Startup Weekend will return to the Santa Clarita Valley in early November to encourage tech entrepreneurs in the creation of new companies. Organized by Up Santa Clarita, this is the third Startup Weekend to take place in the north Los Angeles County city. It is scheduled for Nov. 4 – 6 at the University Center of College of the Canyons. Lead organizer Tom Beckett said he began over the summer asking if there was interest in doing the event again and positive feedback resulted in the greenlight decision. He organized last year’s event as well. “The networking side of it did a good job of bringing Santa Clarita together,” Beckett said of the 2015 weekend. Among the sponsors already committed are College of the Canyons and the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp. Holly Schroeder, chief executive of the corporation, said the success of last year’s event could be seen by how many of the participants last year stayed until the end. “It created some connection amongst the tech community and we want to continue to nurture that,” Schroeder said. Startup Weekend events are held throughout the world, with the first one held in 2007 in Boulder, Colo. It is run by Techstars, a business accelerator based in Boulder. The weekend begins Friday evening with a social hour to which the general public is invited. Afterward, participants are invited to give a 60-second pitch on startup ideas. If there are 100 people in attendance, typically half will pitch ideas, Beckett said. The pitches are then voted down to the best eight or nine and the participants split into teams. The remainder of the night is spent working on a preliminary plan. Saturday is dedicated to the teams reaching out to potential customers of their startup and designing work on the app or website. By the end of the second day, a business model has been developed and tested and branding has been created, Beckett said. “We bring in a couple of coaches or mentors,” he added. “They either have industry experience that we can match up with the appropriate team or general startup experience.” By Sunday, the participants have honed their ideas into lengthier pitches to be given to a panel of five judges. The general public is allowed to come to hear these pitches and compare them to what they heard on Friday night. “It is fun to see someone who gave a short spiel in 60 seconds and how a team was able to put something together in 54 hours,” Beckett said. “It is fun for the public to check out.” Manufacturing Day Students from Porter Ranch Community School and Woodland Hills Academy spent the morning of Oct. 4 in a multi-purpose room at Northrop Grumman Navigations Systems assembling prosthetic hands from pieces made with a 3-D printer. The students were invited to the Woodland Hills facility of the aerospace contractor as part of Northrop’s recognition of Manufacturing Day, which in its case became an entire week of showcasing its capabilities. Manufacturing Day is an annual national event sponsored by four organizations to show the importance of manufacturing and the jobs it creates. This year it was on Oct. 7. Joe Sadler, director of manufacturing at the Northrop Grumman’s San Fernando Valley facility, said having the kids come out exposes them to what 3-D printers are capable of and to the importance of science, technology, engineering and math. The 120 prosthetic hands were made for Enabling the Future, a nonprofit that provides artificial hands and arms to children around the world. The organization provided the design for the hands whose parts were made with the large 3-D printer at Navigation Systems. “According to Enabling the Future, the hands can cost thousands of dollars,” Sadler said. “These were made for $30 to $40 a piece.” The students were partnered up with Northrop employees who gave guidance and some help putting the hands together. After clicking the fingers in place, the students had the delicate task of inserting string that act much like tendons in real fingers and allow the artificial ones to move. Northrop started using the 3-D printers in the Valley about three to four years ago, Sadler said. “We are able to make prototypes to show to a customer and to check out tooling before we purchase it,” he explained. Santa Clarita, meanwhile, also celebrated Manufacturing Day. On Oct. 6, College of the Canyons, Hart Union High School District and the Santa Clarita Economic Development Corp. partnered on a panel discussion featuring representatives from five area manufacturers to discuss career opportunities. On Oct. 7, Valencia aircraft parts supplier FMI Aerostructures held an invitation-only tour. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].