BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Caltech Alumni - ECPv6.18.0//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Caltech Alumni X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Caltech Alumni REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20250309T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20251102T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20260308T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20261101T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20270314T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20271107T090000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261008T114500 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261008T114500 DTSTAMP:20260825T011158Z CREATED:20260825T011155Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260825T011158Z UID:42427-1791459900-1791459900@www.alumni.caltech.edu SUMMARY:LA South Bay Techers Monthly Lunch (October) DESCRIPTION:Meet fellow alumni for lunch\, connect with others in your field\, talk science\, and share Caltech memories. Whether you want to discuss research\, revisit campus stories\, or meet new Techers in the area\, it’s a great way to stay engaged. \nThis month’s meetup: Thursday\, October 8\, 11:45 a.m.–1:15 p.m.Location: Brewport Tap House & Kitchen\, 204 Main Street\, El Segundo\, CA 90245Menu: Available on Brewport’s website. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here URL:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/event/la-south-bay-techers-monthly-lunch-october-2/ LOCATION:Brewport Tap House & Kitchen\, 204 Main Street\, El Segundo\, CA\, 90245\, United States CATEGORIES:Caltech Together ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Caltech-Together-South-Bay-Monthly-Lunch-1500x500-1.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Rhonda MacDonald (BS '74)":MAILTO:RLMSLL@roadrunner.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261015T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261015T185000 DTSTAMP:20261001T185504Z CREATED:20261001T174328Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261001T185504Z UID:43189-1792087200-1792090200@www.alumni.caltech.edu SUMMARY:Caltech Together: Silicon Valley DESCRIPTION:“Entrepreneurship in the Age of AI” By Robert Eng and Rex Liu Moderated by Kenny Jiang\nFew areas of modern life remain untouched by AI. Careers and entrepreneurship are no exception. While companies are reducing their headcount and flattening their organization\, upending traditional job functions and career tracks\, powerful AI tools are supercharging individuals to build and scale businesses at an unprecedented speed. \nWe will explore how AI is changing the game of entrepreneurship\, including what new product opportunities are uniquely enabled by AI; how AI is changing the way you build products\, sell to customers\, and manage teams; and how AI is increasing productivity\, accelerating growth\, and improving capital efficiency. \nIf you’re pursuing an entrepreneurial path or aspiring to join a startup\, or if you want to provide mentorship and support for the Caltech entrepreneur community\, join this fireside chat. \nMeet Our Panelists and Moderator\nRobert Eng (BS ’18) is a co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Pylon\, an agentic support platform for B2B companies. Pylon has raised $51M from A16Z\, Bain Capital Ventures\, General Catalyst\, and YC. Thousands of companies have moved off Zendesk and Intercom to run their support on Pylon. Before Pylon\, he was a software engineer at Affinity and IKASI. \nRex Liu (BS ’27) is a co-founder of General Analysis. They focus on measuring and improving frontier models’ capabilities on critical cyberdefense tasks. General Analysis has raised $10M from Altos Ventures\, Menlo Ventures\, 645 Ventures\, and YC. In addition to working with frontier labs\, the company serves enterprise customers\, such as Zendesk and FICO\, on agentic security. Before founding General Analysis\, Rex interned at Google DeepMind. \nKenny Jiang (BS ’97) graduated from Caltech with a BS in Engineering and Applied Science\, and subsequently earned an MS in Computer Science from Stanford and an MBA from UC Berkeley. He previously worked as a product manager at Meta Platforms\, where he led new products in business agents\, payments and ads; an engineering manager at Oracle; and an equity research analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch\, where his team was ranked #1 in the software sector by the Institutional Investors three years in a row. Kenny was the first analyst on Wall Street to evangelize investment opportunities in Big Data in 2010. Currently\, Kenny is building his own investment firm. \n \n \n \n \n \n Our Alumni Volunteers‍\nThe following alumni work together to serve you: Avni Gandhi\, Dave Adler\, Eilleen Zhang\, Jane Frommer\, Ralph Pursifull\, Reeya Chenanda\, Susan Huynh\, and Peter Tong. \n \n Register for the Event URL:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/event/caltech-together-silicon-valley-october-26/ LOCATION:Online CATEGORIES:Caltech Together ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Caltech-Together-1500X500-19.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261016T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261018T150000 DTSTAMP:20260723T184807Z CREATED:20260723T184610Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260723T184807Z UID:41932-1792141200-1792335600@www.alumni.caltech.edu SUMMARY:Alumni Weekend DESCRIPTION:Join fellow Techers for a weekend of discovery\, connection\, and Caltech tradition—right here in Pasadena. \nAlumni Weekend welcomes Techers from every class year\, degree\, and Caltech connection\, including undergraduate and graduate alumni\, former postdocs\, House communities\, clubs\, teams\, and affinity groups. Come back to campus for memorable events\, shared traditions\, and new ways to reconnect. \nThe deadline to register is Friday\, October 2\, 2026.Registration is required to attend Alumni Weekend events. \n \nFriday\, October 16 to Sunday\, October 18\, 2026\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Learn More URL:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/event/alumni-weekend-2026/ LOCATION:California Insitute of Technology\, 1200 East California Boulevard\, Pasadena\, CA\, 91125\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Desktop-Landing-Page-Banner_-1500-x-500.png ORGANIZER;CN="Caltech Alumni Relations":MAILTO:info@alumni.caltech.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261017T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261017T103000 DTSTAMP:20260929T020311Z CREATED:20260925T180245Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260929T020311Z UID:42856-1792227600-1792233000@www.alumni.caltech.edu SUMMARY:JPL at 90: Caltech\, JPL\, and What's Next DESCRIPTION:Ninety years of extraordinary missions. A conversation about the partnership that makes them possible.\nIn 1936\, a small group of Caltech students and self-taught rocketeers tested a rocket motor in the Arroyo Seco. Their work grew into the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a partnership between campus and Lab that has transformed our understanding of Earth and the universe. \nFrom Explorer 1 and Voyager to the Mars rovers and Europa Clipper\, that partnership has made some of humanity’s most ambitious space missions possible. Its impact also reaches into daily life\, from the image sensors behind phone cameras to the elevation data used in digital maps. \nAs JPL marks its 90th anniversary\, join three people whose work spans the Lab’s past\, present\, and future. Former JPL director Charles Elachi\, systems engineer Nagin Cox\, and chief technologist Shouleh Nikzad will bring perspectives on the leadership behind landmark missions\, the engineering that makes them possible\, and the technology shaping the next generation of discovery. \nModerated by Casey Dreier\, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society\, the conversation will consider how the Caltech–JPL partnership continues to turn scientific questions into missions and what it will take to pursue the next ones. \nOpen to the Public: Attend Online or In Person at Caltech\nThis event is open to the public\, with the option to attend online or in person on campus. In-person seating is limited\, so register early for the opportunity to experience the conversation live. \nAlready registered for Alumni Weekend? This session is included with your ticket\, and no additional registration is needed. \n \n Register to Attend Online or In Person\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charles Elachi (MS '69\, PhD '71\, DAA '21)\n \n Professor of electrical engineering and planetary science\, emeritus\, Caltech; former director\, JPL \nBorn in Lebanon\, Charles Elachi studied physics and engineering in Grenoble\, France\, before earning his master’s degree and doctorate in electrical sciences at Caltech. He also holds graduate degrees in business administration from USC and geology from UCLA. \nElachi taught at Caltech and held research and management roles at JPL\, specializing in remote sensing\, before becoming director in May 2001. His tenure encompassed more than 20 missions\, including Cassini\, Dawn\, and Juno\, and the successful arrival of Spirit\, Opportunity\, and Curiosity on Mars. After retiring as director in June 2016\, he became a Caltech professor emeritus\, continuing his research\, mission involvement\, and advocacy for space and Earth science. \nLearn more about Charles Elachi \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Nagin Cox\n \n Senior systems engineer\, JPL \nNagin Cox decided as a teenager that she wanted to work at JPL. Born in Bangalore\, India\, she grew up in Kansas City\, Kansas\, and Kuala Lumpur\, Malaysia. Her engineering and leadership roles have spanned Galileo\, the Mars Exploration Rovers\, Kepler\, InSight\, Curiosity\, Perseverance\, Europa Clipper\, and MOXIE. She currently serves as a mission lead for Perseverance and a systems engineer for Europa Clipper. \nCox has received NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal and two Exceptional Achievement Medals. As a STEM speaker for the U.S. Department of State\, she shares the stories of people behind space missions with audiences worldwide. Before JPL\, she served in the U.S. Air Force. She holds engineering degrees from Cornell and the Air Force Institute of Technology and a psychology degree from Cornell. \nLearn more about Nagin Cox \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Shouleh Nikzad (MS '84\, PhD '90\, DAA '26)\n \n Chief technologist at JPL\, senior faculty associate in physics at Caltech\, and 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient \nShouleh Nikzad is the chief technologist at JPL\, which Caltech manages for NASA\, and a senior faculty associate in physics at Caltech. A JPL Fellow\, she is recognized internationally for her work in nanoscale engineering and for building and leading a team that develops ultraviolet detectors and instruments that help JPL and NASA study the universe from CubeSats to flagship missions. She has adapted some of those innovations into medical tools. One of these detector inventions resolved a challenge in ultraviolet imaging that had persisted for half a century. Before becoming chief technologist\, she led JPL’s Science Division. She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2026 and is a 2026 Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. \nLearn more about Shouleh Nikzad \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Casey Dreier\n \n Moderator | Chief of space policy\, The Planetary Society \nCasey Dreier directs policy and advocacy at The Planetary Society in support of science-driven space exploration. His expertise includes NASA’s budget\, the politics of space exploration\, and the history and political economy of space development. \nDreier creates datasets for use by journalists\, policymakers\, and researchers. He maintains dashboards documenting the economic effects of NASA science\, compiles historical funding data\, and has published peer-reviewed research. His policy analysis earned a SpaceNews Icon Award in 2025. \nHis commentary and writing appear in major news outlets and publications. He also produces the monthly newsletter The Space Advocate and hosts Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition. Dreier studied physics at Oberlin College\, with a concentration in astronomy. \nLearn more about Casey Dreier URL:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/event/jpl-at-90-caltech-jpl-and-whats-next/ CATEGORIES:Techer Live ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Desktop-Landing-Page-Banner_-1500-x-504.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Caltech Alumni Relations":MAILTO:info@alumni.caltech.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261017T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261017T121500 DTSTAMP:20260909T203821Z CREATED:20260902T221552Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260909T203821Z UID:42669-1792234800-1792239300@www.alumni.caltech.edu SUMMARY:2026 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients in Conversation DESCRIPTION:The Achievements Behind This Year’s Distinguished Alumni Awards\nJoin the 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients for a wide-ranging conversation about the ideas\, decisions\, and experiences that shaped their careers. Spanning computer science\, satellite communications\, space instrumentation\, and neuroscience\, the discussion will offer perspectives on innovation\, leadership\, discovery\, and the paths that led each recipient to lasting impact in their fields. \nThe conversation will feature Leonidas Guibas (BS ’71\, MS ’71)\, Eddy W. Hartenstein (MS ’74)\, Shouleh Nikzad (MS ’84\, PhD ’90)\, and David Van Essen (BS ’67)\, moderated by 2001 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Sandra Tsing Loh (BS ’83). \nLearn more about the 2026 recipients. \nRegistration \nThis program is included with Alumni Weekend registration and is available exclusively to registered Alumni Weekend attendees. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for Alumni Weekend URL:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/event/2026-distinguished-alumni-award-recipients-in-conversation/ LOCATION:Ramo Auditorium\, 1200 E. California Blvd.\, Pasadena\, CA\, 91125 ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Desktop-Landing-Page-Banner_-1500-x-500-1.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Caltech Alumni Relations":MAILTO:info@alumni.caltech.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261018T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261018T170000 DTSTAMP:20260922T175423Z CREATED:20260909T225524Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260922T175423Z UID:42725-1792321200-1792342800@www.alumni.caltech.edu SUMMARY:CAMP on Campus DESCRIPTION:Mentorship\, Career Conversations\, and Life After Caltech\nCAMP on Campus brings alumni back to Caltech to connect with students where their own Caltech experience began. Returning to campus gives mentors a chance to share what they have learned since graduation while helping students think more broadly about the many paths that can follow a Caltech education. \nWhether your path has been traditional\, unexpected\, technical\, creative\, entrepreneurial\, academic\, or hard to explain in one sentence\, your perspective can give students something they cannot get from a job posting\, class\, or online search. \nMentors will participate in four structured 45-minute mentoring sessions\, each pairing two alumni mentors with one student. The day also includes mentor orientation\, lunch\, and a debrief following the mentoring sessions. Preparation materials will be shared with mentors in advance. \nFollowing the program\, mentors are invited to continue the conversation over dinner at Alumni House beginning at 5:30 p.m. Mentors may bring one guest to dinner. \nPreliminary Schedule \n11:00–11:30 a.m. – Mentor arrival and check-in11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. – Mentor orientation and lunch1:00–2:30 p.m. – Two mentoring sessions2:30–3:00 p.m. – Break3:00–4:30 p.m. – Two mentoring sessions4:30–5:00 p.m. – Mentor debrief5:30 p.m. – Mentor dinner at Alumni House \nRegistration \n– Advance registration is required to be considered as a mentor. Please register by Monday\, October 12.– Mentor participation will be based on student needs and matching\, so not everyone who registers will be selected. Alumni selected to serve as mentors will begin receiving -confirmation on Monday\, September 28\, with final notifications sent by Wednesday\, October 14.– If you need to know your mentor status sooner to make travel arrangements\, please email CALE at career@caltech.edu.– The registration form will also ask whether you plan to attend the mentor dinner and whether you will bring a guest. \n \n Register URL:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/event/camp-on-campus/ LOCATION:Hameetman Center\, 1200 East California Boulevard\, Pasadena\, CA\, 91125\, United States CATEGORIES:Mentorship ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Caltech-in-WP-Event-Header-43.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="CALE":MAILTO:career@caltech.edu END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR