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.
Students from Berkeley High School’s 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.
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.
Co-leaders of the Berkeley Gateway Accelerator, 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.
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.
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’s lives.
“Deep technologies are about building real things,” Rappaport said. “And building real things requires people — business people, technical people, people who can machine and work with their hands. That’s not just going to magically appear one day.”
Scouting the next generation of talent
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.
“The future will be high schoolers who are already familiar with working with their hands and solving problems,” said Bisarya. “That will create different opportunities.”
Berkeley High brought two teams to the showcase — 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.
“This is the only group of students that are asking to come in over spring break and work and get more time doing engineering,” said Buehler. “I’m really proud of them and what they’ve accomplished.”
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.
“Our team does a lot to promote inclusivity, whether that’s working through financial barriers and making sure that any student can join our team, or presentations on sexism and gender inclusion,” said Lutzker. ” 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.”
Many students said they joined the team with no prior experience and did not have to tryout – 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 – an experience that she believes been fruitful.
“This is the only group of students that are asking to come in over spring break and work and get more time doing engineering. I’m really proud of them and what they’ve accomplished.”
Ellie Buehler, Berkeley High robotics teacher
“Joining the team where we kind of have no cuts and I didn’t have to have any prior experience kind of let me thrive,” said Chitnis. “I could just learn and grow as a person.”
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.
“Everything went amazingly, nothing broke,” said Raina. “Just seeing that come to life is something I love.”
Six weeks for one moment
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.
“I spend six weeks to build this robot and then I get to see it move,” said Vorobeva. “Even if we don’t win at our competition, still going to competition and seeing ‘I built that and it moves’ is so wow. I did it.”
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 — teaching them new soft skills that go hand-in-hand with their technical abilities.
Buehler said she hopes the day translates into real opportunities for her students, including potential summer internships with the professionals they met Thursday.
Rappaport said the Berkeley High invitation reflects the accelerator’s 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.
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 — with scholarships available.
“We need to create opportunities for all people,” Rappaport said. “It’s important to build affordable housing but It’s also important raising people’s salaries so that they can afford to live in this place. It’s a balance.”
For Lutzker, presenting alongside engineers and investors already felt like something larger than a single afternoon.
“I think it’s so important that we, as the next generation of STEM innovators, are being exposed to this group of people and are learning from them — and are also having them learn from us,” she said. “It’s a space of community. Almost a space of family.”