Research and Development

**Agenda :** * 4.30 to 4.45 PM ET: Food and Networking * 4.45 to 5.30 PM ET: "Building Smarter Agents with Microsoft Copilot Studio (Jan 2026 Edition)" Hello Everyone! Please join us for our Jan 13th edition of the AI-ML MeetUp. **Please note this is an in-person meeting and light refreshments/food will be provided.** **Title:** Building Smarter Agents with Microsoft Copilot Studio (Jan 2026 Edition) **Description:** Discover how to design intelligent, task-driven AI agents using **Microsoft Copilot Studio**. Learn how to connect copilots to enterprise data, workflows, and external systems. Explore real-world use cases, best practices, and architecture patterns for scalable agents. Get hands-on insights into what’s new in the Jan 2026 edition and what’s coming next **Location:** The meeting will be hosted in the Applied Information Sciences ( AIS ) office in Reston, at 11440 Commerce Park Dr # 600 · Reston, VA. The location is also right off the Silver Line metro's Wiehle-Reston Metro Station. **Parking:** Parking is paid and can be validated at the AIS office reception. We will meet in Room Lake Anne. We hope to see you all there!!!!

LeighAnn has trained with both local and world renowned mediums from across the globe to develop both her psychic and evidential mediumship skills. Sharing her knowledge and gifts with others completes her. All teaching, counseling, and healing is shared with love and light, and for the highest and purest good. This beginner mediumship development and practice circle meets every 2 weeks and is open to anyone who is able to exhibit some form of prior mediumship training or instruction (such as a class or a workshop) or shows the ability to connect to Spirit. This circle will consist of several specific exercises that will be utilized to enhance and strengthen your connection and communication with our loved ones in the Spirit world. Classes will meet every 2 weeks in small groups in person $20/90 min. small group class One on one sessions available. $75/90 min one on one sessions Check out my website for additional offerings https://exceptionalmindsopenhearts.com/ Cross referenced under [Reiki, Angelic and Metaphysical Gatherings of the DMV](https://www.meetup.com/reikiandangelsdmv/) in Meet up. Check out my website for additional offerings and services https//www.exceptionalmindsopenhearts.com/

Ready for the **FIRST Loudoun CyberTech Event of 2026** \- featuring the **Loudoun County CISO**?!?! Join us on **Tuesday, January 13, 2026,** at **Honor Brewing Company** at **42604 Trade West Dr, Sterling, VA 20166**! Want a custom name tag to enhance your networking opportunities? Register here and yours will be ready at the door: https://share.hsforms.com/1J8_8W2-vSe2WSqQbnxxz0Adwxz1 Are you prepared for what cyber threats will define 2026? Which ones matter and which should be ignored? What does modernization look like in 2026 at the intersection of risk, cost, and security? Join us for an exciting evening with the **Loudoun County CISO** and our spotlight speaker, **Dr. Elizabeth Di Bene**, as she explores these questions and addresses what to expect in cyber in 2026! **Dr. Elizabeth Di Bene** is the **CISO** for **Loudoun County Government,** overseeing information security strategies with a focus on risk management, data analytics, and SaaS. She brings more than 20 years of cyber leadership experience across the federal government and private sector, including roles at **CACI International,** **the U.S. Department of Justice,** and the **U.S. Marine Corps** where she also served in cyber leadership roles at **Marine Corps System Command**. Dr. Di Bene is nationally recognized for her expertise in network and information security and is a frequent industry speaker and FinOps ambassador. Join us next month to meet **Dr. Elizabeth Di Bene** to learn what should matter most for cyber in 2026! **Agenda** 5:30 Social hour and networking begins 6:10 Welcome 6:20 Spotlight Speaker - **Dr. Elizabeth Di Bene** 6:50 Q&A 7:00 Open Mic & Networking Continues 7:30 Adjourn

Class: Developing Your Intuitive/Energy Skills Contents: Clearings, empath work, meditation, learning and enhancing energy work skills for working on self and others For further information, please contact Madhu 301-760-7491, info@stress-reliefcenter.com

For our January Happy Hour let's go back to Rai's Pour House! The Happy Hour will be on the second Tuesday of the month. We will meet at Rai's Pour House which is owned by the same people who own and Rai's Rendezvous, Rai's Pizza and Sully's Pour House. Tuesday specials include $1 wings (10 wing minimum) and half price bottles of wine. The Happy Hour Menus are posted in the Photos.

Come out to a evening filled with fun board games at Aslin Beer Company in Herndon! We play a variety of games, including strategy, co-op, and party games! Always welcoming to people who are brand new to the hobby to those who have been playing for years! We will be meeting in the Izzi building (not the main taproom), as there is more table space there and is right next to where you can get food and drinks! There is hard cap on attendees per say, but we would prefer that you sign up in advance so we have a rough head count as to whom to expect! Can't wait to see you all there!

Discover the path to stress management, life's tranquility, and self-improvement through Heartfulness Meditation. Embrace relaxation, meditation, and emotional detoxification practices to unlock your best self. Join our free sessions every Wednesday at 730 PM at MD. Experience the profound benefits of these simple yet powerful practices. Commit to a few months of meditation and witness the transformative impact firsthand. We eagerly await your presence at these enlightening sessions.

Learn to manage stress and achieve self-growth through simple relaxation and Meditation. Heartfulness Meditation is a simple, modern, methodical approach to meditation. Rather than homing in on your breath or repeating a mantra, you simply focus inward, on your heart, to cultivate inner strength and serenity. Heartfulness meditation is gaining traction in recent years. It focuses on the heart, allowing individuals to connect with themselves on a deeper level, and ultimately achieve peace, relaxation, and clarity. It is a practice that encourages patience, self-compassion, and acceptance, helping cultivate a deeper appreciation for the present moment. This practice is offered with love and at no cost

We will be meeting at Starbucks to learn together. Come with an online class you're already going through or an interest and we will try to connect you with a course where you can learn it. Already have a skill you want to contribute to a Kaggle Datascience competition? We will work on these too! Laptop required :)

Let's meet up and talk about places folks might want to go, or be interested in going, or have been, or know about, etc. We can talk about cool places we have been and might recommend. Some people may be experts on certain regions, or have been expats living in various countries, or seasoned world travelers. Other folks maybe have never left the US, but are thinking about it and interested to hear about some possible places they might try. I think folks interested in International Travel can be an interesting lot, and I have met some very fun and cool people at some of our past meetups. Looking forward to hopefully seeing some of those folks again and also meeting some new possible friends as well. Tarbenders is a very cool, fairly new, restaurant/bar. It is built and decorated like an old fashioned cool, cozy hidden speakeasy, and is right in the heart of downtown Leesburg. You enter through a door for "Gogo's Italian Gelato" and then will head through the "secret" (not so secret) old fashioned telephone booth. There is usually a person there to knock on the Speakeasy Door for you, or I might be able to have it just stay open, but they usually have to knock on the brown canister in the upper right of the telephone booth to open the speakeasy door. It is really quite fun. We are not charging anything for the get together, but since we are using their space we should all try to buy at least a little something from them (a snack or beverage), or make a dinner of it if you like. [https://www.tarbenderslounge.com](https://www.tarbenderslounge.com) They have some yummy foods and a nice variety of drinks (full bar) both with alcohol and without. It is located very close to the downtown Leesburg Parking Garage and there may also be some possible street parking on the surrounding streets. The Parking Garage has free parking for the first two hours and is free after 7 pm anyway, so should be a free easy parking option I think. Feel free to bring a friend or two or three. Do please respond if you can on the Meetup to let us have a feel of how many to prepare for so we can let the owner know. There are a number of cool rooms in there, so depending on how many folks respond we might designate us to a certain room or to the whole place. This will be a fun and relaxed get together. Looking forward to seeing a number of you folks there. January is the perfect time to get out, so we don't get cabin fever eventually. We can meet some new folks and hear about fun places around the world. :) Tara and Ian

## 1 Million Cups Loudoun – January 14 ### Business Presentation Featuring Yomna Sarhan of L-Lab **Wednesday\, January 14 \| 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM** **Venture X Loudoun – Ashburn** Join us for our January 14th **1 Million Cups Loudoun** meeting as we welcome **Yomna Sarhan**, founder of **L-Lab**, an innovative after-school enrichment program designed to transform how children learn and grow beyond the classroom. ### About the Presenter Yomna Sarhan brings a diverse and impressive background to her entrepreneurial journey. She is a former **project manager overseeing $8M+ in government contracts**, has led **multidisciplinary teams of more than 20 employees**, and is a **multilingual consultant** who has worked in over **10 countries**. Yomna also founded a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the **Society of Egyptian American Professionals**, reflecting her long-standing commitment to education and community development. ### About the Business L-Lab was born out of a personal experience. When Yomna’s daughter was entering kindergarten, she discovered a lack of high-quality, enriching after-school programs in Loudoun County. Many existing programs focused solely on supervision rather than meaningful learning—despite children spending 10–15 hours per week and families investing significant resources in aftercare. L-Lab is changing that narrative. L-Lab is an **after-school language immersion enrichment program** for elementary-aged children, blending: * STEAM-based learning * Social-emotional development * Montessori-inspired approaches In addition to after-school programming, L-Lab offers **full-day camps** during school breaks, including winter, spring, and teacher workdays. ### Where Yomna Is Now L-Lab is currently in the **launch/startup phase**, with the full after-school program beginning in early January and a winter break program running at the end of December. Yomna is focused on enrollment, program validation, and building a strong foundation for growth. ### Feedback Yomna Is Seeking from the Community Yomna is coming to the 1 Million Cups stage looking for thoughtful feedback and insight on key challenges, including: * How to **shift the mindset around after-school programs** from “time-filling childcare” to meaningful enrichment * The most strategic way to **scale after a successful pilot** (January–June): * Expanding curriculum into schools * Focusing on one location first * How to **find and retain high-quality part-time staff** aligned with L-Lab’s mission and values ### Who Should Attend Yomna would especially love to have: * Entrepreneurs with experience **scaling service-based businesses** * Founders who have **modified or diversified offerings as they grew** * Parents and guardians interested in education, enrichment, and after-school programming ### What Is 1 Million Cups? 1 Million Cups is a national program powered by the Kauffman Foundation that brings together entrepreneurs and community members for weekly conversations that educate, support, and inspire. Loudoun’s chapter meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month. Join us on **January 14 at 9:00 AM** for coffee, connection, and a meaningful conversation about reimagining after-school education in Loudoun County. **We look forward to seeing you there.**

## 💻 Reimagine Your Second Half of Life – AI Vision Board Workshop (Ashburn) **Saturday\, January 17\, 2026 \| 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM \| $35** *** ### 🔔 **Important Event Format Notice** To keep this workshop intentional and high-quality: • **5+ participants** → Hosted at a rented facility • **Under 5 participants** → **Private small-group workshop** ✨ *Workshop content, duration, and outcomes remain the same.* *** ## ☀️ **Design What Comes Next** ✨ **A Different Kind of Experience** 👉 **Most people don’t expect this to feel so personal.** The AI doesn’t just generate ideas — it reflects your own thinking back to you in a way that creates real clarity. 👉 **Even people who already use ChatGPT are often pleasantly caught off guard.** When paired with the right prompts and guided reflection, the insights go much deeper than typical goal-setting or vision work. 👉 **There’s often a quiet “oh wow” moment.** Not because it’s flashy — but because something finally clicks into place. You’ve lived enough life to know that success isn’t about doing more — it’s about doing what matters. ### 3-Part Session **1️⃣ Discover & Design** Learn simple AI tools and a practical framework to clarify your 2026 vision and priorities. **2️⃣ Create & Collaborate** Design your personalized AI-powered vision board with guided prompts and small-group reflection. **☕ Short Refreshment Break** Coffee and curated snacks to reset and recharge. **3️⃣ Align & Act** Map your next 3, 6, and 12 months with realistic action steps — individually or with group support. You’ll also learn how to: * Use ChatGPT to clarify goals and affirmations * Turn ideas into effective AI prompts * Create a digital or printable vision board that inspires action * Stay intentional and motivated throughout the year 👉 No AI experience necessary — just bring curiosity, a laptop, and an open mind. *** ## 💻 What to Bring * **Laptop required** (AI tools don’t work well on tablets) * ChatGPT account (free version is fine) 👉 Please set this up before the event. Message me after you RSVP if you need help. *** ## ☕ What’s Included * Guided AI Vision Board workshop (full experience) * Coffee and curated snacks * Small-group collaboration and discussion * All digital tools, prompts, and resources *** ## 💬 Who This Is For * Professionals planning a strong 2026 * Entrepreneurs mapping their next chapter * Anyone navigating life transitions — career, relationships, reinvention * People curious about AI but unsure where to start * Anyone who enjoys learning, connecting, and gaining clarity This community is about learning while having fun — no jargon, no pressure, just real conversation and clarity that lasts. *** ## 📍 Final Details 📍 **Location:** Ashburn area (final location shared after RSVP) 💵 **Fee:** $35 per person 🕐 **Time:** 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM 👩‍💻 **Bring:** Laptop + ChatGPT account ready *** 🔗 **RSVP early — space is intentionally limited.** Come reimagine your second half of life — with a little help from AI and a lot of inspiration 🌟 🌐 Explore more at: [https://midlifereinvention.co](https://midlifereinvention.co)

After a short break, Pitch Labs is back with the first event of the 2026 season. Styled after a 'pitch competition', this event is for entrepreneurs, and the entrepreneurial-curious. Learn about on-going initiatives from local area founders, and there will be ample time for networking. This event will bring together start-up founders and enthusiasts in the DMV area for an exciting opportunity to hear about a fellow founder, and give feedback on their pitch and product, and get to network around founders from the area. Location: 10300 Eaton Place, Fairfax VA - many thanks to our venue sponsor Fairfax Country Economic Development **Our Agenda:** 1\. Basic group introductions 2\. First "Pitch" Presentation \(\~15 minutes\) 3\. Community Q&A 4\. Second "Pitch" Presentation \(\~15 minutes\) 5\. Community Q&A 6\. Break out sessions & general networking More information will be provided as we get closer to the meetup. **Speakers** TBD Parking will be shared before the event. Pitch Labs is a member of the [DMV Petri Dish Network](https://www.dmvpetridish.com/ "https://www.dmvpetridish.com/")

Join local video game developers, artists, musicians and writers to talk about the art and science of game development. Bring a device and demo your game, talk shop, find like minded folks to join forces with, have a snack or a beverage among new friends. We are an informal meetup where we share what we've been working on and socialize. Come for all or just a bit of the time!

Discover the path to stress management, life's tranquility, and self-improvement through Heartfulness Meditation. Embrace relaxation, meditation, and emotional detoxification practices to unlock your best self. Join our free sessions every Wednesday at 730 PM at MD. Experience the profound benefits of these simple yet powerful practices. Commit to a few months of meditation and witness the transformative impact firsthand. We eagerly await your presence at these enlightening sessions.

We will be meeting at Starbucks to learn together. Come with an online class you're already going through or an interest and we will try to connect you with a course where you can learn it. Already have a skill you want to contribute to a Kaggle Datascience competition? We will work on these too! Laptop required :)

## **1 Million Cups Loudoun Workshop: How AI Can Work for Your Business** **Wednesday\, January 28 \| 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM** **Venture X Loudoun – Ashburn** Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a buzzword — it’s a practical tool that businesses of all sizes can begin using today. Join **1 Million Cups Loudoun** for a special **workshop-style presentation** led by **Victor Meer of AI Prime** and **Jay Jay Billings of Band Gap AI**, designed to help entrepreneurs understand how AI can realistically support their business operations. This workshop will provide: * A clear, practical overview of what AI actually is * Real-world examples of how businesses are using AI today * Insight into where automation can save time and reduce friction * Guidance on how to start leveraging AI without needing technical expertise Whether you’re AI-curious, overwhelmed by the noise, or ready to explore automation in your business, this session will help you think clearly about where AI fits — and where it doesn’t. As always, coffee, conversation, and community are at the heart of 1 Million Cups Loudoun. ### What Is 1 Million Cups? 1 Million Cups is a national program powered by the Kauffman Foundation that brings together entrepreneurs and community members for weekly conversations that educate, support, and inspire. Loudoun’s chapter meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month. Join us on **January 14 at 9:00 AM** for coffee, connection, and a meaningful conversation about reimagining after-school education in Loudoun County. **We look forward to seeing you there.**

Gaming, AdTech, EdTech, Media Streaming, and FinTech are just a few of the workloads where high-availability cloud infrastructure matters. Whether you’re doing battle daily in one of these spaces or are just curious about ways to improve performance, meet us in Reston for an in-person discussion on bare metal cloud architecture. You’ll meet our product lead, James MacKenzie, who will walk through how modern bare metal serves as a control plane for hybrid and private cloud architectures. **What we will cover** * Ways to leverage bare metal, containers, and orchestration for better performance and predictable economics; * Real-world hybrid, disaster recovery, and data-intensive architectures; * Our approach to eliminating ingress and egress fees. **Who should attend** * Cloud architects and platform engineers; * DevOps professionals and infrastructure leads; * FinOps stakeholders managing data-heavy or hybrid workloads. **Why attend** This is a technical, architecture-first conversation. You will leave with a clearer understanding of high-availability cloud infrastructure and how organizations are scaling cost-effectively. Food and drinks will be provided. Space is limited to keep the discussion interactive.

Hello everyone! Who doesn't love Pizza! We'll be meeting at Andy's Pizza in Tyson's Galleria and doing some old-fashioned networking, beer-drinking, and pizza-eating. I guarantee a fun time, or else your pizza is free :) **Location:** Andy's Pizza, Tyson's Galleria, 2001 International Dr, McLean, VA 22102 **Overview:** Join us at AI Innovators Network for our upcoming meetup in Tysons dedicated to exploring the latest trends in Artificial Intelligence. Whether you're an AI enthusiast, a professional, or someone curious about the intersection of technology and AI, this event is perfect for networking, learning, and sharing insights. Connect with like-minded individuals from DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland as we dive deep into the opportunities and challenges of integrating AI. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the conversation driving innovation and progress in Artificial Intelligence.

Let’s get outside and explore the beautiful Great Falls Park. **No Fees ** We’ll take in the stunning river views, walk the scenic trails together, and afterwards head to a nearby spot for our signature sips and bites. The Plan • What: Group Hike + Lunch • Where: Riverbend Park , McLean (about 15 miles from D.C.) • Hike: 12:00 PM • Lunch: Right after at Mookie’s BBQ Looking forward to a fun and refreshing day outdoors!