Pasadena’s Economic Development Division and Innovate Pasadena will host six LA Tech Week events Oct. 13 to 16, from a health care artificial intelligence panel to a startup pitch competition and a space technology showcase.
It is the second year in a row the city and the volunteer group have staged a Pasadena series around LA Tech Week. The venture capital firm a16z presents the regional week Oct. 12 to 18 across Los Angeles.
Last year’s Pasadena series had four events. The city said the program is meant to put Pasadena companies, institutions and innovators in front of regional founders, investors and other business decision-makers.
The week opens at noon Tuesday, Oct. 13, with “The Healthcare Executive AI Agenda: What Leaders Are Doing Now.” Huntington Medical Research Institutes hosts it at its Engemann Family Auditorium, 686 S. Fair Oaks Ave. Senior leaders from science, health care, education and philanthropy will discuss how they are adopting artificial intelligence, including strategy, governance, workforce implications and risk.
At 5 p.m. that day at Pasarroyo, 251 S. Lake Ave., five early-stage startups will pitch their business plans to investors and technologists for real-time feedback and prize money.
On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Pasadena Climate Commons and the Resnick Sustainability Institute at Caltech will present a 6 p.m. panel and showcase on water and energy. The speakers are J.T. Reager, group lead of the Water and Ecosystems Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Stacie Takeguchi, chief assistant general manager of Pasadena Water and Power. They will be joined by Warren A. Teitz, a resource development team manager at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and Priyanka Kompella, chief executive of Water from Air.
The monthly Pasadena Tech Happy Hour, co-hosted with AI LA, follows at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, at Hawg Heaven BBQ & Gastro Pub, 119 E. Colorado Blvd. Last year’s LA Tech Week event drew more than 200 attendees, the city said.
On Friday, Oct. 16, leaders from Sophia Space, Varda and Rocket Lab will discuss the infrastructure a growing space economy needs at the noon Pasadena SpaceTech Showcase at 251 S. Lake Ave. David Nusbaum, a contributing writer for Business By LA Times Studios, will moderate, and advance registration is required. The series closes at 4 p.m. that day with a rooftop reception hosted by Wedbush, open by invitation only to sponsors and invited guests.
“Pasadena has an extraordinary concentration of companies, research institutions, entrepreneurs, and talent working on some of the most important technologies of the future,” said David Klug, the city’s economic development director.
Innovate Pasadena President Mike Giardello said the group is “excited to partner with LA Tech Week and showcase Pasadena’s innovation assets from world-class institutions to impactful start-ups in healthcare, AI, space-tech, robotics, quantum computing, and more.”
Other organizations will host additional LA Tech Week events in Pasadena that week, the city said. The city directed those interested in future programming to Teresa Garcia, a senior project manager in the Economic Development Division.
NEED TO KNOW
Event: LA Tech Week in Pasadena. When: Tuesday, Oct. 13, through Friday, Oct. 16. Time: Noon to 1:15 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 13; 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 14; 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 15; noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 16. Where: Huntington Medical Research Institutes, 686 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena; Pasarroyo, 251 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena; Hawg Heaven BBQ & Gastro Pub, 119 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Parking: 251 S. Lake Ave. garage, entered from Del Mar between South Lake and South Hudson; metered street parking. For more, email tgarcia@cityofpasadena.net.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
