Friday Five, September 25th, 2026
BruinTech at UCLA
Community + Technology + Innovation

Welcome to all members of the BruinTech community and everyone subscribed to our mailing list!

We’re excited to introduce and celebrate our latest edition of The Friday Five—a quick roundup of opportunities, updates, and resources for our community.

This edition highlights:

• The announcement of the new 2026–27 BruinTech Board and an invitation to connect with board members.
• An upcoming AWS Research Day designed to help UCLA researchers explore cloud, AI, and data technologies.
• A Digital Accessibility training session focused on accessibility standards, testing tools, and remediation best practices.
• A Learn@Lunch presentation on using AI as a coaching and communication practice tool.
• Important cybersecurity awareness resources and information on joining the BeCyberSafeUCLA community.

We encourage everyone to take a few minutes to read through the Friday Five and explore the opportunities that are most relevant to you and your teams.  Your feedback is always welcome. If you have suggestions for future topics, events, success stories, or resources that would benefit the UCLA technology community, please share them with us.

Thank you for helping us build a stronger, more connected BruinTech community.

Chris 

Chris Cabrera Thompson
BruinTech President, 2026-27
UCLA BruinTech

Technology + Community + Innovation

 

Executive Board

• Chris Cabrera Thompson — President
• Alex Alonzo — President-Elect
• Neda Behzadi — Vice President for Community Events
• Adara Lui — Vice President for Content Strategy
• Faranak Emami — Vice President for Marketing Communications
• Richard Bartlebaugh — Vice President for Special Projects
• Steve Sherwin — Vice President for Technology Support
• Stephen Mills — Immediate Past President
• Jacob Sproul — BruinTech Program Sponsor

Members-at-Large

• Annie Watanabe-Rocco
• Mits Yamahata
• Chris Cao
• Chi Hang Lo
• Krithik Udayashankar
• Bernardo Mejia Platero
• Rajesh Narayanan
• Eric Shekoufeh
• Steve Widdoes
• Cody Ashe-McNalley

Thanks to all who nominated and stepped up to support BruinTech in the coming term. The new board officially begins its work in September. To learn more about the board and their functions, visit the BruinTech website.

We are now accepting nominations for the 2025-26 BruinTech Executive Board. This is a rewarding opportunity to strengthen your leadership skills, network across the university, and shape the future of BruinTech event programming. You can nominate yourself! Just fill out the nomination form by Sunday, July 26.

If you have any questions, please email BruinTech.

UC Tech UX Meetup at the UC Tech Conference
The UCUX community is having a meetup for all staff and faculty interested in UX on the first day of UC Tech. You are warmly welcome to attend:

Date: Wednesday July 8th, 2026
Time: 4 – 6pm, Pacific time
Locations: In-person at UC Merced and on Zoom
RSVP: UCUX Meetup 2026

Join us for a 30-minute session to learn how AI guardrails help create safer, more reliable, and responsible AI systems. There will be a 20-minute presentation followed by Q&A. Hosted by BruinTech Web Makers Group.
When: Thursday, June 25 at 12pm
Where:  Zoom  
Register for the Lunch & Learn

2026 BruinTech Spring Conference Feedback 
Thank you to all who attended the Spring Conference! Please share your experience on our feedback survey and help the BruinTech Board continue improving future events and programming: Post Conference Survey

Dear UCLA BruinTech community, 
 

The 2025-26 BruinTech Executive Board is excited to announce that the BruinTech Annual Scholarship Program application form is now open! 

The Board is pleased to be awarding four (4) scholarships in total: 

• Three (3), $1,000 scholarships for a UCLA Extension course
• One (1) UCLA BruinTech TMP Scholarship to cover the cost of the UCLA Extension Technical Management Program (TMP).  

Application deadline is 11:59 PM (PST), Monday, January 12, 2026.  

Submit your application today! 

Thanks to everyone who came out in the rain for the BT social at Broad Art Center on campus. Good conversation and yummy Porto's were had by all.

Take a break from your screen and spend your lunch with fellow UCLA IT professionals! Join us for great conversation, light networking, and a few fun surprises along the way.