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Friday Five For November 6th, 2026

(1) Conversation with Apple: AI and Accessibility in Education

Join Apple education leadership executive Dr. Andrew Currah for a conversation about how Apple’s latest technologies are creating new possibilities for teaching, learning and accessibility in higher education. The session will explore Apple’s privacy-first approach to AI and Apple Intelligence, highlighting practical, AI-enhanced workflows for faculty, staff and students. Particular attention will be given to new accessibility capabilities, including visual intelligence, voice control and transcription, that make technology more intuitive, inclusive and accessible to everyone.

Through higher education examples and demonstrations, participants will discover opportunities to apply these technologies in their own work and gain practical guidance for building their AI skills on the Apple platform.

When: Wednesday, November 18, 2026 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm PT
Where: Online (Zoom)

(2) Computing on the National Research Platform

In this hybrid interactive workshop, participants will learn how to run tasks on the National Research Platform (NRP). We start with the conceptual model — namespaces, Pods, containers, and how scheduling differs from a queue — then move directly to practice. Participants will launch an interactive Pod for development, submit a batch Job, and request a specific GPU type, learning how resource requests and limits affect placement. 

When: Thursday, Nov 19, 2026 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PT
Where: Zoom and OARC Portal, Math Sciences 5628, UCLA Campus

(3) Finding Government Information and Data

This workshop will introduce a variety of approaches to finding government information and data across agencies and departments. From tracking down technical information to monitoring legislation, we'll look at the range of resources available from both federal and non-governmental entities.

When: Thursday, December 3, 2026 | 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm PT
Where: Online (Zoom)


(4) BruinTech Spring 2027 Conference

Save the Date: May 14th, 2027! The BruinTech Spring Conference will be on a Friday next year, happening live in person inside beautiful Royce Hall. Sign-ups and volunteer opportunities will be coming soon. Limited to 100 attendees, this annual event is always the most talked-about IT and Tech gathering at UCLA.

When: Friday, May 14, 2027
Where: Royce Hall, UCLA Campus 

(5) TED Talk: The ethics of seeing in the age of AI

Drawing on the groundbreaking work of W.E.B. Du Bois, Barber reveals how the way we visualize information shapes whose stories are told and whose are overlooked — and how this can reinforce bias, obscure lives and shape the future of artificial intelligence.