With some of the brightest scientific, engineering and entrepreneurial minds around, the Santa Barbara area has the makings of the next Silicon Valley. But, unlike San Jose and points just south of San Francisco, the South Coast doesn’t have the kind of tech space available to easily set up a wet lab, or a clean room.

If you’re small like, say, a spinoff from UCSB, you probably wouldn’t have the money to acquire a big space of your own, nor would you need a huge space, at least not to start.

One solution could be to have several small companies share tech space in a bigger facility.

“One of the biggest concerns of this area is whether there will be enough demand to fill up that space,” said Sejal Hall of the UCSB Venture Acceleration Initiative, and the program director of the Central Coast MIT Enterprise Forum.

The problem isn’t limited to startups. Midsize and larger companies wishing to retrofit their facilities or rent out space for temporary projects also need extra tech space from time to time, she said.

For this reason, the Central Coast MIT Enterprise Forum will hold a discussion on the topic of tech space at 5 p.m Wednesday at the Cabrillo Arts Pavillion Center. Titled “Technology Space: The Final Frontier for Growth of Companies in Santa Barbara?,” the talk will feature insights from startups to seasoned players in the technology industry.

Panelists include Don Oparah from UCSB’s Venture Acceleration Initiative; Nancy Stagliano, CEO of CytomX; John Matulich from Allergan; Craig Zimmerman from the Towbes Group; and Andreas Hammp from Raytheon. The discussion will be moderated by Brian Johnson, a Realtor from the Radius Group.

Hopefully, Sejal said, the input from the panelists, who represent startups to major tech companies, as well as developers with insight into the kind of space available on the South Coast, will be able to answer the kinds of questions faced by companies who want to get in on the tech trend without having to move far away.

For more information, click here to visit the Central Coast MIT Enterprise Forum Web site.

Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at sfernandez@noozhawk.com.