​Symposium on Strategic Horizons in Critical Minerals and Materials

​Date: Tuesday October 27th, 2026 | Time: 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Location: Bakar Labs Auditorium, UC Berkeley

​Overview

​Critical minerals are essential to the technologies and infrastructure shaping our future, from batteries and grid systems to advanced manufacturing, defense, and AI. Yet concentrated global supply chains create significant economic and geopolitical vulnerabilities.

​This one-day symposium will bring together leaders across academia, industry, startups, investment, government, and national laboratories to explore technologies and strategies for building more resilient, competitive, and sustainable critical mineral and materials systems.

​Audience: We are bringing together researchers, startups, investors, industry leaders, government and national lab experts, and policymakers to explore emerging technologies, identify critical bottlenecks, and build the partnerships needed to move innovation from discovery to deployment.

​Symposium Topics

• ​Technology frontiers in extraction, separation, and recovery

• ​Mineral sources, availability, and resource constraints

• ​Capital, scale-up, and defense commercialization

• ​Venture capital, project finance, and FOAK scale-up

• ​Global perspectives on critical minerals

• ​Startup and technology showcase

​Startup and Technology Showcase

​See the ideas shaping the future of critical minerals. During the lunch hour, meet the innovators, researchers, and entrepreneurs turning big challenges into real-world solutions. Explore startups, prototypes, breakthrough research, and emerging technologies advancing the way we extract, process, recycle, and recover critical minerals.

​Interested in showcasing your work? Click this link for additional information and details on how to participate.

​A dedicated event webpage with the detailed agenda and program information is linked here!

​Thank you to our steering committee

​The symposium is being organized with guidance from a cross-sector steering committee representing academic, industry, and investor perspectives.

• ​Gabriel Kra, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Prelude Ventures

• ​Jenifer Shafer, Inaugural Ben Fryrear Presidential Chair, Colorado School of Mines

• ​Douglas Wicks, Former ARPA-E Program Director, Director of ASCENT, Renaissance Philanthropy

• ​Justin Larson, Senior Energy Economist, Energy & Environment Domain Lead, RTI International

• ​Alex Bell, The Dow Professor of Sustainable Chemistry, Emeritus, UC Berkeley

• ​Kristen Persson, Daniel M. Tellep Distinguished Professor in Engineering, UC Berkeley

• ​Lacey Reddix, Director of Innovation Pilots, Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator

​About Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials

​Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials (BL-EM) is a pilot program at UC Berkeley that supports high-potential startups by providing critical resources, mentorship, and lab space for innovations that address planetary health. In early 2028, as part of UC Berkeley's commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, BL-EM will move into its permanent home at the western entrance of campus, a 145,000-square-foot facility. The building will include highly flexible wet laboratory and office space, supporting startups in physics, chemistry, materials science, and other areas, propelled by AI/ML. It will serve as a dedicated hub for innovation and community with partners from across campus and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Learn more at https://energy-materials.bakarlabs.org/.