities
MANHATTAN, Kansas, Oct. 11 -- Kansas State University issued the following news:
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K-State's Bilbrey Family Event Center boosts student, community opportunities
University plans to host up to 40 events per year in the new center.
By Pat Melgares
The opening of Kansas State University's Bilbrey Family Event Center provides obvious benefits for the university's equine and livestock sciences, but the facility also expands the university's educational and engagement capabilities in Manhattan, the state of Kansas and beyond.
The first facility to be completed in K-State's $210 million Agriculture
... Show Full Article
MANHATTAN, Kansas, Oct. 11 -- Kansas State University issued the following news:
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K-State's Bilbrey Family Event Center boosts student, community opportunities
University plans to host up to 40 events per year in the new center.
By Pat Melgares
The opening of Kansas State University's Bilbrey Family Event Center provides obvious benefits for the university's equine and livestock sciences, but the facility also expands the university's educational and engagement capabilities in Manhattan, the state of Kansas and beyond.
The first facility to be completed in K-State's $210 million AgricultureInnovation Initiative had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 10 at the site, located on the north side of the Manhattan campus off Kimball Avenue.
The Bilbrey Family Event Center features the 130-by-250-foot Tee Jay Quarter Horses Walker Family Arena with bleacher seating for 3,000 people as well as stock pens, a staging area, covered livestock wash racks, an office and meeting room, restrooms with showers, a first aid and security room, a lobby area with concession capabilities and a VIP lounge overlooking the arena.
Teresa Douthit, the interim department head of animal sciences and industry, said the center will allow the university to extend learning outside of a classroom.
"We will use this facility to support and demonstrate concepts introduced in our courses," Douthit said. "The Bilbrey Family Event Center will facilitate live animal demonstrations and observations and allow learners to practice skills through clinics and hands-on activities that can't be accomplished in a lecture hall."
K-State already has plans to hold some university classes at the center beginning in the spring 2026 semester.
Designed for outreach and engagement
With the center ready for use, it opens doors for the university to attract new events, visitors and partners from around the region and throughout the U.S. K-State plans to host approximately 40 events annually at the Bilbrey Family Event Center.
These activities include popular university events -- among them the K-State Rodeo, Little American Royal, Cattlemen's Day, Junior Beef Producer Days and Swine Day -- in addition to new youth activities and industry events.
"The Bilbrey Family Event Center represents Kansas State University's commitment to serving not just our students, but communities across Kansas and the entire region," said K-State President Richard Linton. "This facility will welcome thousands of young people each year through 4-H competitions, FFA events and livestock shows -- many of whom will experience our campus for the first time and discover the opportunities that await them in agriculture."
Student organizations will also be able to present educational demonstrations, learning opportunities and community programs at the center.
Dan Moser, interim Eldon Gideon dean of the College of Agriculture, said the new facility will attract many future students to the Manhattan campus and community.
"We greatly appreciate the support of our donors to grow awareness of our academic programs and the many career opportunities in agriculture and natural resources," Moser said.
The Bilbrey Family Event Center is possible through the support of individuals and corporate partners, including JP and Teresa Bilbrey of the Doubling Gap Ranch in Newville, Pennsylvania, for whom the facility is named.
"By creating a venue where industry leaders, K-State Extension educators and families can come together, we're strengthening the vital connection between the university and the agricultural communities we're proud to serve," Linton said. "This is exactly the kind of investment that fulfills our land-grant mission and creates lasting value for all Kansans."
Students say rodeo facilities are 'amazing'
Madeline Meyer, president of the K-State Rodeo team, which hosts a major indoor event each February, said the competition arena is "absolutely amazing."
"Every detail has been thoughtfully designed, from the beautiful roping and bucking chutes to the seating, concessions and even the footing within the arena," said Meyer, a senior from Ellensburg, Washington, who competes in breakaway roping.
"One of the biggest advantages we have now with the opening of this facility is the opportunity to practice year-round," she said. "With Kansas weather, we often face extreme cold, heat or rainfall, which can make training very difficult. Having a climate-controlled, dry practice space all year long is incredibly valuable for the growth and development of our athletes."
Alli Nippert, a junior from Copan, Oklahoma, who also competes in breakaway roping, called the Bilbrey Family Event Center "the nicest rodeo facility in the region."
"That is huge for recruiting and for our current team," Nippert said. "It gives us consistent, high-quality practices no matter the weather, and it really elevates what it means to be part of the K-State Rodeo team."
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Original text here: https://www.k-state.edu/news/articles/2025/10/bilbrey-family-event-center-boosts-student-community-opportunities.html
Barnard College: Leaning Into What You Don't Know With 'The Curiosity Initiative'
NEW YORK, Oct. 11 -- Barnard College issued the following news on Oct. 10, 2025:
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Leaning Into What You Don't Know with 'The Curiosity Initiative'
Starting this month, Barnard College students will have the opportunity to learn from scholars who examine curiosity across multiple disciplines and methods. These lectures are part of The Curiosity Initiative, a multi-year series of public talks and communities of practice designed to explore the conditions that shape people's desire to know, learn, and explore with one another.
The newly-launched Curiosity Initiative, spearheaded by the Center
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NEW YORK, Oct. 11 -- Barnard College issued the following news on Oct. 10, 2025:
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Leaning Into What You Don't Know with 'The Curiosity Initiative'
Starting this month, Barnard College students will have the opportunity to learn from scholars who examine curiosity across multiple disciplines and methods. These lectures are part of The Curiosity Initiative, a multi-year series of public talks and communities of practice designed to explore the conditions that shape people's desire to know, learn, and explore with one another.
The newly-launched Curiosity Initiative, spearheaded by the Centerfor Engaged Pedagogy and the Office of the Provost with generous support from Jane Jelenko '70, will offer Barnard students opportunities to explore the complexities of curiosity from a range of disciplinary perspectives and across many different practices. It's one of the many ways Barnard is preparing students to encounter unfamiliar ideas, challenge what they already know, and pursue questions with openness and courage.
"Our aim with The Curiosity Initiative is to create venues for our students to share the individual and field-specific curiosity that each of us carry," said Provost and Dean of the Faculty Rebecca L. Walkowitz. "We will then bring those insights into conversation, so that students can learn from one another's perspectives and deepen their sense of connection. Through this process, we will be encouraging our whole community to engage with complex ideas and to cultivate curiosity about what is new, different, challenging, and unfamiliar - always in ways that help us grow together."
"I'm particularly excited for us to engage with and build on the transdisciplinary field of inquiry known as curiosity studies," said Senior Associate Director of the Center for Engaged Pedagogy Alex Pittman. "This field has been attuned not only to the practical aspects of how people pursue their desires to learn, but also to what we might call the social and political dynamics of curiosity--or the ways that we have to think critically about the interpersonal relations and institutional contexts that shape our abilities to conduct inquiry. The programming that makes up The Curiosity Initiative aims to hold both of these parts together and to draw the insights of faculty, students, and staff into conversation about the practice and conditions of curiosity today."
Be Bold, Be Curious
Over the next two academic years, the program will invite the Barnard community to ask bold questions: What does curiosity look like across different academic fields? How do professors nurture curiosity in classrooms, labs, and studios? And how do we reshape our curiosity when we are caring for others or navigating moments of conflict?
The Curiosity Initiative will highlight and build on the many ways our community is already engaging curiosity as a pedagogical practice, a driver of scientific discovery, a theme in children's literature, an object of research, a response to the challenges of new knowledge, a contested resource in the attention economy, and a shared social practice.
Students will have multiple opportunities to participate, beginning with a public lecture series. The first event will feature Perry Zurn, Provost Associate Professor of Philosophy at American University, on October 14, delivering a talk titled "Curiosity: Its Orientations and Disorientations."
"In this talk, I begin by contextualizing the project of curiosity studies and then turn to the orientations and disorientations that, I believe, should mark not only our study of curiosity but also our practice of curiosity," Zurn said. "Curiosity is orienting and gets oriented. It points us in a direction, within an inherited system of roads and landmarks...But curiosity is also disorienting and can be disoriented. When we are curious, we often find ourselves losing our feet and the ground we thought certain crumbles beneath us."
Beginning in Spring 2026, Barnard faculty will launch "What If?" Talks which are short dynamic presentations where they share the sparks of curiosity in their research that grew into books, experiments, performances, and new lines of inquiry.
Also this spring, Faculty Communities of Practice will bring together members of Barnard's world-class faculty to explore the many ways curiosity shapes their scholarship and their teaching.
Through the Student Communities of Practice, Barnard undergraduates will be encouraged to cultivate curiosity as a habit, not only in their academic work, but also in how they connect with peers, build relationships, and engage across differences.
The College will host a Barnard Bold Conference in Spring 2027, featuring a poster session to showcase students' work throughout the course of this initiative.
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Original text here: https://barnard.edu/news/leaning-what-you-dont-know-curiosity-initiative-0
AI Leaders Gather in Silicon Valley for UC Santa Cruz, SF Tech Week Event
SANTA CRUZ, California, Oct. 11 -- The University of California Santa Cruz campus issued the following news:
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AI leaders gather in Silicon Valley for UC Santa Cruz, SF Tech Week event
More than 200 people gathered for an event called "AI Frontier: Data, Agents & Robots."
By Emily Cerf
This week, artificial intelligence (AI) builders, investors, and researchers came together for conversation, learning, and collaboration at the UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley Center for an event called "AI Frontier: Data, Agents & Robots."
The October 6 event, associated with SF Tech Week, was co-hosted
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SANTA CRUZ, California, Oct. 11 -- The University of California Santa Cruz campus issued the following news:
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AI leaders gather in Silicon Valley for UC Santa Cruz, SF Tech Week event
More than 200 people gathered for an event called "AI Frontier: Data, Agents & Robots."
By Emily Cerf
This week, artificial intelligence (AI) builders, investors, and researchers came together for conversation, learning, and collaboration at the UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley Center for an event called "AI Frontier: Data, Agents & Robots."
The October 6 event, associated with SF Tech Week, was co-hostedby the Generative AI Center within the UC Santa Cruz Baskin School of Engineering and the Silicon Valley AI Pioneer Club.
The event provided the opportunity for more than 200 people across the field to network and discuss the transformative potential of AI in key areas including data intelligence, advanced analytics, machine learning, data-driven insights, autonomous agents, and robotics integration. Major themes that emerged during discussions included cybersecurity, verifiability, and scalability.
"This event exemplifies our center's one major mission: building an open and inclusive AI ecosystem where academia, industry, and the broader community collaborate," said Yi Zhang, director of Generative AI Center and a professor of computer science and engineering.
Three panels, titled Embodied AI, Agentic AI, and Founder Handbook allowed for discussion on each of these topics, with insights from UC Santa Cruz researchers and founders at a variety of companies with AI at the core of their missions.
"It was great to exchange ideas with other panelists, to see where everybody is in this journey as an industry, and where AI is being applied-there was lots of talk about robotics, security, and other domains. It was definitely a good checkpoint," said Prakash Sundaresan, CEO and co-founder of DeFang, a company focused on cloud app deployment who was visiting the region for SF Tech Week.
The panels enabled people working across different domains to learn about the needs of those working within specific areas of the field.
"It was really interesting being on the AI agents panel," said Ian Lane, associate professor of computer science and engineering and Baskin Engineering's associate dean for Silicon Valley engagement. "There's a lot of thought that software development is almost a solved problem, and it was really great to hear from people running companies that it is not, and there's still a long way to go. It was really interesting to hear about customer engagement and solving the challenges there. If you're trying to provide VIP support for a customer, how do you do it? I expect a lot will come out of that in the next few years."
The event's social and networking time enabled conversations across academia and industry, bringing together everyone from current students to industry leaders. Demos from both researchers and companies offered insights into innovative ways that AI is being deployed, providing fodder for collaboration.
"Right now I think we really need to have more opportunities to engage with industry to be able to conduct more large-scale impactful research," said Yuyin Zhou, assistant professor of computer science and engineering. "In academia we still have constrained resources and data, so we need collaboration with industry."
The Generative AI Center at UC Santa Cruz brings together scholars across campus to take a comprehensive approach to research, education, and the practical applications of AI. Research tackles both AI core technologies, and applications including health, scientific discovery, education, and creative arts. The Center's mission is to drive innovation, foster inclusive ecosystems, and lead responsibly in the AI era. For more information about the UCSC GenAI Center and to learn about its industry affiliation program, visit https://genai.ucsc.edu/.
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Original text here: https://news.ucsc.edu/2025/10/ai-leaders-uc-santa-cruz-sf-tech-week-event/
