Join us in Santa Barbara, CA for the ACTION AI Institute's second annual review and knowledge expo.

The two-day event will take place at Henley Hall on the UCSB campus. Find pertinent information below and check back regularly. We will be updating this page as the agendas continue to formalize. Last schedule update was Thursday, 20 March 2025. 

Registration for the event using this form by 1 June 2025.  

Please contact Tim Robinson by email <trobinson@ucsb.edu> or by phone <805-893-3510> for additional information. 

Henley Hall at UCSB

June 26: Program Review (tentative)

Time in Henley, room 1010  in Henley, room 1002
7:30am Continental Breakfast 
8:00am Greetings and Introductions
- Institute Director Giovanni Vigna, UCSB
 - CPO Dan Cosley
 - Site Visit Team (SVT)
 - Other key personnel
8:20am ACTION Institute Overview
Giovanni Vigna
9:00am Research Program by Thrust, Part 1
 - AI-1: Ambuj Singh, UCSB
 - AI-2: Ming Yin, Purdue
 - AI-3: Jie Gao, Rutgers
 - AI-4: Joao Hespanha, UCSB
10:15am Break
10:30am Research Program by Thrust, Part 2
 - SEC-1: Gang Wang, UIUC
 - SEC-2: David Evans, U Virginia
 - SEC-3: Nick Feamster, U Chicago
 - SEC-4: Elisa Bertino, Purdue
11:45am  Lightning Talks -- Poster Introductions  Site Visit Team (SVT) 
 Executive session
12:30pm Lunch and student posters
1:30pm ACTION's Strategic Impact
 - 
Nurturing/growing the next generation of talent
 - Broadening participation and diversity
 - Multidisciplinary integration and community building
 - Multi-organizational synergies/achievements
 - Knowledge transfer
 - ACTION as a nexus point for collaboration
2:30pm Break
2:45pm  ACTION External Evaluation Plan  SVT meets with Student 
 Advisory Council (SAC)
3:30pm DHS/CISA and ACTION Integration  SVT meets with University
 Officials
4:00pm  ACTION Team Building  SVT meets with Institute
 Partners and EAB
4:30pm Break
4:45pm PI/Co-PI Internal Session  Final Day 1 Executive
 Session 
5:45pm SVT Presentation to Institute Team
6:15pm Dinner (on own)

June 27: Knowledge Expo

Time Event Location
7:30am Continental Breakfast Henley Hall Foyer
8:00am NSF + ACTION PI Discussion Henley Hall 1010
10:00am Break  Henley Hall Foyer
10:15am Industry Talk TBD Henley Hall 1010
12:30pm Lunch and Student Posters Henley Hall Foyer
1:30pm GATE Demonstrations Henley Hall 1010
3:15pm Break Henley Hall Foyer
3:30pm Industry Talk 2 TBD Henley Hall 1010
5:00pm Final Remarks and Looking to the Future Henley Hall 1010

Posters & Lightning Talks

Poster titles forthcoming

 

Knowledge Expo Talks

TBD

 

Lodging Information

There are a number of hotels near UCSB. If your university has a travel software platform, then you can run a search for available rooms. UCSB's zip code is 93106. Downtown Santa Barbara is 93101. Here are results from a search using a University of California account in Concur.

Below are some nearby hotels where we have set up group blocks. We are happy to call other hotels to set up additional blocks or request more rooms. 

Note that none of these hotels offer shuttles anymore. This has been the case since the COVID Pandemic began.

The Leta Hotel

The Leta Santa Barbara Goleta

5650 Calle Real, Goleta, CA 93117
4 miles from venue
Phone: 805-964-6241
CALL HOTEL FOR RESERVATIONS
Room block name: ACTION Site Visit
Price: $229-269/night
Check-in date: 6/25/2025 
Checkout date: 6/28/2025

Book by 25 April

Hilton Garden Inn

Hilton Garden Inn Goleta

6878 Hollister Ave, Goleta, CA 93117
3.0 miles from venue
Phone: (805) 562-5996
CALL HOTEL FOR RESERVATIONS
Room block name: ACTION
Price: $299/night
Check-in date: 6/25/2025 
Checkout date: 6/28/2025

Booking Link TBD

South Coast Inn

South Coast Inn – Best Western Plus

5620 Calle Real, Goleta, CA 93117
4 miles from venue.
Phone: (805) 967-3200

Room block/event name: ACTION INSTITUTE
Price: $199/Sun-Thur; $289/Fri-Sat
Check-in allowed: 6/25/2025
Checkout date: 6/28/2025

Booking Link TBD

Downtown Courtyard Marriott

Downtown SB Courtyard Marriott

1601 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
9.5 miles from venue
Phone: (805) 968-0500
CALL HOTEL FOR RESERVATIONS
Room block/event name: ACTION AI Institute
Price: $299/night; $399 Fri/Sat
Check-in date: 6/25/2025
Checkout date: 6/28/2025

Booking Link TBD

Goleta Courtyard Marriott

Goleta Courtyard Marriott

401 Storke Rd, Goleta, CA 93117
2.5 miles from venue
Phone: (805) 968-0500
Alt phone: 1-800-228-9290
Room block/event name: UCSB ACTION Institute
Price: $299/night
Check-in date: 6/25/2028 
Checkout date: 6/28/2028

Booking Link TBD

Hyatt Place

Hyatt Place Santa Barbara

4111 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93110
4 miles from venue
Phone: 805-681-1585
CALL HOTEL FOR RESERVATIONS
Room block name: ACTION Site Visit
Price: $299/night
Check-in date: 6/25/2025 
Checkout date: 6/28/2025

Booking link TBD

UCSB Club and Guest House

UCSB Faculty Club and Guest House

401 Storke Rd, Goleta, CA 93117
0.7 miles from venue; 14 minute campus walk
Phone: (805) 893-7000
Call hotel with Conf #12002
Room block name: ACTION Year 2 Site Visit
Price: $255/night
Check-in date: 6/25/2025 
Checkout date: 6/28/2025

Reserved for SVT

Transportation

By air

  • Santa Barbara has a quaint airport (SBA), located minutes away from UCSB and the listed hotels.
  • Airlines that serve SBA are Alaska, American, United, Southwest, and Delta.
  • Additional flights are available via LAX, or via Hollywood Airport in Burbank. Santa Barbara is just over 100 miles from each of these airports. 
  • The Santa Barbara Airbus is a convenient way to get to UCSB from LAX for those who do not wish to rent a car. The airbus is inexpensive and offers WiFi. 

 

 

By car

  • If driving to Santa Barbara (perhaps via rental car from LAX), please email trobinson@ucsb.edu for help in securing a parking pass for campus. 
  • UCSB offers parking reciprocity for faculty from other UC campuses. UC Berkeley faculty should be able to use their parking passes when visiting UCSB. Note that you will need to apply for reciprocity, and approval might take a few days. 
  • Park in Lot 12 or Lot 14 if you have been given a VIP pass. If you need to purchase a pass, park in Lot 18.  

 

 

Around Santa Barbara

  • Uber and Lyft make getting around Santa Barbara easy. There are also taxis. Gold Cab is a trusted cab service (Tel: 805-681-9000).
  • Organizers anticipate being able to carpool to group events, like dinners and other activities. 

Restaurants

The conference provides a continental breakfast and lunch on June 26 and June 27. Santa Barbara offers a high number of nice restaurants per capita. Here are a few of our favorite places to consider for dinner. None of them have any affiliation with ACTION.

Something for Everyone

  • Santa Barbara Public Market is the perfect location for a large group unable to decide on a single cuisine. The market has open seating between a variety of excellent restaurants.

Italian

  • Pizzeria Da Michele offers wood-fired pizzas and classic pasta dishes. 
  • Olio e Limone, also in downtown Santa Barbara, was the venue for the ACTION Institute's SIP retreat dinner. 
  • Olio Pizzeria, another pizza joint, is adjacent to Olio e Limone.
  • Ca Dario is a long-standing Italian restaurant with locations in downtown Santa Barbara and Goleta, near the Hilton Garden Inn. 
  • Bettina is another one of the best, local Italian restaurants; but you'll need a reservation.

Mexican

  • Los Arroyos is a Santa Barbara classic, with locations downtown and Goleta, near the Leta and the South Coast Inn.
  • Los Agaves is another SB classic, and also with locations downtown and in Goleta.
  • Carlitos is similar to Los Arroyos and Los Agaves, but is a little higher-end.
  • Flor de Maiz is another popular Mexican restaurant. They have a great location near the beach.
  • Freebirds Burritos, are world famous. This is the original location, still in operation. 
  • Corazon Comedor specializes in Mexican breakfasts. Perhaps stop by on Saturday morning?

Californian/Mediterranean

  • Barbareno is well-known Santa Barbara restaurant with a unique, memorable menu. 
  • The Lark is always happening, located in Santa Barbara's Funk Zone. 
  • Mesa Verde has an entirely vegan menu. 
  • Milk and Honey is a popular place for tapas.

Cajun

  • The Palace Grill offers memorable food in a fun environment. Make a reservation, and be sure to order the bread pudding for dessert. 

Seafood

Asian

  • Arigato Sushi and Edomasa Sushi are two very popular sushi restaurants. But honestly, you can't go wrong with sushi in this town. Santa Barbara is famous for its uni.
  • Meet Up has been regarded by many as one of the most authentic Chinese restaurants in town. 
  • Sama Sama, serves South East Asian dishes family style, and delicious.

Burgers and Beer

  • Topa Topa Brewery has a great tap room and some local bites.
  • Mesa Burger offers hand crafted burgers with a flair for gourmet.
  • The Habit is a national burger chain that started in Santa Barbara (and tastes better here, too). 

 

More things to do

And with all of the great restaurants to sample, you might want to stay in Santa Barbara through the weekend. What will you do after the ACTION ends?

  • Take a walking wine tour in SB's Funk Zone or visit the Santa Ynez Valley.
  • Stop in at the Red Piano for some live entertainment.
  • Soho also has live entertainment seven nights a week, and great food, too!
  • Visit to a club or micro-brewery in downtown Santa Barbara.
  • Head to the beach.
  • Go for a hike at Lizard Mouth, Cold Springs Trail, or Toro Canyon Park (easy trails with great views).
  • Find more at the Santa Barbara website.