CruzCon: Open Source for Research & Innovation
Date
Oct 22, 2026
Location
Seymour Center
2300 Delaware Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
CruzCon brings together UC researchers, faculty, students, campus leadership, and industry partners for a day exploring open source in research and innovation — hosted by the UCSC OSPO, Center for Research in Open Source Software (CROSS) and CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at the Seymour Center, UC Santa Cruz.
Registration Open
Registration is required. Please register by Oct 19 to secure a spot
Attendees are also invited to join the CROSS Annual Oktoberfest, held immediately following the conference.
Event Program [draft subject to change]
Thursday, October 22, 2026
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Opening Session - CROSS and CITRIS |
| 10:20–11:35 | Panel 1: Open Source Ecosystems as a Pathway to University Innovation |
| Moderator: Emily Lovell; Panelists: Daniel Fremont, Leilani Gilpin, Katia Obraczka, J. Xavier Prochaska | |
| 11:35–11:50 | Break |
| 11:50–12:30 | Keynote - Research software engineering and research software engineers: Successes and challenges. Daniel S. Katz, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| 12:30–1:45 | Lunch |
| 1:45–3:00 | Panel 2: Campus Infrastructure Supporting Open Source and Impact |
| Moderator: James Davis; Panelists: Stephanie Lieggi, Jason Nielsen, Benedict Paten, Jeff Weekley | |
| 3:00–3:40 | Keynote - Kirstie Whitaker, Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS) |
| 3:40–4:00 | Break |
| 4:00–5:00 | Closing Discussion: Open Source Infrastructure, Institutionalized |
| 5:00-5:15 | Closing Remarks |
| 5:15-7:30 | CROSS Annual Oktoberfest |
Logistics
Event Venue: Seymour Marine Discovery Center, UC Santa Cruz
Code of Conduct
All participants are required to follow the UCSC OSPO Events Code of Conduct.
