El Segundo-based advanced materials startup Cambium is presenting a one-day summit called Tech Day during next month's LA Tech Week, featuring executives and industry leaders discussing how artificial intelligence and a booming defense-tech sector are reshaping Southern California's manufacturing economy. The event, hosted by LA Times Studios, zeroes in on the South Bay's rapid transformation into a hub for aerospace hardware and AI-driven design.
Tech Day runs as part of the broader Los Angeles Times Studios event slate during LA Tech Week, a decentralized, citywide festival co-launched in 2022 by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz that has since expanded beyond San Francisco and Los Angeles to hubs like New York and Boston, according to KADO Networks. The 2026 Los Angeles edition of the festival is scheduled for October 12 through 18. Tech Day itself is built around back-to-back sessions examining how AI is accelerating American design and manufacturing, and the forces fueling Southern California's emergence as an aerospace and defense powerhouse.
The agenda opens with check-in, lunch and networking from noon to 1:15 pm, followed by a panel called The New Industrial Revolution from 1:15 to 2 pm, focused on how AI is changing what America can build across aerospace, defense and robotics. A second panel, The SoCal Aero Defense Boom, runs from 2:15 to 3 pm, with a fireside chat closing out the day from 3 to 3:30 pm. Organizers say the event offers limited-space access to leaders in technology and industry, and requires advance registration.
Cambium's Rapid Rise as Event Host
Cambium's role as presenting sponsor comes on the heels of a fast-moving year for the company. The El Segundo firm raised a $100 million Series B round led by 8VC in January, with backing from Lockheed Martin Ventures to scale AI-designed, heat-resistant polymers for defense and aerospace applications, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. The company uses computational modeling inspired by pharmaceutical drug discovery to engineer its high-performance materials.
The startup also acquired U.K.-based composite manufacturer SHD Group in December 2025 to expand its global supply chain, and in July launched SentinelOps, a dual-use laser eye protection platform aimed at defense personnel, as reported by the Los Angeles Times and detailed in a release distributed via PR Newswire. The FAA logs thousands of laser strikes against commercial and military cockpits each year, underscoring the kind of problem SentinelOps is meant to address. Two Cambium executives are slated to speak at Tech Day: Chief Informatics Officer Timothy Gardner and co-founder Stephan Herrera, who also serves as the company's chief marketing officer and head of government affairs.
A Lineup Drawn From Defense, Manufacturing and City Hall
The speaker roster reflects the cross-section of public and private interests now converging around El Segundo's defense economy. Karan Talati, CEO and co-founder of Los Angeles manufacturing software startup First Resonance, is scheduled to appear. Talati, a former SpaceX engineer who co-founded the company in 2020, closed a $12.5 million funding extension in December 2024 that brought First Resonance's total funding to $32 million for its ION Factory OS platform, per the Los Angeles Business Journal. That software is used by companies including Joby Aviation, Saronic and Radiant Nuclear.
Also on the agenda is El Segundo Mayor Chris Pimentel, a former Marine Corps infantry officer and risk management executive who has served on the City Council since 2018 and was selected as mayor in 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times. Pimentel has focused on municipal land-use policies aimed at accommodating South Bay defense-tech expansion. The City of El Segundo is listed as a bronze sponsor of Tech Day.
Rounding out the speaker list are Jennifer Krolik, chief operating officer at GetChkd and vice president of finance for AFCEA, and Todd E. Wiest, corporate lead executive for Los Angeles at Kratos Defense and vice president of programs at AFCEA Los Angeles.
Why El Segundo Is the Backdrop
The choice of subject matter is no accident. El Segundo is home to Los Angeles Air Force Base and the headquarters of Space Systems Command, which manages a $15.6 billion annual military space acquisition budget for the U.S. Space Force overseeing satellite procurement, missile defense and launch services, according to the U.S. Space Force. That proximity to legacy defense primes and military acquisition leadership, paired with software-driven hardware engineering models pioneered by SpaceX alumni, has helped turn the small city into what's often nicknamed the Gundo.
The numbers back up the momentum. Inflation-adjusted federal defense contract spending awarded to Los Angeles County companies more than doubled over the past decade, according to CalMatters, which reported that $15 billion in contracts won in the county last year went largely to established contractors headquartered elsewhere, while startups claimed a growing share. In 2025, a majority of L.A.'s ten newly minted startup unicorns were aerospace and defense firms. The county's aerospace and defense sector added 11,000 jobs between 2022 and 2024, paying an average annual wage of $141,110 — more than double the regional average, per the Los Angeles Times.
Squeezed Industrial Space Fuels a Real Estate Crunch
That growth has come with a side effect: a scramble for industrial real estate across the South Bay. Rapid expansion among defense-tech startups like Cambium and First Resonance has squeezed available inventory, driving up lease rates and pushing former flex and studio spaces toward conversion into advanced manufacturing plants.
That trend has already reshaped former entertainment-industry real estate in the area, including a Manhattan Beach studio once used to shoot Avatar that is now being eyed for a defense-tech takeover. Pasadena has also rolled out its own municipal programming for LA Tech Week, with six events organized by Innovate Pasadena and the City of Pasadena spanning AI and space startups.
Tech Day is being organized by LA Times Studios, which publishes business content and a newsletter covering Southern California business stories, leaders and trends, and its content draws on press releases, announcements and contributor material. Sponsorship inquiries for the event are being handled by Helya Askari, vice president of sales, while general event questions can be directed to [email protected].
