{"id":333512,"date":"2026-05-26T22:52:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/333512\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T22:52:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:52:18","slug":"berkeley-robotics-showcase-unites-students-with-next-generation-of-tech-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/333512\/","title":{"rendered":"Berkeley robotics showcase unites students with next generation of tech industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE across different generations gathered at a downtown Berkeley office on Thursday to watch high school students showcase their robots and hear how local investors plan to turn the East Bay into a competitive technology hub.<\/p>\n

Students from Berkeley High School\u2019s robotics club accepted an invitation to showcase their projects to a group of professionals by the Berkeley Gateway Accelerator, a local-business investment program that supports early startup companies working on newly researched technologies.<\/p>\n

The showcase is a part of a collaboration between the high school and the accelerator to expose young people from different socioeconomic backgrounds to robotics and push them to pursue careers in the field.<\/p>\n

Co-leaders of the Berkeley Gateway Accelerator<\/a>, Matt Rappaport and Nirav Bisarya, both Berkeley residents with children in local public schools, said they set out to create a space where people across generations could pursue careers in robotics and other technologies with the backing of academics, venture capitalists, and the local business community.<\/p>\n

\"\"Aarin Raina (left) explains his team\u2019s robot during a community robotics showcase at the Berkeley Gateway Accelerator in Berkeley on Thursday, May 21, 2026. The accelerator\u2019s goal is to invest in the local business community and foster talent in the East Bay. (Andres Jimenez Larios\/ Bay City News)<\/p>\n

The Berkeley Gateway Accelerator, not affiliated with the University of California, opened in February and has hosted nearly 14 events since, drawing more than 1,000 people ranging from high school students to industry veterans to retirees. Roughly 30 private investors, nearly all of them based in the Bay Area, back the program. Real estate group SRM Associates provides the 30,000-square-foot downtown Berkeley office space adjacent to the BART station.<\/p>\n

The accelerator prioritizes supporting start-ups focusing on deep-tech, technologies grounded in research like material science, chemistry, physics and robotics. Deep-tech goes beyond software, said Rappaport, and is characterized as innovation that has a physical impact on people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeep technologies are about building real things,\u201d Rappaport said. \u201cAnd building real things requires people \u2014 business people, technical people, people who can machine and work with their hands. That\u2019s not just going to magically appear one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scouting the next generation of talent<\/p>\n

That philosophy drove Rappaport and Bisarya to reach out to Berkeley High. They described the student invitation not as a goodwill gesture but as an expression of their belief that the next generation of talent sits in classrooms and robotics labs across the East Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future will be high schoolers who are already familiar with working with their hands and solving problems,\u201d said Bisarya. \u201cThat will create different opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berkeley High brought two teams to the showcase \u2014 the varsity squad 5419 and the all-freshmen team 5499. They presented robots they built and competed with this past season, where they were challenged to make machines that could launch balls into an arena. Ellie Buehler, one of the robotics teachers at the school, sported a huge smile as she said the students carry their commitment well beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the only group of students that are asking to come in over spring break and work and get more time doing engineering,\u201d said Buehler. \u201cI\u2019m really proud of them and what they\u2019ve accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hazel Lutzker, 15, who works on the varsity team, said the robotics program has become a supportive space for her and her teammates. She said the team has worked to break down barriers to enter the world of robotics and it was rewarding to be a in space that continued that support outside of the classroom.<\/p>\n

\"\"Hazel Lutzker, center, speaks during a community robotics showcase at the Berkeley Gateway Accelerator in Berkeley, Calif., on Thursday, May 21, 2026. She said she and her team have worked to break down barriers to enter the world of robotics.(Andres Jimenez Larios\/ Bay City News)<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team does a lot to promote inclusivity, whether that\u2019s working through financial barriers and making sure that any student can join our team, or presentations on sexism and gender inclusion,\u201d said Lutzker. \u201d I think as a woman in STEM, I feel that the robotics team has really opened a place for me to be myself and to explore all these interesting fields.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many students said they joined the team with no prior experience and did not have to tryout \u2013 just show up with a willingness to learn and support one another. Samishka Chitnis, 17, said her older sister nudged her to give robotics a try \u2013 an experience that she believes been fruitful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the only group of students that are asking to come in over spring break and work and get more time doing engineering. I\u2019m really proud of them and what they\u2019ve accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellie Buehler, Berkeley High robotics teacher <\/p>\n

\u201cJoining the team where we kind of have no cuts and I didn\u2019t have to have any prior experience kind of let me thrive,\u201d said Chitnis. \u201cI could just learn and grow as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aarin Raina, 15, a member of the all-freshman team, described a season that had its ups and downs, but ultimately felt rewarding at their latest competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything went amazingly, nothing broke,\u201d said Raina. \u201cJust seeing that come to life is something I love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six weeks for one moment<\/p>\n

That sense of growth carried into the showcase itself. For Moss Vorobeva, 18, the payoff of robotics comes down to one moment after weeks of hard work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spend six weeks to build this robot and then I get to see it move,\u201d said Vorobeva. \u201cEven if we don\u2019t win at our competition, still going to competition and seeing \u2018I built that and it moves\u2019 is so wow. I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Moss Vorobeva watches their team\u2019s robot during a community robotics showcase at the Berkeley Gateway Accelerator in Berkeley on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (Andres Jimenez Larios\/ Bay City News)<\/p>\n

The showcase pushed students in new ways off the competition floor. Vorobeva, who typically presents in front of elementary and high school students, admitted to nerves standing before a room full of engineers. Chitnis said it marked her first time presenting to a large professional crowd. Both said the experience was worth it \u2014 teaching them new soft skills that go hand-in-hand with their technical abilities.<\/p>\n

Buehler said she hopes the day translates into real opportunities for her students, including potential summer internships with the professionals they met Thursday.<\/p>\n

Rappaport said the Berkeley High invitation reflects the accelerator\u2019s larger mission to build a homegrown talent pipeline across the East Bay. He said there is real estate, a concentration of university and local businesspeople willing to invest, and funds to build up an ecosystem that can foster homegrown talent.<\/p>\n

This summer, the accelerator plans to launch a program for people between the ages of 17 and 22, running three-week sessions in June and July focused on entrepreneurship, deep tech and professional skills \u2014 with scholarships available.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Berkeley High School robotics club takes a selfie during a community robotics showcase at the Berkeley Gateway Accelerator in Berkeley on Thursday, May 21, 2026. The accelerator\u2019s goal is to invest in the local business community and foster talent in the East Bay. (Andres Jimenez Larios\/ Bay City News)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to create opportunities for all people,\u201d Rappaport said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to build affordable housing but It\u2019s also important raising people\u2019s salaries so that they can afford to live in this place. It\u2019s a balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Lutzker, presenting alongside engineers and investors already felt like something larger than a single afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s so important that we, as the next generation of STEM innovators, are being exposed to this group of people and are learning from them \u2014 and are also having them learn from us,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a space of community. Almost a space of family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Berkeley robotics showcase unites students with next generation of tech industry<\/a> appeared first on Local News Matters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE across different generations gathered at a downtown Berkeley office on Thursday to watch high…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-333512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}