Community News: Spring Events & Opportunities
UC Launch updates, NYCWiC Social in Albany, Imagination in Action, TEDx MIT, and more
Hello Greater JOPRO Community! Spring has arrived, and April is a full month. We’re gathering in Albany for NYCWiC, spending time in Cambridge for a pair of standout events on either end of the month, and keeping an eye on things happening across the US and in the UK.
As always, drop us a note in the comments if you’re attending any of these, and if you’d like something included in the next roundup, reach out. Be sure to check the new opportunities page on JOPRO.org as well.
Featured: JOPRO Social @ ACM’s NYCWiC — Albany, NY
We’re gathering around ACM’s New York Celebration of Women in Computing — and we’d love to see you there.
JOPRO is a proud supporter and participant of NYCWiC for over 5 years. The social takes place at the close of the conference on Saturday the 11th, at the Hilton Albany. NYCWiC alumni from JOPRO and the Orthogonal Research and Education Laboratory (OREL) will be there, along with friends from University at Albany (SUNY), RPI, and other local universities. It’s an easy, informal close to a great conference weekend.
JOPRO has been part of the NYCWiC community for several years: last year we organized a panel on Careers in Innovation and Research, and have previously presented through our Society Ethics Technology working group. This social is a continuation of that community, in a looser key. All are welcome.
To attend the NYCWiC conference itself,
day-of registration will be limited: nywic.org/registration-1.🔗 Social RSVP: luma.com/ymubw5pb
🗓 Saturday, April 11 — at the close of NYCWiC 2026 📍 Hilton Albany, 40 Lodge St, Albany, NY
Jesse Parent says: “NYCWiC has been one of my favorite events to be part of — the community is genuinely warm, and the research being done by students and scholars in this network is worth paying attention to. Come find us at the close of Saturday.”
Help Wanted! Survey: AI Agent Security & Compliance
Of special note, Researchers are collecting data on how regulated companies are managing AI agent deployments today. Anonymous, takes about 3 minutes. If you work in a relevant context, (CISO / Security Org; GRC / Compliance Team; CTO/ Engineering Org) your input is genuinely useful to this work.
Now, for more events in the larger JOPRO network:
Boston + Cambridge
Imagination in Action @ MIT
The annual convening at MIT focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology’s role in shaping markets and society. A good room if you work at the intersection of research and real-world application.
🗓 Friday, April 10 📍 MIT Media Lab, Cambridge🔗 luma.com/w84qgcoc | imaginationinaction.co
TEDx MIT
TEDx returns to MIT. Full speaker lineup and registration at the link.
🗓 Friday, April 11 📍MIT Museum, Cambridge 🔗 tedx.mit.edu
Innovation in Global Growth Markets: Prosperity through Entrepreneurship — MIT Kuo Sharper Center
A two-day conference at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge bringing together entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, and academics focused on Africa, Latin America, the Arab Region, Central Asia, and South and Southeast Asia. Panels cover everything from fit-for-purpose capital to AI and technological sovereignty in emerging markets. Our friends at aiXplain will be speaking.
🗓 April 22–23 📍 Hyatt Regency Cambridge 🔗 newcalculus.com
NANDA Summit
For those deep in the Agentic AI space, we recommend checking out the NANDA project and the NANDA summit, also this weekend:
🗓 Friday, April 11 📍MIT
See also: MIT Event Page | Luma
USA
UC Launch: Launch-a-thon
Congratulations to team HEXR for their recent second place finish at the Launch-a-thon weekend event! Supported by part of our JOPRO Community, we wish you well in the future!
The event was a precursor to the UC Launch Demo Day proper:
UC Launch Startup Demo Day
University of California founders presenting early-stage ventures. Worth following if you mentor students or work adjacent to the startup ecosystem.
🔗 RSVP on Luma | Wednesday, May 6 📍UC Berkley
StartupYale 2026
Good luck to those participating in Yale’s entrepreneurship showcase and community gathering, StartupYale,
🔗 startup.yale.edu | RSVP on Luma | April 10, 2026 📍 Hotel Marcel
Global
Caroline Cummins: AI and the Novel — Cambridge Literary Festival
A conversation at the Cambridge Literary Festival on AI, authorship, and what the novel becomes when language models enter the picture. Worth attending or following for anyone thinking about the cultural and humanistic dimensions of AI.
📍 Cambridge, UK 🔗 cambridgeliteraryfestival.com
That’s a wrap
Lots on the calendar — let us know what you’re attending, and drop a line if there’s something we should add to the next roundup.
👉 Stay connected:
See you in Albany!
— The JOPRO Team