News Highlights
We don’t only report the news, we make the news. Our news highlights and archive here.
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NASA astronaut Christina Koch returns to Earth after record 328 days in space
Christina Koch wrapped up a 328-day extended mission on her first spaceflight, having spent more time in space on a single mission than any other woman.
Steve Wozniak: The Wonderful Wizard of Woz
He is the co-founder of Apple, prankster, iconoclast, concert producer, Dancing with the Stars contestant, and college graduate.
Search For Poly CEO Is On As Joe Burton Steps Down, Former Polycom Leader Named Interim CEO
Joe Burton, Poly's president and CEO, has stepped down. Robert Hagerty, chairman of Poly's board of directors and former CEO of Polycom, is serving as Poly's leader while the company searches for its permanent replacement.
Santa Cruz: An Emerging Green Tech Hub
Santa Cruz is a vibrant community with a strong appreciation of our environment. We are a little-big town of innovators. We are a community where the favorite pastimes are surfing and mountain biking. In classic Santa Cruz style, once a problem and industry are defined, a community is set into motion. These are some of the companies and organizations leading the charge to fight global warming:
UCSC Breakthrough on Cancer Genomes
An international team including researchers at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute has completed the most comprehensive study of whole cancer genomes to date, significantly improving our fundamental understanding of cancer and suggesting new directions for its diagnosis and treatment.
Paystand Raises $20M for Growth in Open Infrastructure for Commercial Finance
Paystand, the fastest growing blockchain-enabled commercial payments platform, today announced it has secured $20 million in Series B funding.
10 Santa Cruz Startups to Watch in 2020
There are more than 20 tech startups that have made significant progress over the past 6 months. Heading into 2020, the ten (10) that we are most enthusiastic about are Ambient Photonics, Sellhound, Cruz Foam, Prometheus Fuels, 2NDNATURE, Santa Cruz Local, and #NotMe.
Is Andrew Yang the Macintosh of presidential candidates?
As recently as 2016 few people had heard of Andrew Yang. He had achieved success as a tech entrepreneur, but he wasn’t in the billionaire club like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates. Though his aspirations are just as large.
Melinda Gates launches $50 million initiative to boost women in tech
A new initiative from billionaire Melinda Gates wants to increase the number of women in Chicago tech. And her investment firm is spending $50 million to kickstart the women-in-tech initiative in the Windy City and two other markets.
Amazon opens registration for re:MARS 2020, starring Jeff Bezos and Hollywood’s Jon Favreau
How do you follow up on Iron Man? The answer for Amazon’s second annual re:MARS conference is to bring the godfather of Baby Yoda to the Vegas stage.
Skyrora test 3D-printed rocket engines powered by plastic waste
Skyrora’s rocket engines are novel not only in their use of 3D printing, but also because the fuel that powers them is developed from plastic waste
Saudi Arabia's Abdul Latif Jameel Joins Joby Aviation’s $590 million Series C Funding Round
The investment arm of Abdul Latif Jameel, a Saudi Arabian family-owned conglomerate, invested in Joby Aviation's $590 million Series C funding round. Joby is an emerging company in Santa Cruz that aims to shuttle passengers in electric air taxis above congested city streets.
The Tech Talent Struggle
During my 14 years running a professional services company in Santa Cruz, finding talent here was never “easy”. In 2008 we had little choice but to curate talent, mentoring potential employees through internships and more recently structured tech apprenticeships.
Design Thinking: It's a Wrap!
What a night! Thank you to all our speakers, guest and sponsors who came out to Design Thinking, our first event at Kuumbwa Jazz Center.
The Santa Cruz Boardwalk is an early adopter of #NotMe
Workplace harassment is a huge problem in the Bay Area. And by some estimates, as many as 75% of all incidents never get reported. But a tech company has an easy solution and all you need is a smartphone app. The #NotMe app is a new way to report any kind of harassment anonymously on your phone.
Parallel Flight is looking for a "hardcore Mechanical Engineer"
Joshua Resnick, CEO of Parallel Flight Technologies is looking for "a hardcore Mechanical Engineer who wants to suffer in a startup with us”. If interested send us (info@SantaCruzWorks.org) your contact info and resume and we will send it to the correct channels. Or reach out to Parallel Flight Technologies directly at parallel.aero.
Design Thinking sold out, but you can watch via FB Live
If you were not one of the lucky ones to get a ticket, you can watch this event Facebook Live. Details herein
Santa Cruz Product Design Champions
Damien Golbin and Niall Macken, Senior Product Designers at Spanner Product Development, are committed to deeply examining the poetic and functional “why” when it comes to the features of products they design. We talk to them and Scot Herbst of Herbst Produkt about their approach to creating compelling products and brands.
Kobe Bryant's Helicopter Crash / the Future of Aviation
The fatal helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant, and eight others demonstrates the need for electrical vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) machines air-taxis provide a promise of future with safe, sustainable, and efficient transportation solutions.
New Santa Cruz Startup: Ambient Photonics
New Santa Cruz company Ambient Photonics has the best green energy solution for indoor IoT devices.

