UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu led a roundtable on innovation. (photo by Jonathan Van Dyke)
U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) visited the UCLA Faculty Center on May 9 for a special Innovation 2.0 Roundtable discussion with some of the brightest local industry leaders.
“My goal is that you learn something new, I learn something new, and that we find something Congress can pass,” he said.
The roundtable was held in order to inform Congress on the ways experts think the government can help enable innovation to thrive. Topics varied dramatically and included video testimony in the courthouse, video games aimed at girls, the UCLA Foundation, equity firms, tort reform, Pivot T.V., STEM games, satellite manufacturing, and patent reform, among others.
(photos by Jonathan Van Dyke)
Millennium Space Systems Founder, Chairman, and CEO Stan Dubyn chats with CourtCall CEO Robert Alvarado Jr. before the roundtable began.
Pivot General Manager Kent Rees, Marlin Equity Partners Managing Partner and Chairman David McGovern, and The si3 Group Founder and Managing Partner Tai Esteban Sunnanon share a laugh before the roundtable.
U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu makes a point to Plastpro Founder and CEO Shirley Wang, who also sits on the board of the UCLA Foundation.
UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Dr. Jayathi Murthy talks with Chancellor Gene Block ahead of the roundtable discussion.
About 20 people met with the Chancellor and Congressman in the morning on May 9.
Block said that UCLA continues to be a leader in innovation. “We are really encouraging undergraduates to get involved in entrepreneurial ventures,” he added.
Each participant gave an individual introduction, and then Lieu asked several general questions that anyone could provide an answer to, including PlayWerks CEO Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia (above) and Marlin Equity Partners Managing Partner and Chairman David McGovern (below).
