AI Engineer February 2026 Meetup

⚠️ NEW LOCATION - Please Read! ⚠️
We're moving to a new space! Starting this month, we'll be meeting in the Studio Common Area at 10 2nd St NE—just one block from our previous Riverplace location. Photos and map available here.

Bonus: The new space has a bigger screen and better sound system!

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Ever wonder what's actually happening when your vector database returns "similar" results? And can you really run LLMs on a phone without melting it? This month, we're going deep on two foundational topics that every AI engineer encounters but few truly understand: the math behind vector similarity, and the techniques that make AI small enough to fit in your pocket.

Michael de Vera, Digital Product Manager for Conversational AI at Huntington National Bank, will demystify cosine similarity with a hands-on 5-dimensional example. Using Python, Pinecone, and OpenAI, he'll walk through how data gets plotted and inserted into a vector database—giving you real intuition for what's happening under the hood when you build RAG systems or semantic search.

Then Colin Lee, Staff Mobile Engineer at webAI, tackles one of the most practical challenges in AI today: running LLMs and RAG on devices without cloud processing. Colin brings experience from Mozilla, Meetup, Amazon, Flipgrid, and When I Work. He'll break down quantization, pruning, and distillation techniques that make on-device AI possible.

Whether you're building vector search and want to understand the fundamentals, or you're exploring edge AI for privacy or latency reasons, this session gives you practical knowledge you can apply immediately.

Agenda
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
🥨 4:00 PM – Doors open + snacks and networking
👋 4:30 PM – Welcome and intro remarks
🎤 4:40 PM – Michael de Vera presents: Understanding Cosine Similarity: A 5-Dimensional Example
🎤 5:10 PM – Colin Lee presents: Micro Machines Learning: LLMs and RAG Pocket-Sized
💬 5:40 PM – Networking and discussion
🚗 6:00 PM – Go home and build

Address
Studio Common Area 10 2nd St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413
This is our NEW location—one block from the previous Riverplace venue.

Parking
Multiple parking options available:

• Studio parking ramp
• Street parking
• Parking ramp across 2nd St

What to Bring
Just yourself! We've got everything covered.

Food + Drink
Food and beverages will be provided at 4:00 PM courtesy of our sponsor, Blank Metal.

Important to Know
Please register in advance - this event is free to attend but we need to plan for capacity.

Accessibility
The Studio Common Area is wheelchair accessible.