Baltimore weekly roundup: AI birthing help; Manufacturing 4.0; Under Armour’s German car partner

Welcome to the roundup of the latest from Baltimore's tech and entrepreneurship scene. Want this in your inbox? Subscribe for free.

This week brings the news that BrightWave, a Columbia startup building photobioreactors to grow algae, snagged a $3 million contract to bring its tech to the UK — and its founders looped in a bunch of other Maryland firms to be part of the cross-ocean deal.

Also, for all the problems and concerns with today’s artificial intelligence tools, some speakers at this month’s HBCUniverse Summit in Baltimore think it might actually bring out our humanity. Here’s what they said.

Scroll down for more highlights from the top tech news in the region.

📰 News Incubator: What to know

• Maryland nurses are using AI to monitor contractions and fetal heart rates for all 9,000 births that happen annually in the UMMS system — sometimes from miles away. [Technical.ly]

• Ten restaurants received $10,000 grants from DoorDash’s Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund following the Key Bridge collapse nearly a year ago. [Baltimore Banner]

• Related: The Maryland Attorney General’s Office is requesting monitoring data from a software firm involved with Grace Ocean Private, the owner of the Dali, the container ship that triggered the collapse. [WYPR] 

• Baltimore-based retail company Under Armor is releasing a new clothing line with German luxury car company Mansory. [Baltimore Biz Journal]

• More than 40 manufacturing firms received state funds as part of the Maryland Manufacturing 4.0 program, which the governor proposed increased funding for in the FY26 budget. [State of Maryland]

• The SECU MD Foundation is accepting applications for its scholarship program for University of Maryland system schools. [SECU MD]

• Correctional officers in some Maryland prisons will now wear body cameras as part of a pilot program to increase transparency. [WJZ]

• JPMorganChase hired Baltimore region military spouses at its Maryland virtual call center. [JPMorganChase]

• Baltimore-based neurotechnology company Longeviti Neuro Solutions is partnering with the New Orleans firm Clarius Mobile Health to help neurosurgeons monitor patients’ recoveries with ultrasounds. [Clarius Mobile Health]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• Get a crash course in DevOps at the next Baltimore Tech Meetup on Feb. 20. [Details here]

• Founders: Learn about how to best leverage data when starting a business on Feb. 20. [Details here]

•  Get the details about recent trends in tech and disruptive commerce at a talk on Feb. 21 hosted by bwtech@UMBC. [Details here]

• Mompreneur Meetup is hosting a networking event on Feb. 25 at Cube Cowork. [Details here]

• Network with fellow technologists and innovators at Gig & Bite on Feb. 26, hosted by A Prosperous Tomorrow. There will be live music! [Details here]

• The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association is coming to Baltimore, and learn about how to get involved at the next Equitech Tuesday on Feb. 25. [Details here]

• Baltimore Code & Coffee is hosting a series of lightning talks on Feb. 22. [Details here]