1. Thank You for Making the 2025 Annual BruinTech Spring Conference a Success!
We extend our sincere thanks to everyone who joined us for the 2025 Annual BruinTech Spring Conference! We hope the day sparked new ideas, fostered meaningful connections among Bruin Technologists, and inspired ways to enhance UCLA’s mission of “Becoming a More Effective Institution.”
This event would not have been possible without the incredible contributions of our speakers, attendees, and participants. Special appreciation goes to:
ASUCLA Catering for keeping us fueled throughout the day
Alejandra Gonzalez Quiroz (Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, CEGS)
Matt Miles (Safeguard Business Printing Services)
Mathew Geddert, who volunteered as our event photographer and captured the day beautifully
And of course, our dedicated conference committee members, who volunteered their time and energy to bring this event to life
Thank you for being part of this vibrant community. We look forward to seeing you at future BruinTech events!
2. Keynote Takeaways
The Board offers a gracious thank you to our three keynote speakers CIO Lucy Avetisyan, Chief Officer Kate Miffitt, and COO/CFO Steve Yu.
In discussing how to become more effective institutions, a common thread tying our conversations together was the importance of people in our work -- whether that is positive work cultures, fostering connection in a time when many interactions are digitized, or enhancing your skills in presentation and communication.
Attendees were given opportunities to reflect on their work environments and themselves through interactive activities. We discussed AI, transactional learning distance, public speaking and more. These engagement and learning opportunities are core to building effective institutions and individuals.
3. Spring Conference Review
The 2025 BruinTech Spring Conference featured a full day of engaging and insightful talks. Britney Robinson, DEI Coordinator, delivered a powerful short talk on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Affinity groups also took the stage to share updates and provide a closer look at their missions and ongoing work.
Additional sessions included presentations from the Capital Programs IT team—who previewed their UC Tech Conference session on business continuity—and UCLA’s Unit Information Security Leads, who shared valuable insights into campus-wide security practices.
Some of the key takeaways from from UISL and Capital Programs are below:
The inaugural cohort of UCLA Unit Information security leads(UISL) held their standing meeting at the BruinTech Spring Conference, showcasing their campuswide representation. This group fulfills a UC systemwide policy-defined role responsible for tactical information security activities. More information available at uisl.iso.ucla.edu.
The Capital Programs IT team previewed their upcoming UC Tech Conference session on an innovative approach to business continuity. Planning for scenarios where IT assistance could be unavailable for up to seven days, they built a flexible any-device ecosystem so that, if a laptop is suddenly lost or unusable, employees can utilize another device —or even a personal device—and remain productive.
To prove the concept, the team conducted live drills: challenging staff to access all mission-critical apps without shortcuts or saved credentials. These exercises revealed friction points, informed a readiness rubric, and helped normalize continuity practices across daily operations.
4. 2025 Annual Spring Conference Survey
As we close out the academic year, BruinTech Board wants to thank you again for investing in yourself by attending the BruinTech Spring 2025 Conference “Becoming a More Effective Institution!”
It was wonderful to see so many of our community in-person. We hope that you were empowered to learn, engage, and network with colleagues across campus. To that end, attached are the three keynote speaker presentations.
The BruinTech Board values your feedback so we can continue to improve the conference experience. Please take a moment to fill out our event survey.
Please also keep an eye out for future announcements regarding Board Elections and summer events!
As always, feel free to reach out to us at bruintech@g.ucla.edu if you have any questions.
