Founded in 2001 as one of the Governor Gray Davis California Institutes for Science and Innovation, the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) at the University of California (UC) has accelerated multidisciplinary research into market-ready solutions for critical societal challenges for more than two decades.
In service to its mission to generate social and economic benefits for all, CITRIS and the Banatao Institute connects partners from diverse industries with hundreds of world-class UC faculty and students, as well as advanced fabrication facilities, across its four campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz.
These industry partnerships have offered researchers international fellowships, key equipment for environmental monitoring projects, support for bus electrification efforts, and much more. Meanwhile, students have received paid summer internships in high-demand sectors, education and training in semiconductors and microfabrication, and workforce development workshops aimed at opening paths to well-paid jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Local communities, too, have benefited from collaborations between corporations and CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, with STEM outreach to historically underserved populations giving learners of all ages a chance to pilot drones and program robots.
Leading the charge in fostering connections between industry partners and the wide-ranging research ecosystem at CITRIS and the Banatao Institute is Julie Shapiro, the institute’s new corporate relations director.
For over 15 years, Shapiro has helped companies gain a competitive edge through education. Before joining CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, she served as client relationship director for the executive education program at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, where she partnered with organizations across the globe — from Australia and Dubai to Peru and Ukraine — to design and implement tailored leadership development programs. She was also a strategic initiatives consultant for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia.
Shapiro holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree from Middlebury College, both in Italian language and literature, as well as a coaching certification from the UC Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute. She is a writer, and is fluent in French, Italian and Spanish.
“We are excited that Julie will bring her vast expertise and enthusiasm to develop relationships with new and existing industry partners,” said CITRIS Director Alexandre Bayen, associate provost for the Berkeley Space Center and Liao-Cho Innovation Endowed Chair and professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences and of civil and environmental engineering at UC Berkeley.
Recently, Shapiro shared her vision for the future of corporate engagement at CITRIS.
What led you to this position?
Throughout my career, I’ve gravitated toward roles focused on meaningful social impact through education. At Berkeley Executive Education at the Haas School of Business, I collaborated with organizations worldwide by designing customized learning programs that addressed their specific business challenges. From this experience, I learned the transformative power of applying academic insights to real-world organizational needs.
CITRIS’s mission to harness technology to solve complex societal issues deeply resonates with me. I have a talent for connecting people and for matching industry opportunities with academic expertise, which is at the heart of what I do at CITRIS and the Banatao Institute. I view my role as a translator between academia and industry, championing collaborations that create breakthroughs neither could achieve alone.
What are your top priorities as corporate relations director?
I want to tell the compelling story of what makes the institute unique: our remarkable ecosystem spanning four UC campuses with complementary strengths, and our strategic focus areas in aviation, climate, health and policy. This will enable more companies to discover the power of this network and the expertise it offers.
Building on our history of successful partnerships, I’m excited to diversify our corporate engagement offerings. This will include customized executive education programs in deep tech, embedded research collaborations and opportunities to sponsor targeted seed grants that address critical industry challenges. I also plan to organize topic-specific workshops and facilitate connections between companies and UC faculty speakers.
As director of corporate relations, I’m excited to help our partners tap into UC’s exceptional student talent pool.
Looking further ahead, I’m enthusiastic about expanding our CITRIS Foundry programs internationally, establishing robust research consortiums and developing a global network of collaborators.
In what ways do corporate partnerships intersect with CITRIS’s primary research areas?
Corporate partnerships are vital to advancing work across all four of our research domains. They provide not only funding, but also real-world testing grounds that transform promising ideas into practical solutions.
Having witnessed California’s devastating wildfires, I see the enormous value of professor Michele Barbato’s innovative nonflammable earth blocks. As head of our climate initiative, Michele has developed technology that we can scale for widespread wildfire mitigation through strategic industry engagement.
Our aviation initiative thrives through collaborations with organizations like Atech, DART and Archer Aviation, which help students advance air mobility solutions through the CITRIS Aviation Prize. NASA has been another valuable partner in this space.
Digital health partnerships have ranged from seed grant support to clinical trial collaborations, giving companies insight into emerging health care technologies.
In the policy domain, funding from tech giants like Microsoft has enabled research projects on making the workforce more AI-efficient, as well as workshops on how to incentivize platforms to share data for public interest research. These alliances help companies navigate regulatory landscapes while developing frameworks that benefit the broader system.
More broadly, we have enjoyed longstanding relationships with companies like Siemens, Kajima and Komatsu, as well as public entities like the states of California and Washington and the Yuba Water Agency. The power of all these partnerships lies in their mutual benefit — companies access cutting-edge research while our university teams gain market insights that ensure our work addresses genuine societal needs.
What CITRIS resources do you feel are most valuable for our industry partners?
What I value most about CITRIS and the Banatao Institute is our community of experts across our four campuses. Each location contributes specialized knowledge: UC Davis with its health center and pioneering work in age tech, ag tech and sustainability; UC Berkeley with its peerless entrepreneurship ecosystem and strengths in artificial intelligence and robotics; UC Santa Cruz with cutting-edge aviation advancements and ecological engineering expertise; and UC Merced with established excellence in ag tech, energy solutions and water management.
In my conversations with industry partners, I’ve seen how these complementary talents allow companies to access the specific research capabilities they need to accelerate innovation.
The range of offerings at CITRIS and the Banatao Institute is another significant advantage that I’m excited to share with partners. We’ve developed initiatives spanning the spectrum from fundamental research to market implementation. Our CITRIS Foundry incubator, the Seed Funding Program, specialized facilities like the Berkeley Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory at CITRIS, and student programs like Tech for Social Good and the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program create powerful multiplier effects for faculty, researchers and students.
I encourage potential partners to explore the breadth and depth of the programs and laboratories available through our network. Our multidisciplinary approach, combined with our comprehensive resources, creates unique opportunities that would be difficult to access anywhere else.
How will corporate partnerships serve all four CITRIS campuses?
My client-focused approach is central to what we do at CITRIS and the Banatao Institute. An essential part of my role is connecting industry partners with principal investigators whose research directly addresses the partners’ strategic objectives. This creates win-win partnerships.
What makes my position fascinating is learning about innovations across our four campuses and finding creative ways to connect them with industry challenges.
What’s the best way for people to get involved with corporate partnership opportunities through CITRIS?
For industry partners, CITRIS and the Banatao Institute offers unparalleled access to UC talent to explore transformative possibilities. Whether you’re tackling a technical problem or seeking to innovate in emerging fields like AI, health tech, autonomy or sustainability, I can facilitate connections that meet your needs. Starting the conversation early allows me to better understand your objectives and work with you to craft partnerships that deliver meaningful value and competitive advantage.
For researchers, engaging early is equally important. By understanding your research focus and goals, I can identify potential industry partners eager to collaborate. These connections not only enhance your work but also open pathways to real-world applications and funding opportunities.
So let’s start the conversation today!