You Read It Here First: When Science Fiction Drives Innovation 

Sunday, February 22, 2026
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Before rockets reached the Moon, Jules Verne launched one in print. Before cell phones and tablets, Star Trek gave us communicators and tricorders. From 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to Karel Čapek’s R.U.R., which first imagined artificial intelligence and even coined the word “robot,” science fiction has been humanity’s rough draft for the future. This panel explores how imagination becomes invention—and what ideas today’s writers might turn into tomorrow’s technology.