Fall/Winter 2026 Events

Associates members are invited to exclusive events featuring social receptions, fine dining, and faculty presentations showcasing their latest research and discoveries.

With approximately 20 dynamic events each year in Southern California, Northern California, and New York City, the Caltech Associates program offers regular opportunities to learn about what's new and what's next directly from the people defining future directions in a broad range of disciplines. Event Q&A sessions afford the chance to gain even more insight. For event registration or information about becoming a member, please contact us at (626) 395-3919.

Guest policy. We welcome guests interested in joining the Caltech Associates to accompany a member at up to two Associates events before deciding. Members should always attend events with their registered guests. Please note that reservations for guests unaccompanied by a member are subject to cancellation.

Pasadena, California
Thursday, September 10, 2026
5:00 pm … Lab tour (President's Circle and Legacy Circle members)
6:00 pm … Dinner and presentation

Throughout the history of science, countless discoveries and practical innovations have their origins in curiosity-driven observations of nature, or, as Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering Joe Parker puts it, "poking around with some organism that seems interesting to you."

The Parker Lab explores how organisms interact across species boundaries and how and why these interactions have emerged during evolution, shaping the biosphere around us. His team has pioneered the study of rove beetles, the largest family of animals in the animal kingdom. Over their evolutionary history, these beetles transformed from ecologically unremarkable organisms into a wondrous species capable of infiltrating ant social structures and colonies through biochemical adaptations, eventually leading to an entrenched, irreversible dependence. Understanding this evolutionary process and the incredible complexity underlying it can help answer fundamental and enduring questions in biology and chemistry and inform breakthroughs in a range of fields, from medicine to engineering.

Palo Alto, California
Saturday, September 26, 2026
6:00 pm

The future of healthcare will be less invasive, more adaptable, and better informed by bioelectronics. Researchers in the lab of Wei Gao, professor of medical engineering and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator, are developing wearable biochemical sensors that track nutrients, hormones, and proteins by analyzing sweat. Devices like these, along with implantable and ingestible sensors, have the potential to revolutionize medicine by enabling precise monitoring and localized, targeted treatments.

Professor Gao's interdisciplinary team is collaborating with partners around the world to develop clinical applications of the technology to treat a range of medical conditions, including diabetes, gout, heart disease, and COPD. He will talk about the frontiers of this work and his group's latest achievements, including the development of stretchable sensors that flex with the body.

New York, New York
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
6:00 pm

New imaging methods are revealing previously hidden details and phenomena. Lihong Wang, Bren Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, Andrew and Peggy Cherng Medical Engineering Leadership Chair, and executive officer for medical engineering, will share advances in what we can observe.

Professor Wang will discuss photoacoustic tomography (PAT), which combines light and sound to capture images deep within biological tissues, opening new opportunities for noninvasive cancer detection and neuroscience. He will also explore compressed ultrafast photography (CUP), which captures events at up to 219 trillion frames per second, and the potential of quantum imaging to provide novel insights into light, matter, and biological systems.

Pasadena, California
Thursday, October 22, 2026
6:00 pm

Science is arguably the ultimate test of artificial intelligence, demanding deep insight to distinguish cause from effect and to form hypotheses worth testing, as well as command of a vast literature and experimental methods. How AI performs in the lab is a significant indicator of the technology's progress.

AI could relieve scientists of routine tasks, freeing time for creative discovery. It could also connect scientific communities across disciplines, promoting the exchange of ideas and prioritizing promising research. However, AI systems can produce confident but false results, detect patterns where none exist, and make errors that are hard to detect. Researchers may come to rely too heavily on automated tools, dulling the critical judgment on which science depends. Pietro Perona, the Allen E. Puckett Professor of Electrical Engineering and director of Information Science and Technology at Caltech, will lead an interdisciplinary discussion with other Institute researchers on what AI will mean for scientific discovery.

Pasadena, California
Wednesday, November 4, 2026
5:00 pm

President's Circle and Legacy Circle members are invited to join Katie Bouman, professor of computing and mathematical sciences, electrical engineering, and astronomy, Rosenberg Scholar, and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator, for a reception and dinner preceding her Watson Lecture.

As part of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Professor Bouman co-led the team that produced the first-ever images of black holes, including M87* in 2019 and Sagittarius A* in 2022. Her research group, Computational Cameras at Caltech, uses computer algorithms and sensors to create images of otherwise invisible phenomena. Professor Bouman's Watson Lecture will explore how physics and AI are working together to illuminate the hidden universe.

Virtual via Zoom
Thursday, November 5, 2026
11:30 am

Many of the processes by which plants grow, adapt, and survive are still not fully understood. Trevor Nolan, assistant professor of biology and biological engineering, is uncovering the collective coordination that guides plant development, revealing how small groups of cells build roots, leaves, and other tissues while responding to environmental changes.

This knowledge could help scientists develop crops that better withstand drought, poor soil, and a changing climate while producing more food with fewer resources. Beyond agriculture, this work also offers new insights into one of biology's most fundamental questions: how do living organisms build, maintain, and repair the complex tissues that make life possible?

Orange County, California
Thursday, November 12, 2026
6:00 pm

Caltech is building the nation's next great innovation hub in Pasadena. Over the past decade, the Institute has launched several new programs to foster an entrepreneurial culture on campus and throughout the surrounding community. The efforts span multiple fronts, helping researchers and students turn discoveries into companies; retaining and growing startups in Pasadena rather than losing them to other regions; and attracting large corporations to establish a presence nearby.

Together, these initiatives are part of a broader strategy to position Caltech and Pasadena as one of the nation's premier innovation hubs, where cutting-edge research, entrepreneurial talent, and industry converge. Chief Innovation and Corporate Partnerships Officer Frederic Farina will trace that journey, outlining the programs his team has built, the momentum they've generated, and the vision for where this ecosystem is headed next.

Pasadena, California
Thursday, December 10, 2026
11:00 am

One of our most popular events of the year, our annual holiday luncheon is a favorite occasion to gather with faculty, friends, and fellow Associates in the cheerful atmosphere of the Athenaeum's festive decor.

We're honored to welcome Caltech's 10th president, Ray Jayawardhana, the Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and professor of astronomy, as our special guest speaker. His research as a renowned astrophysicist explores the origin and evolution of planets and planetary systems and the formation of stars and brown dwarfs, with a view to investigating prospects for life in the universe. President Jayawardhana is also a prolific researcher, with more than 180 scientific papers, as well as an acclaimed writer of books and articles for the public.

Pasadena, California
Thursday, January 21, 2027
6:00 pm

We live in a material world. The buildings we live and work in, the cars we drive, the clothes we wear, the phones we use, and even the food we eat all rely on materials, both natural and synthetic.

Kaushik Bhattacharya, the Howell N. Tyson, Sr. Professor of Mechanics and Materials Science, and his research group use mathematical theory, computer simulation, and machine learning to understand how materials derive their properties and how to improve them. By studying the microscopic structures that determine strength, flexibility, and performance, the team is developing approaches to design materials with precisely tailored properties. This research has the potential to drive breakthroughs in structural materials, soft robotics, sustainable energy, and biomedical devices.

Pasadena, California
Wednesday, January 27, 2027
11:00 am

Nature has evolved remarkable solutions to the challenges of survival. President's Circle and Legacy Circle members are invited to the lab of Assistant Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering and William H. Hurt Scholar Carlos Taboada, where researchers are uncovering the science behind some of nature's most extraordinary innovations.

By studying frogs with transparent bodies, brilliant fluorescence, and leaf-like camouflage, his team investigates the origins of the proteins, cells, and tissues that enable animals to manipulate light. The lab's investigations integrate biochemistry, optics, physiology, and evolutionary biology to understand how these fascinating amphibians achieve transparency, control coloration, and interact with their environments. Discoveries from this work could lead to advances in imaging, bio-inspired materials, and new approaches to studying complex biological systems.

Northern California
Saturday, January 30, 2027
6:00 pm

Computers are learning to understand the world in increasingly human-like ways. President's Circle and Legacy Circle members are invited to hear from Georgia Gkioxari, assistant professor of computing and mathematical sciences and electrical engineering, and William H. Hurt Scholar whose team creates AI systems that can recognize objects, reconstruct three-dimensional scenes from ordinary images, and evaluate how people, places, and objects relate over time. They are also designing software that improves itself by absorbing new data, making it more adaptable to unfamiliar situations.

This research could help enable more capable robots, autonomous vehicles, augmented and virtual reality, and improved medical imaging. By giving machines a deeper understanding of the physical world, the lab aims to make AI systems safer, more reliable, and better equipped to assist people in science, industry, healthcare, and everyday life.