Agentic AI Summit

Join us Tuesday, September 15th at 5:30 PM for a talk with Josette Melchor, founder and cultural strategist working across art, technology, cities, and responsible AI. As the founder of Gray Area and now Newtemporary — and a board member of the Burning Man Project — Josette has spent her career shaping experiences that connect emerging technologies with civic life, cultural infrastructure, and public imagination. Her work moves fluidly across spatial strategy, immersive media, curation, and systems thinking, always with an eye toward how culture and technology evolve together. In this talk, Josette will explore the idea behind Newtemporary, the notion that everything from culture to place to technology is always in transition. She will share how this perspective informs her work with cities, developers, and cultural organizations, from designing immersive experiences and public spaces to prototyping ethical and creative uses of AI. Drawing on projects that have ranged from large-scale festivals and artist exhibitions to global placemaking programs for Google, she will reflect on how design can respond to impermanence, support community meaning-making, and help shape the cultural infrastructure of the future. This event is free and open to the public. .................... Design Field Notes is a lecture series where we invite the public to the UC Berkeley campus for conversations with designers, makers and artists who are contributing to shaping the future through design. If you require accommodation for a disability for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) or information about campus mobility access features in order to fully participate in this event, please contact Jacobs Institute staff at jacobsinstitute@berkeley.edu with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days in advance of the event.

Emergence is the word everyone reaches for when a system starts doing things nobody programmed. In AI, it's a talking point. In Dr. Aaron Engelhart's lab, it's a benchtop problem. Dr. Aaron Engelhart's lab at the University of Minnesota and the related SpudCell project both probe how life might emerge, from opposite directions: building it up versus rewiring its molecular parts. SpudCell, the first synthetic cell with a complete cell cycle, shows that a full cell cycle, growth, replication, and even evolution can emerge from purified components alone, using fewer genes than previously thought minimal for life. Dr. Engelhart's lab complements this by engineering RNA and DNA to do more than store information. His group uses experimental and ML/AI tools to evolve and engineer cofactor-binding nucleic acids that catalyze reactions and fluorescent RNAs for imaging and pathogen detection. Together, this work clarifies the molecular conditions from which life-like behavior can emerge, models how early biochemistry may have started, and builds tools for future biosensing and biomanufacturing where emergent properties of engineered nucleic acids can be put to practical use. Come early for open office hours with law firm, Cooley LLP, details below. Date/Time: September 17, 2026 / 5:00 - 7:30 PM📍Location: BGA HQ Agenda 5:00 - 6:10 pm Office hours w/ Chris Holly (Patent partner, Cooley LLP) + networking. 6:10 - 6:15 pm Welcome from BGA + Cooley; intro to Dr. Engelhart 6:15 – 6:45 pm Talk: Emergence (Dr. Aaron Engelhart) 6:45 – 7:00 pm Fireside chat + audience Q&A (moderated by Scott Nisbet) 7:00 – 7:30 pm NetworkingFood + drinks provided Cooley Office Hours (5:00 – 6:10 pm) Cooley attorneys will be available for short, one-on-one sessions to help emerging companies work through practical questions involving IP strategy, company formation, financing, and diligence preparation. Bring us the issues you’re thinking through now, or the ones you want to get ahead of before your next

In collaboration with the Berkeley Gateway Accelerator and COMPASS, Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials is hosting a breakfast networking event on Friday, September 18th, from 9 AM - 11 AM. This is an exclusive opportunity to network with key players in the deep tech community, including entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, corporate innovators, and government professionals. We’d love for you to join us to share ideas, discuss industry trends, and build meaningful connections over casual breakfast bites. About Bakar Labs: Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials (BL-EM) is an initiative out of UC Berkeley that expands the university's renowned Bakar Bio Labs model beyond biotech into technologies that address planetary health. BL-EM accelerates the commercialization of breakthrough research across diverse areas including, renewable energy systems, materials science, efficient manufacturing methods, food and agricultural production, waste management, and circular economy solutions. BL-EM has an active pilot program designed to provide hands-on support to pre-incorporation spinouts and Pre-Seed to Series A startups, is developing a network of corporate partners driving innovation in their sector, and organizes expert convenings on topics ranging from AI and climate to building innovation. As part of UC Berkeley's commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, BL-EM will move into its permanent home at the western entrance of campus, a 145,000 square foot facility scheduled to open in early 2028. The building will include highly flexible wet laboratory and office space and will serve as a dedicated hub for innovation and community with partners from across campus, the National Laboratories, and around the world. About Berkeley Gateway Accelerator: The Berkeley Gateway Accelerator is a deep tech accelerator and innovation hub in Downtown Berkeley, built to move breakthrough science from the lab to the market. BGA runs small, high-touch cohorts: a five-month residen