This annual symposium will convene thought leaders and showcase the four central pillars of Gotham Foundry, from leading-edge regenerative material innovation and translation, workforce training, industry engagement to democratizing access to the materials innovation ecosystem. The Gotham Foundry, established in 2025 and headquartered in West Harlem, is a unique partnership between the city (NYC-EDC), its leading community organizations and academic institutions (Genspace, CUNY-ASRC, FIT, and Columbia), working together with tremendous West Harlem and city-wide partners to turbocharge sustainable materials innovation and workforce training, for three leading New York industries: fashion, construction and health. Speaker list: Kate Ascher, Co-director, Gotham Foundry, and Milstein Professor of Urban Development at GSAPP, Columbia University Jui Chaugule, Head of Research, Provizigen Stephanie Down, Co-founder & CEO, Uncaged Innovations Susan Easton, Product & Marketing Director, NYFIC Shiho Kawashima, Associate Professor, Columbia University Kelley Kizzier, Director, Materials and Manufacturing Innovation, Bezos Earth Fund Casey Lardner, Executive Director, Genspace Samia Lemfadli, Founder & CEO, Change for Good Helen H. Lu, Director, Gotham Foundry, and Hudson Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University Jin Kim Montclare, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, NYU Tandon Aradhita Parasrampuria, Founder & CEO, Cellsense Sonia Park, Vice President of Industry & Innovation, NYCEDC Janet Rodriguez, Founder & CEO, SoHarlem Jonsara Ruth, Co-founder and Design Director, Healthy Materials Lab Jen Tausig, Principal, Jen Tausig Consulting Theanne Schiros, Co-director, Gotham Foundry, NYFIC consortium member, Professor FIT Rein Ulijn, Co-director, Gotham Foundry, Professor of Chemistry at Hunter College, CUNY, and Director, Nanoscience Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center Emily Laurilliard, Assistant Director, Innovation Workforce Initiatives, Empire State Development. Helen Zha, Associate Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering, RPI Diandian Zhao, Co-founder and CEO, Carbon Infuse Media interested in attending or covering the event must RSVP to engmediarelations@columbia.edu