Where Technology Meets the Sea The 6th Annual MAST Technology Expo at Port of Hueneme

With over 400 participants consisting of local businesses, entrepreneurs, port customers, students, and community leaders, this year’s Expo served as the venue to launch the next iteration of MAST. The Port, Navy, Economic Development Collaborative and the well renowned Went brothers of the local start-up, Matter Labs, announced their new technology driven collaborative. Setting up shop on Port, the collaborative both institutionally and structurally builds the foundation to bolster public access to piloting, developing, and commercializing new technologies in data analytics, robotic systems, alternative environmental technology, cyber security, and much more.

The Economic Development Collaborative’s top executive Bruce Stenslie shared, “The MAST Expo is an excellent annual demonstration of what drives the Ventura County economy. It showcases our strengths in global trade, in advanced manufacturing, and in Research & Development opportunities at both the Port of Hueneme and Naval Base Ventura County. Adding the participation of our youth and educators involved in STEM learning closes the loop, helping to deliver a next generation of innovators.”

Erick Went sat on the Opportunities for Innovation Panel captivating the audience with his ambitions to grow MAST and ignite a surge of entrepreneurial activity throughout Ventura County. The crowd really perked up as Went explained, “The collaborative will provide a unique intersection of a world of spaces that don’t often get to play together. The sweet spot here is that MAST is a collider. You’re putting together, in close proximity, things that are not always there and you’re hitting it with a bunch of energy, and all kinds of amazing things get created. Port, business, industry, students, innovators, all people out of the box are in one place, at one time with a ton of energy surrounding them. The cross over connections that are happening here are incredible.”

Ann Carpenter of Braid Theory moderated the Opportunities for Innovation Panel in the morning session. She emphasized, “The panel experience is great…the bringing together of the different resources from the macro level of economic development all the way to Matter Labs doing the programing support for the individual entrepreneurs is exactly what is needed to build out the ecosystem here,” Carpenter said. “The MAST Expo is critical to our business strategy, this environment where you have key players means you can actually do business.”

The day was flooded with exciting opportunities for students through contests and hands-on testing of the actual technologies. Local high schools from across Ventura County took part in the technology wave including: Channel Islands High School, Santa Paula High School, Oxnard High School, Port Hueneme High School, Santa Susana High School, Colina Middle School, and Pleasant Valley Christian School.

Channel Islands High School Junior Tania Salceda explained her experience at the event, “It was my first time at the Port, and I didn’t know we had a Port in our community. It was cool to see that the Port is actually doing amazing things for our environment, and that they are the Greenest Port of the Year. I am proud to have the Port here!” Salceda elaborated, “My favorite part of today was the presentation on the LED lasers and how they are starting to use them in the new BMW cars.”

Two incredible community leaders were honored with awards at the closing of the Expo, Mike Villegas of the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD) and Cónsul Roberto Rodríguez Hernández of the Consulate of Mexico in Oxnard.

Harbor Commissioner Mary Anne Rooney presented the awards stating, “It is an honor to have a great friend of the Port, Mike Villegas, with us today. His contributions to our community and to improve our air quality will be felt for generations. Today, our communities have the cleanest air on record, and it is because of Mike’s willingness to partner with industries like ours to implement new technologies and innovative approaches to providing cleaner air for us all.”

Villegas was heartfelt in his acceptance of the Lifetime Achievement Award stating, “Thank you to the Port for this recognition. The Port has been a great project partner on everything from the Shorepower project to the new PHRESH plan for improving air quality. I look forward to working with the Port on locomotive emission reduction projects, yard tractors, and even electric cranes. And with the Port being such a large component of the local economy, it’s critical that we have a green Port to keep these jobs in our County.”

In his acceptance of the award, the Consul stated, “We always appreciate that the Port is here to strengthen our community, and the Port has been an essential partner to support stronger ties with our community and to increase trade with Mexico. We support the Port of Hueneme and all the projects of the Port as it is the future of Oxnard and the City of Port Hueneme.”

Supervisor John Zaragoza helped close the day with some remarks, “The Port’s MAST Program is very beneficial to not only the harbor and the community, but also to our students. We have students from all over Ventura County here today to learn the newest technologies working with the Port, which is really important as they are, in fact, our future.”

Chief of Staff Brian Miller represented Supervisor Kelly Long in closing remarks stating, “The Port of Hueneme is a little-known gem in some parts of our County. It is a job creator that also generates tax dollars from tax revenues, and over $1.5 Billion in economic activity for the whole County. It was great to see all the participation of the students this year, learning a lot with their underwater SeaGlide robots. It’s that STEM education that will carry us into the future, and this type of event is what creates that drive for those students to want to study STEM as they move forward.”

Elected officials in attendance included: State Treasurer Fiona Ma, Supervisor John Zaragoza, Oxnard Harbor District President Jess Herrera, Oxnard Harbor District Commissioners Mary Anne Rooney and Jason Hodge; Port Hueneme Mayor Will Berg, Oxnard Mayor Pro Tem Carmen Ramirez, Supervisor Kelly Long’s Chief of Staff Brian Miller; and Karie Portillio Guerra and Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios representing Asm. Jacqui Irwin.

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