About this Event
Big ideas. Good company. Your Friday, sorted.
What happens when you bring AI, health, space, and coastal science into a bar? You get UNWRAP DC.
Join us for Code, Care, Orbits & Coasts: four researchers sharing what they work on, why it matters, and what makes it fascinating—all through short talks you don’t need a PhD to enjoy.
Admission is FREE. Everyone is welcome. Curiosity encouraged.
MEET THE LINEUP
🤖 Juliette Garcia — Artificial Intelligence & Frontier Model Evaluations
How do we put AI models to the test? Juliette brings a look into frontier AI evaluations. She is a Research Engineer at 10a Labs and studied Applied Mathematics at Yale University.
🩺 Christine Smothers, PhD, RN — Health Policy & Nursing Science
From the bedside to the policy table, Christine explores the connections between care, research, and health policy. She is a 2026 Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the Gulf Research Program at the National Academies and holds a Nursing PhD from Case Western Reserve University.
🛰️ Mahad Nayyer — Space Systems, Astrodynamics & Space Policy
Space is getting busy. How do we navigate it? Mahad brings perspectives from engineering and policy as a 2026 Mirzayan Fellow at the National Academies, a Purdue Aeronautics and Astronautics PhD student, and a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate.
🌊 Zahra Hasan — Marine Policy & Coastal Ecosystem Science
Where coastal science meets decisions on Capitol Hill. Zahra is a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow with the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and holds an MS in Coastal and Marine Systems Science from Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi.
💻 Charles Bickham, PhD | Computer Science, Machine Learning & Science Policy
2026 Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academies. PhD in Computer Science from the University of Southern California, with research and engineering experience at General Motors, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
THE FRIDAY PLAN
Short talks. Your questions. Plenty of time to mingle.
Bring a friend, come solo, ask the question you’ve always wondered about, or simply listen and see where the conversation takes you. No specialized knowledge required.
📅 Friday, November 6, 2026
🕠 Doors open at 5:30 PM
📍 First Round DC · Basement Level
1610 20th St NW · Dupont Circle · Washington, DC 20009
🎟️ Free admission—RSVP to help us plan for space.
Drinks are purchased separately.
A LITTLE ABOUT US
UNWRAP DC is a free, volunteer-run salon bringing curious people together across Washington. We make room for different backgrounds, unexpected ideas, and conversations that keep going after the talks end.
Follow @UNWRAP_DC on Instagram for upcoming events. See you Friday!
Event venue & nearby stays
1610 20th St NW, 1610 20th Street Northwest, Washington, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.