7th Annual Titans of Tech Award Recipients Announced
A Night of Excellence and Inspiration
You made your nominations, and the Santa Cruz Works Board has cast their votes. We are thrilled to extend an invitation to you for our highly anticipated 7th Annual Titans of Tech event! Join us in honoring individuals who have inspired us with their resilience, achievements, integrity, and their invaluable contributions to our community. This event promises not only a remarkable gathering of minds but also a splendid opportunity to dress up and relish an evening filled with delectable cuisine, soulful music, and abundant chances to forge meaningful connections.
Together, we can continue to uplift and inspire one another.
Here are the awardees:
Titans of Tech from 2023
Alexi Sevastopoulos - Founding Member of Santa Cruz Ventures, a $10m venture fund aimed at supporting startups focused on sustainability and planetary health in Santa Cruz and along the Central Coast.
Cameron Pye - Co-Founder of Unnatural Products Inc., a biotech company that pairs AI with chemistry to usher in the next generation of molecularly targeted therapeutics.
David Lee - Assistant Professor, Computational Media at UC Santa Cruz. David received the Google Scholars Research Award, grants from NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education, and is actively building the holistic-minded future tech workforce by situating his students in real-world work, contributing to community needs, and motivated by curiosity and passion.
Ethan Rublee - Founder of farm-ng, a cutting-edge robotics company specializing in versatile farm robots designed to facilitate sustainable agricultural practices.
Juliane Farrand - Head of People, Joby Aviation (see image right)
Jorian Wilkins - Executive Director, DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION OF SANTA CRUZ. Jorian advocacy for more funding for the downtown district of Santa Cruz is the reason why businesses are still standing today.
Marco Rolandi - Co-Founder, Cruz Foam and Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz. Marco developed the world's 1st compostable/biodegradable foam that replace EPS (Styrofoam) and EPE (Expanded Polyethylene).
Shanta Bodhan - Director of CX at Talespin. Shanta is a dedicated leader and rolemodel and is actively shaping the future generation as well as technology for the greater good through her actions and values.
Sri Hastuti Kurniawan - Professor of the Computational Media Department, Baskin Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz. Sri is a leading voice in the academic community for assistive and accessible technologies.
Susana Ruiz - Co-founder of Take Action Games and Assistant Professor of film and digital media at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Ruiz is applying technologies and digital media in a new way that will allow communities to share our histories, cultures, and other stories using a deeper, immersive experience and thus facilitating higher-impact
Come learn more and connect with these inspirational people! Grab your tickets below:
More about the Nominees
Alexi Sevastopoulos
“Since buying a house and moving to Santa Cruz with his family a few years ago, Alexi has embraced the Santa Cruz startup ecosystem with energy and enthusiasm. He joined Santa Cruz Works, became a member of the board, and most recently co-founded Santa Cruz Ventures to help identify, fund, and develop the most promising early stage ventures in the area that are focused on sustainability and planetary health.” - Morgan Slain
Cameron Pye
“As the Co-Founder & CEO of Santa Cruz-based Unnatural Products (UNP), Cameron Pye has shown exceptional leadership and vision. Under his guidance, the company has made remarkable strides in the pharmaceutical industry. With an impressive fundraising achievement of over $30 million from leading venture capitalists and strategic investors, UNP stands as a testament to Cameron's commitment to bridging the gap between advanced scientific research and practical therapeutic applications…Cameron's contributions to the scientific community extend beyond his entrepreneurial success. He is a prolific author and co-author of numerous scientific publications, showcasing his deep understanding and continuous contributions to the field of chemistry. Moreover, as an inventor on multiple patents, he has proven his ability to not only generate new knowledge but also translate these insights into practical and innovative applications.” - Ryan Sharp
David Lee
“David T. Lee is an award-winning assistant professor of Computational Media at UCSC, where he directs the Tech4Good Lab on research in social computing, human-AI collaboration, and the design of technologies for augmenting education, work, and community engagement. David founded several innovative programs that provide experiential learning opportunities in tech to students –with any level of background – and to connect those experiences to supporting non-profits and community needs in Santa Cruz. Together, the Tech4Good Collaboratory, the Course-Based Community Consultancy, and the Exploratory Reading Groups provide experiential, passion-driven learning opportunities to thousands of students and exposed them to how technology can be used for the public interest through community-engaged projects in partnership with and for the benefit of non-profits in the Santa Cruz community.”
Ethan Rublee
“Secured a significant $10.05 million in Series A funding, with Acre VC leading the investment round.Farm-ng is a cutting-edge robotics company specializing in versatile farm robots designed to facilitate sustainable agricultural practices. Their collaborative efforts encompass partnerships with small and medium-sized farms, organic cultivators, research institutions, academia, and industry associations, all dedicated to advancing and championing best practices for specialty crop farming. The farm-ng robotics platform boasts full configurability and can be augmented with the Amiga Development Kit (ADK), empowering developers and agricultural technology companies to create innovative products and services built upon the farm-ng robotic platform. The company is headquartered in Watsonville, California.”
Jorian Wilkins
“Jorian Wilkins has worked tirelessly in the last 18 months to advocate for more funding for the downtown district of Santa Cruz. The assessment that funds our organization and district was severely underfunded, because the funding source was 30 years behind the current economic basis. As a result, the staff was severely underpaid, stretched thin with resources…Jorian launched a successful marketing campaign to persuade the majority of stakeholders in the district…that increase of fees were necessary to the vitality of our downtown district. Her strong leadership, strategic planning abilities and charismatic partnership skills, are absolutely the reason why our district's campaign for better funding was approved by the City Council and downtown businesses. The district will now have funding to provide better, safe, cleaning and welcoming services...” -Shiri Gradek
Juliane Farrand
“Juliane Farrand, Head of People, should be a 2023 Titan of Tech for being the backbone of Joby Aviation’s success from the very early days of when we were just beginning.” JoeBen Bevirt, CEO of Joby Aviation. Juliane joined Joby when there were less than 50 employees and now the company has grown globally to over 1000 employees.
Marco Rolandi
“Marco developed the world's 1st compostable/biodegradable foam that replace EPS (Styrofoam) and EPE (Expanded Polyethylene)!” - Toby Corey
Shanta Bodhan
“[Shanta] exemplifies the qualities of a Titan of Tech in two key areas…Firstly, in her role as a Customer Success and Experience Leader, Shanta meticulously selects startup companies that prioritize products with a meaningful impact on the human experience. Her choices reflect core values which, in part, were cultivated during her time at UCSC and representative of the Santa Cruz community. These values center around diversity, sustainability, and continuous learning and are highlighted in her work with local companies like SupplyShift, where she focused on bringing sustainability transparency to multinational supply chains, to her current involvement in the Virtual Reality space with ArborXR and Talespin, creating immersive educational experiences for all ages, regardless of economy or geography…Secondly, in her free time Shanta has been a mentor to women of color, non-binary students, and people of color, showcasing her dedication to fostering diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. Her involvement as a mentor for Built By Girls, her founding mentorship role in the Women in Customer Success program, and her unofficial mentorship support to numerous customer success managers and tech students highlight her profound commitment to nurturing the next generation of tech leaders… She understands the historical underrepresentation of women, non-binary individuals, and people of color in technology and is determined to help them overcome imposter syndrome and self-rejection, ultimately playing a pivotal role in shaping technology for the greater good… -Yigal Uriel
Sri Hastuti Kurniawan
“Professor Sri Kurniawan [is] a leading voice in the academic community for assistive and accessible technologies as a Professor and Prior Chair of the Computational Media Department at UC Santa Cruz, but she's also way more than just an academic. To me, Sri is a real visionary who's transforming assistive technology and making huge strides in how we approach emerging technologies for everyone from the metaverse to serious games.
What sets Sri apart is how committed she is to making technology inclusive for everyone while also mentoring and accelerating the next generation of researchers and entrepreneurs as the director of ASSIST Labs. Her lab isn't just about cutting-edge research, its about translating this work into the real world to support those with accessibility needs and everyone else who can benefit from such inclusive design. Her work goes beyond academia in that it impacts the lives of those in Santa Cruz (e.g. Hope Services, Cabrillo College Stroke and Disability Learning Center, Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust, Teen Kitchen Project, more). [Sri’s] work demonstrates how striving in research towards tech for good can change people's lives forever. Whether its empowering older adults, helping kids with serious games for accessible and free health benefits, creating opportunities for those with disabilities, and training the next generation of researchers, Sri redefines how we can approach tech for good…[Sri] isn't just shaping tech in Santa Cruz, she's the shaping the tech leaders of the future.”- Aviv Elor
Susana Ruiz
“Ruiz is applying technologies and digital media in a new way that will allow communities to share our histories, cultures, and other stories using a deeper, immersive experience and thus facilitating higher-impact. Ruiz is one of three founding partners of the multiple award-winning Take Action Games (TAG), an artists’ studio with a portfolio traversing games, art, justice activism, and storytelling. Her collaborative work at UC Santa Cruz and TAG has garnered multiple accolades and contributed to global human rights movements. Besides the creative value that this innovative work can inspire, Ruiz’ motivations to contribute to paving the way for creative multimedia in uplifting social justice is incredibly admirable and inspiring, and beyond deserving of recognition as a Titan of Tech.” - Andrea Pesce