Titans 2025 Award Recipients
Extraordinary People Shaping the Monterey Bay Innovation Story
Santa Cruz Works’ Titans Awards are built around a simple idea: the Monterey Bay region produces world-class innovation, and it deserves world-class recognition. The 2025 nominee list spans breakthrough science, scaled entrepreneurship, workforce pathways, and community builders who make the whole system work. Of the more than 50 nominations, the Santa Cruz Works Board narrowed it down to these winners.
Come celebrate these awardees, the broader Titans community, and the kind of leadership that compounds over time. The 2025 Titans Awards take place on January 28, 2026.
Ash Robbins
Co-Founder & CTO at Immergo Labs and AI Research Scientist at UC Santa Cruz, Ash Robbins sits at the strange (and increasingly important) intersection of living intelligence and machine intelligence. In 2025 he was recognized for first-author research demonstrating “goal-directed learning” in cortical organoids, while also building tools that expand access to physical rehabilitation care, especially for remote communities.
Holger Schmidt
Founder of Fluxus, Holger Schmidt is nominated for pushing diagnostics and life-science measurement forward with technology that can detect tiny amounts of biological signals, including protein and RNA. His optofluidic work traces back to UC Santa Cruz innovation and has been tied to commercialization efforts through Fluxus and broader diagnostics adoption.
Dan Haifley
Dan Haifley’s nomination is a reminder that “tech” also includes the systems that protect places and people. A board member of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, he’s credited as a foundational leader in modern ocean protection and environmental policy work tied to the Monterey Bay region’s long-term stewardship.
Marcella Gomez
A UC Santa Cruz Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Baskin School of Engineering, Marcella Gomez is nominated for coupling research (including AI-driven control strategies applied to areas like wound healing and cell-based therapies) with ecosystem-building through programs and mentorship that expand access for local students, including first-generation scholars
Maggie Nixon
Maggie Nixon is nominated as a rare operator-builder in medtech: a co-founder of Versa Vascular and Capstan Medical, recognized by nominators for co-founding two startups and raising significant venture funding to challenge incumbents. Santa Cruz Works has also profiled her path into medical devices and robotics leadership, underscoring the mix of talent, grit, and execution that Titans tends to reward.
Rod Caborn
Founder of Firstclass Fundraising, Rod Caborn is nominated as a community force-multiplier: a master of ceremonies and professional auctioneer credited with raising more than $25 million for schools and nonprofits, while also building programs that support literacy and community engagement. His nomination reads like a case study in how charisma, craft, and consistency become real civic infrastructure.
Sol Lipman
Founder of Pie Fi, Sol Lipman is nominated for investing time, resources, and lived product experience into the next generation of builders, including mentorship in the Launchpad pitch ecosystem and the creation of an AI-focused entrepreneurial hub. His work reflects a core Titans theme: building the pipeline, not just the spotlight moment.
Julie Edwards
As PVUSD’s Director of Strategic Educational Options, Julie Edwards is expanding Career Technical Education and work-based learning with a practical, high-ambition edge. Her nomination centers on helping launch an aviation-focused Engineering Technology pathway with Monterey Bay DART and partners (including Joby Aviation), where students will assemble a flyable Van’s RV-12 while working toward FAA-aligned credentials.