# About this event
🎉 Our kickoff event!
Agenda
- 5:00 – 5:30 PM — Doors open, networking
- 5:30 – 5:40 PM — Welcome & kickoff: organizer introduction and a few words from our Title Sponsor, Lumenalta
- 5:40 – 6:25 PM — Talk 1: Lakebase: Fully Managed Postgres for the Lakehouse — Ayman El-Ghazali
- 6:25 – 6:40 PM — Break, food, and mingling
- 6:40 – 7:10 PM — Talk 2: From Legacy Lab Sprawl to Algorithm — Jim Havrilla
- 7:10 – 8:00 PM — Networking
- 8:00 PM — Doors close
Food and beverages will be catered.
RSVP at https://usergroups.databricks.com/events/details/databricks-user-groups-phillybricks-philadelphia-databricks-user-group-presents-lakebase-for-the-lakehouse-amp-an-ai-ready-lakehouse-for-precision-diagnostics/
Talk 1 — Lakebase: Fully Managed Postgres for the Lakehouse
Ayman El-Ghazali · Senior Solutions Architect, Databricks
Lakebase is a fully managed, Postgres-compatible OLTP database engine for Databricks that seamlessly supports reverse ETL patterns — syncing curated Lakehouse analytics directly into operational Postgres tables for instant use in applications, AI/BI dashboards, and feature stores.
This architecture lets developers build data-driven apps with millisecond latency and transactional reliability, while also activating ML-powered insights in real time — all without custom pipelines or complicated ETL development.
In this session, Ayman will walk through key capabilities, example use cases, and how Lakebase simplifies infrastructure while unlocking new possibilities for AI and analytics.
Talk 2 — From Legacy Lab Sprawl to Algorithm: Building an AI-Ready Lakehouse for Precision Diagnostics
Jim Havrilla, PhD
A precision diagnostics lab — specializing in rapid pooled antibiotic susceptibility testing for complicated UTIs — inherited a decade of fragmented data: aging SQL instances, LIS/RCM CSVs, and R&D spreadsheets never meant for analytics.
This talk walks through:
- The decision to build a Medallion-architecture lakehouse on Databricks with Unity Catalog
- The Lakeflow Connect integration that unified Salesforce with lab data
- The patent-pending ML model now predicting antibiotic susceptibility from PCR and demographic inputs ahead of phenotypic results
About this event
Welcome to the launch of PhillyBricks — the Greater Philadelphia area's first dedicated Databricks User Group, and a practitioner-led community for data engineers, architects, analytics and ML engineers, and platform leaders building on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform.
Philly's tech scene is thriving, with deep benches in fintech, healthcare, life sciences, and enterprise technology — but there has been no dedicated space for Databricks practitioners to go deep on architecture, governance, and real-world implementation. PhillyBricks fills that gap.
For our inaugural meetup, we've lined up two talks that span the full arc of what's possible on Databricks today — from the newest platform capabilities straight from Databricks, to a real-world lakehouse modernization story from a Philadelphia-area precision diagnostics innovator. Come for the talks, stay for the food and conversation, and help us kick off what we hope will be a long-running home for the region's Databricks community.
A huge thank you to our Founding Title Sponsor, Lumenalta, for backing this inaugural event, and to Microsoft for hosting us at their Malvern office.
RSVP at https://usergroups.databricks.com/events/details/databricks-user-groups-phillybricks-philadelphia-databricks-user-group-presents-lakebase-for-the-lakehouse-amp-an-ai-ready-lakehouse-for-precision-diagnostics/
Important — please read before arriving
- RSVPs are first-come, first-served. Please cancel if your plans change so we can release your seat to someone on the waitlist.
- All guests must be on the attendee list for entry.
- Please bring a government-issued photo ID — you'll receive a pre-printed badge upon arrival.
- Security passes must be returned upon exit.
Organized by Dilorom Abdullah — Databricks MVP | Databricks Practice Director, Lumenalta
