A Spark of Curiosity

In 2017, faculty conversations began circulating about a new kind of capstone experience, one driven by student discovery and entrepreneurial thinking rather than predetermined client requirements. The idea intrigued Omojokun.

“I remember thinking, this is really different from anything I’ve ever taught,” he said.

In his previous courses, Omojokun took pride in providing the structured, rigorous framework students needed to master complex concepts. While those interactions were dynamic, the curriculum required a specific, focused trajectory. CREATE-X offered a different kind of challenge: the "X" of the program, representing undefined, endless potential.

“CREATE-X is full of unknowns. You don’t know what industry the students are diving into, what roadblocks they’ll run into and navigate out of, or what small- to large-scale successes they’ll achieve throughout the semester. It really had my blood pumping,” he said. As someone who loves the challenge of academia, it was an invigorating way to help the next generation apply what they’ve learned in a new context.

Omojokun co-taught the first CREATE-X Capstone section with College of Computing students in fall 2018 alongside Craig Forest, associate director of the Invention Studio. While the initial computer science cohort was small, the experience was immediately powerful.

“It was humble beginnings but deeply eye-opening,” he said.

In this new environment, students weren't just solving problems; they were seeking them and sometimes pivoting. Traditional client-driven capstones offer students invaluable experiences in delivering high-quality products, responding to clients’ often evolving needs, and adhering to professional standards. CREATE-X added a layer of venture-validation, requiring students to identify a gap in the market and build something with commercial viability.

As the semesters continued, CREATE-X grew from a program with an interesting capstone course Omojokun enthusiastically co-taught to a professional inflection point for him. He found himself talking about it frequently, with colleagues, with students, even with prospective undergraduates who may not see a capstone for years.

He began encouraging prospective and incoming students to take CREATE-X pathways. 

“I would tell students, down to first-year students, when you get that opportunity to engage with CREATE-X, take it. You don’t even have to wait until capstone, as there are multiple pathways; in fact, Startup Lab has no prerequisites. Whatever path you take, you’ll remember it for years to come. Whether you officially take a problem solution to market or not, the entrepreneurial confidence gained is priceless.”

Spreading CREATE-X Into the College of Computing

By 2020, when the first Jim Pope Faculty Fellowship cohort opened, applying felt natural. He had already become an unofficial ambassador for CREATE-X, helping students navigate options, promoting programs in classes, and rallying colleagues to engage.

“It was an opportunity to become more connected to this thing that I felt was changing the game on campus,” he said. “It cemented my affiliation with CREATE-X.”

The fellowship gave name and weight to the work he was already doing, while also expanding what was possible.

The Jim Pope Faculty Fellowship provides faculty with $15,000 in discretionary funding, which can support a one-semester break from teaching, along with structured training in evidence‑based entrepreneurship, dedicated mentorship, and the opportunity to work closely with students launching startups.

The fellowship also equips faculty to become entrepreneurial instructors and mentors through the CREATE‑X ecosystem, giving them tools to integrate entrepreneurship into their coursework and curricula. Each cohort of fellows is trained to embed entrepreneurial methods, develop new innovation‑focused assignments, and serve as advisors within programs like Startup Lab, Idea‑to‑Prototype, and Startup Launch.

For faculty across Georgia Tech, the fellowship offers something rare: institutional backing, resources, and formal recognition for bringing entrepreneurship into their teaching and shaping how students learn to become problem‑solvers.

Omojokun said he sees CREATE-X as the apex of applying technical fundamentals. 

As part of the fellowship, Omojokun brought the program’s ethos into his courses, even a foundational course like CS 1331: Introduction to Object Oriented Programming, where he created a CREATE-X–branded final project. Students built a “problem database” application as their final homework assignment, cataloging real issues they encountered in daily life, assessing their skills to solve them, evaluating markets and metrics, and then deciding potential pathways forward.

“It’s an innovation diary,” he said. “A tool that can get them closer to thinking like a founder.”

The response from students, including many non-computing majors who take his section each semester, has been overwhelmingly positive. While the project is challenging, the open-ended nature and real-world relevance motivate deeper engagement. 

“When students believe their work will solve a meaningful problem for a meaningful population, they bring passion to it,” he said. “They start observing the world differently.”

The more Omojokun saw, the deeper his enthusiasm grew.

Shaping the College of Computing

Even as he stepped into the role of inaugural chair of the School of Computing Instruction in 2022, CREATE-X remained at the forefront of Omojokun’s conversations. Interest in the program continued to grow significantly. Students stopped him in the hallways to talk about their ideas. Faculty reached out to ask about mentorship opportunities. And he continued championing the program in the many settings he entered.

“It turns out that the most engaged group of students in CREATE-X is computing undergraduates,” Omojokun said. “I wanted to make sure that high involvement continued, no matter what size we are,” he said.

Over time, Omojokun strengthened the partnership between the College of Computing and CREATE-X, weaving entrepreneurship deeper into the College's curricular fabric.

Last January, Omojokun was appointed as the associate dean for Undergraduate Education in the College of Computing. One of his priorities was highlighting CREATE-X’s curricular impact. In coordination with key stakeholders — including Kelly Ann Fitzpatrick (computing), Craig Forest (mechanical engineering), and Raul Saxena (CREATE-X) — he nominated the program for the ABET Innovation Award.  The award honors programs that challenge the status quo in technical education and demonstrate a measurable impact on student learning in ABET-accredited disciplines, such as natural sciences, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. CREATE-X won.

The CREATE-X Advantage With Faculty 

When faculty are considering something like the Jim Pope Fellowship, Omojokun said the biggest barrier he hears about from them is time. With courses that can enroll 300 students per section and extensive responsibilities beyond the classroom, time is a scarce resource.
He could relate. 

“There are always lots of things on my physical and virtual desktop. I always warn people before they enter my office,” he said.

However, Omojokun argued that participating in the fellowship program was time well spent because it helps them rediscover the most exciting parts of teaching.

“It’s worth the time. One of the goals of teaching is to see students passionate about what they’re learning, and CREATE-X makes that happen consistently,” he said. 

The Future With Technology

As AI reshapes industries, Omojokun believes that CREATE-X equips students to navigate the unknown and forge new paths as existing ones shift, providing a versatile skill set that transfers to employment, potentially self-employment, and beyond. 

“There’s a lot of uncertainty with AI in the workspace, but CREATE-X gives students the confidence and skills to succeed at whatever comes,” he said. “We are putting students through this process of finding a problem that’s meaningful and matters to the world; mastering that allows them to lead in any environment.”

Applications Now Open: Become a Jim Pope Faculty Fellow

The 2026 Jim Pope Faculty Fellowship is now accepting applications. For faculty who want to explore integrating entrepreneurship into their teaching, mentoring student founders, and helping shape a culture of innovation across campus, this fellowship offers resources and a supported pathway to begin. Faculty from all disciplines are encouraged to apply to the Jim Pope Fellowship. Priority deadline: July 1; final deadline: Aug. 11.
 

“It was frustrating, but it showed me how many people were being left out of the digital world,” Espinosa said. “In Colombia, only about two out of 10 people have a credit card. Cash is the main form of payment, but everything online requires digital access.”

That gap sparked the idea that would evolve into Loto Punto, a fintech startup building self-service kiosks to bridge the physical and digital worlds for unbanked communities. 

From a Single Problem to a Scalable Platform

Espinosa began his startup as an online platform for buying lottery tickets. He saw that customers didn’t trust the idea of a digital receipt because they were used to a printout, so he pivoted to a kiosk similar to the ones in U.S. grocery stores. Customers could walk up, insert cash, and print a lottery ticket instantly. 
“It worked, but it had a ceiling,” Espinosa said. “It only served people buying lottery tickets. We knew it wouldn’t scale.”

To address this, he expanded the kiosks to handle mobile phone top-ups, bill payments, and basic banking services. Then, in 2024, the company incorporated advanced technologies such as biometric recognition and blockchain. Stellar Blockchain, first a partner, later became an investor of the startup, which helped Loto Punto to enable low-cost, real-time digital transactions and remittances. 

Now, users can convert physical cash into digital value or withdraw cash from digital wallets through a single machine.

A Global Solo Founder

Espinosa is the sole founder of Loto Punto, supported now by a 10‑person team of highly specialized engineers, designers, and manufacturing experts. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in computer science at Georgia Tech while leading the company through its next chapter as part of the CREATE-X Startup Launch Spring 2026 cohort. 

Finding CREATE-X and Finding a Community

Espinosa learned about CREATE-X during his first semester at Georgia Tech. In 2024, CREATE-X widened its Startup Launch program to include a spring cohort to give founders, particularly graduating seniors, another chance to go all-in on developing their startup.

Espinosa admits he didn’t expect much when he first learned about the program.

“I didn’t know universities had programs like this. In Colombia, we don’t have accelerators embedded inside universities with venture support and dedicated staff,” he said. “So, I assumed CREATE X would be small, maybe one office helping a few students.”

What Espinosa found was different.

“They’re leveraging every resource that Georgia Tech offers. They can help with any challenge by tapping the doors of the network they already have established,“ he said. “It’s an ecosystem.”

As a part of the Startup Launch program, CREATE-X brings in founders from its ecosystem to speak to participants and give them actionable insights — founders who have raised funds, been acquired, and have had other successes as entrepreneurs. 

“That’s different,” Espinosa said. “They’ve brought successful founders who have walked the talk. It’s different to interact with somebody who was already successful in doing what you’re doing.”

Testing, Measuring, and Learning Through Startup Launch

Even as a remote participant, Espinosa has connected well with his mentor, who meets with him weekly, and his mini-batch. During the program, startup teams are grouped together. They share their strategies, successes, and struggles as they develop throughout the program. Teams have weekly sprints where they focus on one or two activities and then measure those activities, which Espinosa said is helpful for maintaining focus and actually executing on ideas.

“If you, as an entrepreneur, start thinking of the whole world of activities that you must do to get somewhere with your startup, you won’t start,” he said. “By creating attainable goals, step by step, that’s how it compounds to reach bigger goals. But, you have to begin with something.”
Teams are also encouraged to take calculated risks.

“CREATE-X gives us a safe environment to test ideas,” Espinosa said. “As an entrepreneur, it’s a lonely road, but having someone who has been in your shoes before, it makes you brave to try things.”

One of the first major tests he shared with the cohort was an ad campaign timed around the Super Bowl. In Startup Launch, Espinosa learned how to structure the experiment: defining KPIs, iterating audiences, and evaluating performance compared to industry benchmarks.

“We got around 45,000 views and above-average click-through rates,” he said. “But the biggest lesson was that brand awareness alone can’t be our only marketing strategy.”

Espinosa said his mentor helped open doors for him and kept him accountable, and the program itself kept him from being overwhelmed by all that a founder has to do.

“In Startup Launch, you see how different approaches fit different phases,” he said. “They’re creating a path to grow and execute on your goals as a founder.”

Why Now Is the Easiest Time to Build

Espinosa also emphasized that the tools to build and test ideas have never been more accessible.

“When I started, we didn’t have AI. You had to do everything by hand. It was harder, and it took more resources,” he said. “Right now, it’s a matter of prompting. In one hour, you can file for a grant. Before, it took at least a week to get your documents together.”

He said the ability to test quickly and learn has also become inexpensive.

“You don’t need millions of dollars to do this,” Espinosa said. “It's very cheap to fail, right? If that doesn't work, you can just try again in the morning.”

Above all, Espinosa encouraged budding founders to take advantage of the opportunities around them.

“As a founder, you must tap every door that you have available to you. You have to explore different paths,” he said. “Some of those are networking, some are physical space, some are interest. Get your hands on every single resource that comes your way.”

Looking Ahead: The Future of Payments

As he thinks about where the finance world is going, Espinosa said the payments industry is rapidly converging toward blockchain, stablecoins, and faster, frictionless user experiences.

“We’re seeing a lot of movement around stablecoins. We’re seeing resource flow from one country to another. We believe things are converging to leverage blockchain and driving down the cost of moving money,“ he said. “That’s how we see the future of our industry.”

Meet Loto Punto and the Spring Cohort at Startup Launch Showcase

Espinosa will travel to Atlanta for the first time in May to present Loto Punto at the CREATE-X Spring Startup Launch Showcase, where the public can meet founders and see their ventures firsthand. The event will be held in The Biltmore Ballrooms on Thursday, May 21, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The showcase will feature dozens of startups built by Georgia Tech students and alumni. Tickets are free but limited. Register for the showcase today to grab your spot.
 

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) in Georgia Tech’s Office of Commercialization announced two of its health technology (HealthTech) portfolio companies, Nephrodite and OrthoPreserve, earned the designation. 

Achieving this rare milestone underscores the caliber of founders, science, and support in ATDC’s 30-company HealthTech portfolio, the incubator’s largest focus area. It’s also a win for Georgia because it reflects the strength of the state’s health innovation ecosystem. 

“This designation is one of the strongest signals the FDA gives that a technology could change the standard of care,” said Greg Jungles, HealthTech catalyst at ATDC. “For ATDC to have two in the same year is remarkable.” 

The Breakthrough Device Program doesn’t waive evidence requirements, but it accelerates learning with the FDA, ATDC’s Jungles said. “That means shorter response times, more frequent meetings, and prioritized review. Teams avoid dead ends and align earlier on study designs and endpoints.” 

For the founders of both startups, their technologies come one step closer to moving their innovations to market. Nephrodite’s technology improves the lives of dialysis patients. OrthoPreserve’s device addresses challenges faced by those who suffer from chronic knee pain. 

Nephrodite: Advancing Continuous Artificial Kidney Technology 

Dr. Nikhil Shah and Dr. Hiep Nguyen, cofounders of Nephrodite, aim to improve care for dialysis patients with end-stage kidney disease who need transplants. These patients often spend three to four hours in a dialysis clinic up to three times a week. Being tethered to stationary machines with needles drawing blood via arm grafts complicates everyday activities — from work tasks to the ability to travel. 

Dialysis addresses chronic kidney disease, which means kidneys no longer work properly. The treatments filter out toxins, waste, and other fluids in the blood. Kidney disease costs Medicare $124.5 billion every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And those costs are expected to rise because of increasing rates of kidney failure and chronic kidney disease. 

“Dialysis, while lifesaving when it was pioneered in 1952, is incredibly burdensome,” Shah said. Besides being a long process that keeps the patient in a fixed location, it’s physically tiring. “Taking out your blood continually many, many times over, and over the course of four hours is the equivalent of running the Boston Marathon, hitting the finish line, and then someone saying, ‘You're not done; go do it again,’ ” he said. 

A surgeon by training, with expertise in transplantation and oncology, Shah is also an adjunct associate professor in Tech’s School of Interactive Computing. He worked with Nguyen to develop a continuously functioning mechanical artificial kidney, leading to Nephrodite’s formation. 

The FDA’s breakthrough designation on its artificial kidney allows the company to pursue approvals to begin tests in human trials. 

The company traces its beginnings to a German aerospace facility outside Munich, where Nguyen and Shah watched engineers demonstrate a pediatric artificial heart — the Berlin Heart. 

“That’s how we got started,” Shah said. “Seeing an artificial heart that led us to think about doing this for kidneys — because the kidney space has been largely ignored for 70 years.” 

Backed by a German federal grant, Nephrodite grew, moving from Germany to Boston, Massachusetts, then to Austin, Texas, before calling Atlanta home. The company joined ATDC and tapped into other Georgia Tech programs. This included the Center for MedTech Excellence and the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Nephrodite also drew on student talent as the researchers quietly worked on their continuous mechanical artificial kidney. 

Nephrodite began interviewing patients to find out what they wanted the artificial kidney needed to solve. 

They learned patients want the ability to be mobile. Patients also desire an alternative therapy to large needles being inserted into arm grafts because the injection sites are prone to infection and the grafts can fail. In addition, the process can be painful and disfiguring. Finally, patients want a quality of life independent of machines. 

“Those quality-of-life needs, especially being free and mobile, were absolutely universal,” Shah said.  

Nephrodite began developing the technology to build its device — a filter surgically implanted in the pelvis area. 

“We developed an implant designed to run constantly, connected to larger blood vessels in the pelvis to avoid arm graft failures, and paired with an external interface that lets patients sleep at night while the system removes toxins and excess fluid,” Shah explained. 

The device also has built-in sensors, with data uploaded to the cloud, enabling medical care teams to remotely monitor their patients while freeing patients from frequent in-clinic visits. 

Shah said Nephrodite’s device could restore everyday independence, while potentially lowering infection risk. 

“It's like having an actual kidney, but without all the issues of an unhealthy one,” Shah said.  

OrthoPreserve: Innovating a Minimally Invasive Meniscus Implant 
 
OrthoPreserve’s technology aims to address issues from people have with their meniscus, the C‑shaped piece of cartilage in a knee joint that acts as a shock absorber between the thigh bone and shin bone. 

Though patients undergo a now-routine surgery to address it, incomplete recoveries are also common. An estimated quarter of patients later experience recurring knee pain. No FDA-approved implant currently exists for this population. Now, OrthoPreserveis developing a minimally invasive, artificial meniscus implant to restore cushioning, relieve pain, and delay — or even prevent — knee replacement for some patients. 

“There are a million meniscus surgeries every year, and 25% of those patients still live with recurring pain,” said Jonathan Schwartz, OrthoPreserve’s founder and CEO. 

Patients can face daily pain from ordinary activities, such as prolonged standing or walking a dog. Other activities like jogging and recreational sports can trigger flares that can lead to swelling and prolonged discomfort, Schwartz said. “Those patients have no reliable options today,” he said. “We’re building a minimally invasive implant to restore cushioning and help people get back to the activities they love.” 

OrhoPreserve’s durable implant restores cushioning, and it could help people return to normal activities and delay invasive knee replacement. Along with this comes potential cost and recovery benefits for the healthcare system.   

Schwartz created the implant as his Georgia Tech master’s thesis in the lab of David Ku in the Lawrence P. Huang Endowed Chair for Engineering Entrepreneurship and Regents' Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. After industry experience, Schwartz returned to further develop the technology, building on Georgia Tech’s translational expertise 

OrthoPreserve has completed mechanical testing and a successful study. The company is raising a $2 million seed to complete validations and begin human trials, which Schwartz expects to start in 18 months. 

“The FDA breakthrough designation validates that nothing like this technology exists, and that it has the potential to disrupt the standard of care,” Schwartz said, adding the U.S.’ market opportunity is roughly $1.5 billion. “We finally have a minimally invasive option to bridge the gap between meniscus surgery and knee replacement.” 

What FDA Breakthrough Designation Means for ATDC’s HealthTech Startups 

Having a faster and clearer path is a derisking milestone for investors who are evaluating capital intensive medical device technologies, Jungles said. 

“This breakthrough device designation is a really big deal for medical device companies,” Jungles said, adding that startups often fear navigating the FDA approval process. “But this designation adds to the legitimacy of their technologies and the problemsthey are solving. The designation will help them get to market faster, assuming their data continues to meet expectations.” 

ATDC launched its HealthTech vertical in 2018, which is now sponsored by Catalyst by Wellstar ATDC’s HealthTech portfoilo companies include medical devices, biotech, and digital health, among other segments. 

ATDC’s Role in Accelerating HealthTech Innovation 

Nephrodite and OrthoPreserve’s founders noted ATDC’s coaching and programming as critical in navigating fundraising and regulatory milestones. Another factor, they said, was ATDC’s connection to Georgia Tech’s labs and facilities and prototyping support and clinical advisors from across metro Atlanta.  

“We meet with ATDC coaches every two to four weeks to troubleshoot and plan,” Schwartz said. “Having that level of seasoned guidance, all without consultant-level costs, has been huge.” 

Jungles added that two Breakthrough device designations in the same year reflects ATDC’s selection rigor, noting he’s evaluated hundreds of technologies since the HealthTech vertical launched. 

“It reflects the caliber of the companies in ATDC, specifically in the medical device space,” Jungles said. “It’s the strength of their teams, the persistence of the founders, and the collaboration of the ecosystem in Georgia and Atlanta.” 

Applying what she’d learned along the way, Sizer started Growth Impact to support startups and stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem. As a part of her business, she created partnerships and networks between the U.S. and South Africa, bridging the gap between startups and corporations to encourage co-creation and pilot projects. During this time, she saw how much early‑stage founders needed clear frameworks, honest guidance, and hands‑on support. 

“I started Growth Impact to support startups and stakeholders such as venture studios, investors, and accelerators. I support early-stage startups in finding product-market fit, customer understanding, go-to-market strategy, and business model development,” she said. “I also help startups with fundraising readiness and enterprise readiness. I support stakeholders by helping to assess viability, and de-risk new ventures, as well as connecting startups to enterprises.” 

Eventually, her work brought her in contact with Georgia Tech. She was working with a South African innovation lab to enable pilot projects between startups and enterprises with the goal of facilitating the co-creation of digital solutions, which led her to Rahul Saxena, director of CREATE-X. 

Sizer said she reached out to see if any potential CREATE-X startups or enterprises would want to connect to the companies she was working with in South Africa.

“Over the last few years, there's been quite a lot of interest in Georgia Tech and Atlanta in terms of a tech and innovation hub in the U.S., and there's a lot of investment happening too, in both the city of Atlanta and in Georgia Tech, in entrepreneurship and innovation and technology,” she said. “I think it's an interesting market.”

Once connected, she kept meeting Georgia Tech founders, many from CREATE‑X.

Quietly, she began helping where she could, making introductions for CREATE-X founders outside of Atlanta. For Augment Health, she made investor and potential partner introductions. For the founder of Strapt, she made introductions to investors, shared market insight, and highlighted the company in her own newsletter, which has an audience of innovation ecosystem stakeholders, including more investors. And for ZenVR, she made a connection to WeFunder for funding, which resulted in $250,000 raised.  

Collaborating with CREATE-X on a webinar, Sizer also taught Startup Launch alumni about customer understanding and segmentation, value proposition, and other topics for health and wellness founders. Beyond connecting, Sizer shaped mindsets. 

In her business, one founder she worked with was building non‑toxic performance apparel for women — a product selling through Amazon, REI, and even the U.S. military. The founder had ambition but struggled to balance DTC (direct to consumer) sales, retail, and B2B opportunities. Sizer helped her analyze her data, identify her real early adopters, and rebuild her value proposition and messaging. With a clearer customer understanding and stronger brand direction, the founder revamped her website and refined her pitch.

“I love that thrill of them being excited about implementing some of the ideas and things we talk about, seeing the growth in their business, and the positive change in their business. That really excites me,” she said.

Atlanta is an enterprise-heavy city with Fortune 500 companies, SaaS (Software as a Service) companies, and a growing biotech sector. The startup ecosystem is growing in Atlanta, and with that comes advantages. 

“I have noticed that there's a lot of strong support for Atlanta and Georgia entrepreneurs from other Atlanta and Georgia entrepreneurs,” she said. “They all support each other.”

Over the years, Sizer has advised or mentored over 100 startups and built investor connections.  

“My business is Growth Impact, because growth and impact are part of my core values. I'm glad to give back and support early entrepreneurs, sharing knowledge, tools, and resources,” she said.

As a founder, Sizer went through her own learning curve. When she first launched her company, she assumed her target customers would be venture capital firms and spent months talking to pre‑seed and seed investors, only to discover that VCs either didn’t fund the kind of operational support she offered or they expected founders to pay for it themselves. Meanwhile, the founders she spoke with said they needed her help but didn’t have the budget. She said it was a classic chicken‑and‑egg problem.

“I said, OK, this is not my target customer. The target customer is the startup,” she said. “That's where the pivot point was for me.”
That shift reshaped her entire business and reinforced the same advice she now gives students: Talk to customers, listen deeply, and don’t be afraid to adjust when the data points you in a new direction.

She officially joined the CREATE‑X mentor community last year to help more founders, guiding them in finding product-market fit, and understanding who needs this solution and why.

One thing Sizer emphasized, however, is the need for founders to continue to take initiative and be resilient in the face of challenges.
“A mentor can guide you or ask the right questions, but the founder has to find the path,” she said.

Ready to build something real?

Meet mentors like Alison Sizer in Startup Launch, where you can develop a startup to solve real-world problems and build entrepreneurial skills. Apply to Startup Launch today; applications close Tuesday, March 17.
Interested in mentoring?

Want to mentor and support the next generation of Georgia Tech founders?

Fill out our engagement form to join CREATE‑X’s mentor network. 

“I’m thrilled to see Professor Sherrill tackle this role for the coming 5 years. He understands the rapidly evolving opportunities to apply AI and data science approaches to the diversity of research conducted by Georgia Tech faculty and students, and has a strong agenda to help our researchers make the most of this explosive change in the research landscape.” Said V.P. of Interdisciplinary Research, Julia Kubanek. “He also has deep experience with team building and management which will position IDEaS favorably.”

As executive director, Sherrill will guide IDEaS’ current initiatives, which include the Microsoft CloudHub program that supports innovative applications in Generative Artificial Intelligence, and provide oversight and support for the joint College of Computing / IDEaS Center for Artificial Intelligence in Science and Engineering (ARTISAN), which provides  Georgia Tech faculty and research engineers expert support staff, needed cyberinfrastructure, software resources, and advice to assist faculty with projects using large data sets or using AI and machine learning to drive discovery.

Sherrill will also the lead the launch of a new strategic vision, emphasizing the Georgia Tech research community’s expertise in the development of AI and ML techniques and their application to problems in science and engineering, high performance computing, and academic software. Sherrill will focus on internal and external partnerships at IDEaS, creating new collaborative efforts in areas such as economics, policy, and the arts and humanities. He will also work to strengthen current connections across Georgia Tech’s Colleges, Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRIs), and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).

“It’s a great honor to be named the next executive director of IDEaS,” said Sherrill.  “Georgia Tech has world-class faculty and students, and an unparalleled spirit of collaboration.  By bringing together faculty from across campus and working together with some of the amazing student groups, we can leverage the power of AI to accelerate our research and maximize our impact.  IDEaS will continue to run upskilling workshops to help our campus keep pace with the rapid changes in AI.”

Sherrill is an active promoter of education in computational quantum chemistry, as well as a strong voice for the benefits of open-source software for research acceleration. He was named Outreach Volunteer of the Year by the Georgia Section of the American Chemical Society in 2017, and he is the lead principal investigator of the Psi open-source quantum chemistry program.

Sherrill earned a B.S. in chemistry from MIT in 1992 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Georgia in 1996. From 1996-1999 Sherril was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.

Sherrill is Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Chemical Society, and the American Physical Society, and he has been Associate Editor of the Journal of Chemical Physics since 2009. Sherrill has received a Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award, the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry Young Investigator Award, an NSF CAREER Award, and Georgia Tech's W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award. In 2023, he received the Herty Medal from the Georgia Section of the American Chemical Society, and in 2024, he was elected to the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.

- Christa M. Ernst

“Arts organizations contribute so much to the vibrancy of a community,” said Caley Landau, program manager for GAIN and marketing strategist at EI². “They help create a sense of place and provide the ‘something to do’ that small cities and towns want to offer residents, new workers, and prospective businesses. Our hope is to enhance the arts and cultural ecosystem in Middle Georgia by providing training and technical assistance to the organizations that produce art in the region.”

A Rural Community Already Investing in Placemaking

Perry was selected as the pilot location in part for its active downtown revitalization work and commitment to placemaking. Through the Georgia Economic Placemaking Collaborative, Perry city staff partnered with EI²’s Center for Economic Development Research to develop strategies for arts‑based community development.

“Working alongside the Georgia Tech team has been a wonderful experience,” said Alicia Hartley, downtown manager for the City of Perry. “We hope that participants walk away from the cohort inspired and empowered to activate their organizations in creative and meaningful ways.”

Listening First, Then Providing Targeted Support

The program will begin with a listening session to understand participating organizations’ needs. EI² will then design tailored workshops drawing from experts at Georgia Tech and beyond. Every other month, cohort members will meet for sessions on business practices, digital tools, operational efficiency, marketing, placemaking partnerships, and other areas that support long‑term sustainability.

“They sound like great ideas — murals, pop‑up exhibits, outdoor performances — but how do you really get down to the nuts and bolts of making them happen?” Landau said. “And how do you bring the right partners to the table? That’s what we’ll explore together.”

A Statewide Mission, Strengthened Through the Arts

As Georgia Tech’s economic development arm, EI² administers programs that support entrepreneurs, manufacturers, communities, and municipalities across the state and around the world.

“GAIN represents an important part of EI²’s comprehensive approach to economic development,” said David Bridges, vice president of EI². “It gives us another way to create impact in Georgia by applying our expertise to serve arts organizations that are vital to Georgia communities.”

Jason Freeman, associate vice provost for Georgia Tech Arts, noted that the pilot aligns with the Institute’s broader commitment to supporting arts, culture, and creativity statewide.

“Through GAIN, I’m excited to learn more about the arts ecosystem in Middle Georgia,” Freeman said. “The lessons we learn will inform both statewide collaborations and new initiatives emerging through our Creative Quarter innovation district on campus.”

Program Funding and Support

The pilot is funded through the NEA’s Our Town program, which supports projects integrating arts, culture, and design into community development. The Georgia Council for the Arts is partnering with EI² on cohort recruitment, curriculum development, and arts‑based placemaking strategies.

Recruitment has begun. Arts nonprofits and arts‑based businesses in Middle Georgia may apply at innovate.gatech.edu/gain/.

The Georgia Institute of Technology and Augusta University have launched a collaborative effort to boost the city’s medical device innovation ecosystem. 

Consumer Behavior: Confidence Lagged; Spending Did Not
Grade: C

Consumer forecasts were among the least accurate.

“Consumer confidence started the year at low levels,” says Samuel Bond, associate professor of marketing in the Scheller College of Business. Many analysts expected households to pull back, particularly on discretionary spending. Instead, consumers kept spending — especially on travel, dining, and entertainment.

Bond notes a persistent gap between sentiment and behavior. “People expressed worry, but they did not significantly reduce spending.”

He also points to a major 2025 shift: the rise of AI “shopping assistants.” Rather than using search engines or retailer sites, consumers increasingly turned to tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and other bots that consolidate search, comparison, and advice.

Automation Expectations: Progress Without the Breakthrough
Grade: B-

Supply chain automation was expected to leap forward in 2025, but progress came in targeted pockets.

“2025 did not deliver a broad, step-change leap in automation performance,” says Chris Gaffney, professor of the practice in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE). “Instead, it delivered selective progress.”

Automation delivered the most value in tightly scoped environments with clear ownership, particularly in new distribution and manufacturing facilities. Semi-automated systems that supported human judgment and stabilized throughput outperformed complex retrofits that promised full automation.

Forecasts missed by assuming technology alone could overcome workforce readiness, data gaps, and organizational complexity. “The gap between expectation and reality was less about technology and more about readiness to operate automated systems day-to-day,” Gaffney says.

Still, Gaffney gives 2025 a B-, calling it “a healthy, if humbling, outcome” that reset expectations and clarified what actually matters heading into 2026.

Artificial Intelligence: Adoption Advanced; Hype Outran Reality
Grade: Hard to define

No trend attracted more hype in 2025 than AI, and predictions routinely overshot reality.

“There’s been so much hype around AI that keeping track of specific forecasts is difficult,” says Jorge Huertas, a researcher in the ISyE. “AI has grown in many different areas and scopes, but not at the pace it was hyped.”

Some applications matured quickly, particularly code generation and AI tools embedded into existing platforms. “Claude has grown very well with code generation, and Gemini has grown by integrating across the Google ecosystem,” Huertas says.

Other highly touted areas lagged. “Agentic AI was hyped, only to see many cases where engineers spent two or three times longer fixing errors from AI-generated code,” he adds.

AI delivered the most value when narrowly applied to the right problems. Looking ahead, Huertas points to accuracy, guardrails, and regulation, rather than model capability, as the key constraints shaping AI’s 2026 trajectory.

Alex Hsu, associate professor in the Scheller College of Business, notes that business adoption is accelerating regardless. “The AI revolution is here to stay,” he says. “Tech companies are investing hundreds of billions in large language models and data centers, while companies outside tech are using models to improve margins. This will heighten competition and put downward pressure on the labor market.”

Economic Outlook: Forecasts Tested by Policy Volatility
Grade: C+

Economic predictions faced unusual turbulence in 2025, driven largely by rapid policy shifts.

“2025 was a difficult year to forecast gross domestic product (GDP) growth given the immense number of changes in policy at the federal level,” says Danny Woodbury, lecturer in the School of Economics.

Early forecasts projected solid growth in the first quarter, but GDP instead contracted slightly as government spending fell and imports surged following tariff announcements. “Forecasters did not foresee the magnitude of the shift in trade policy,” Woodbury says, noting that projections only converged with reality weeks before official data releases.

Later in the year, export growth pushed GDP forecasts sharply higher, again catching analysts off guard.

Hsu adds that inflation and unemployment will be the key indicators to watch in 2026 as the Federal Reserve balances price stability with employment amid rising bond yields and global fiscal pressures complicating the outlook.

What Forecasters Should Adjust Going Forward

Across sectors, 2025 revealed a common blind spot: Predictions assumed smoother execution than reality allowed.

For 2026, experts point to discipline over hype, operational readiness over technology promises, policy risk over static models, and actual behavior over stated intentions.

As Gaffney puts it: “2026 will reward operators who treat automation as a system to be run, not a solution to be bought.”

That opportunity is here again. Applications for the 2026 Summer Startup Launch cohort are now open.

If you’ve identified a meaningful problem, have begun talking to real users, or feel a pull to build something bigger than a class project, this is your moment. Startup Launch gives you the structure, support, and ecosystem to take your idea further than you ever thought possible.

A Launchpad With a Proven Track Record

In the past year alone, CREATE‑X founders have:

• Led their startup to successful acquisitions.
• Raised six-figure funding rounds.
• Gained acceptance into highly selective Y Combinator.
• Built products used by customers, communities, and companies across industries.

The ability to identify a problem, validate real user needs, build something that works, and communicate that value — that combination makes students stand out in a competitive job market. Employers notice it. Graduate programs notice it. And investors notice it.

This is why Startup Launch isn’t just a summer project.
It becomes a defining career asset.

What You Get in Startup Launch

Startup Launch is intentionally built to give students every advantage while they build their venture. This year, we’ve expanded support even further.

Participants receive:

• $200,000 in-kind services like accounting and cloud credits.
• Dedicated coaching and mentorship from experienced founders and startup experts.
• Exclusive workshops and founder-focused programming.
• Access to the CREATE-X network, a community of builders, investors, and potential customers.

You’ll spend the summer fully immersed in your startup, surrounded by peers also tackling ambitious problems.

And you’ll leave with something real to show for it.

Applications for the Summer 2026 cohort close March 17. Apply to Startup Launch today.

The showcase featured a diverse mix of innovators: Startup Launch alumni, returning I2P students refining earlier concepts, and first-time participants stepping into the entrepreneurial arena.

Top Three Teams

First Place: Gorginea Care

• Shalom Ejiwunmi – Applied Biotechnology, Fourth-Year, University of Georgia
• Rakeb Tesfassellasie – Industrial and Systems Engineering, Third-Year, Georgia Tech
• Sophia Bereket – Mechanical Engineering, Fourth-Year, Kennesaw State University

A cross-institutional team from Georgia Tech, UGA, and Kennesaw State introduced an at-home cervical cancer screening kit, designed to give women privacy and control over their health.

Taking the Leap

Team Gorginea Care started their journey at Georgia State University’s Perimeter College, where they participated in the MESA program (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) — a dedicated study and research space located on Perimeter College’s Clarkston campus. The team was sparked by a simple question: Why isn’t there a better way to test for cervical cancer? The founders were planning on getting pap smears themselves, but they had heard about painful experiences from other women.

“We were hesitant to go through the process since it seemed uncomfortable,” Tesfassellasie said.

So, Tesfassellasie, Bereket, and Ejiwunmi decided to consider alternatives to the plastic speculum used during standard exams and develop a tampon-like device.

“It's just giving women a choice basically to be able to take the samples and solve without having to be so vulnerable and uncomfortable,” Tesfassellasie said.

The team joined the summer I2P and continued to develop their prototype in the fall semester course. Bereket said CREATE-X gave them resources and space without taking ownership.

“The point of us being engineers is to make a difference in the world,” Tesfassellasie said. “CREATE-X gives you the chance to do that, and they don't take any intellectual property. You might be really passionate about whatever you're majoring in, but this is where you can start implementing what you learn in classes in real-life projects. CREATE-X is allowing you to do this without limiting you by Schools or where you're coming from.”

Initially, the team hesitated to enter the InVenture Prize competition, worried they weren’t ready.

“We thought we could work on more things and find more ways to improve,” Bereket said. “We can give ourselves a year. By next year, maybe we'll be ready to do Inventure Prize.”

But I2P changed that. Bereket said she was shocked by the win, as the team had thought they’d try Startup Launch first.

“Now it's the other way around,” she said. “We're excited to be part of the InVenture Prize, and we're going to see how everything works out as well.”

“If you have an idea, or even if you don't have an idea but you feel very strongly about working on something, go to showcases like this and talk to teams and professors. Half the time, teams are looking for somebody to help,” Ejiwunmi said.

Additional winning teams include:

Second Place: PedalSwap

• Wylam DeSimone – Electrical Engineering, Third-Year
• Zephyr Smith –Music Technology, Third-Year

This team reimagined guitar effects pedals by creating one main pedal case with interchangeable magnetic parts, reducing cost and increasing flexibility for musicians looking to experiment with new sounds.

Third Place: Matareal

• Lily Chisholm – Computer Science (Media and Systems), Fourth-Year
• Nicholas Castles – Mechanical Engineering, Fourth-Year
• Megan Liu – Industrial and Systems Engineering, Second-Year
• Gloria Goudjinou – Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity), Second-Year

Tackling inefficiencies in mural painting, Matareal developed a paint estimation tool that cuts planning time from two days to two minutes, saving artists thousands of dollars in wasted materials.

What the Winners Take Home

Beyond recognition, winners earn a golden ticket into CREATE-X Startup Launch, Georgia Tech’s summer accelerator program. This includes:

• Priority admission to Startup Launch.
• $5,000 in optional seed funding.
• Access to $200,000 in in-kind services, including legal and accounting credits.
• Mentorship from faculty and industry experts.
• Visibility from Demo Day.
• Automatic advancement to the InVenture Prize semifinals.

Registration for Spring 2026 I2P is open. Whether you have a fully formed idea or just a spark, I2P offers a $500 reimbursement, mentorship, and research credit to support you in making your ideas real.

Greptile, founded by three current and former Georgia Tech students, has quickly emerged as one of Silicon Valley’s most promising young technology companies. The startup, led by Daksh Gupta, CS 2023; Soohoon Choi, CS 2023, MTH 2023; and computer science major Vaishant Kameswaran, builds artificial intelligence tools that help engineering teams review, analyze, and improve their code. 

A mobile fishing app created by Georgia Tech graduate Matthew Steele, CS 2025, has become an international success story, reaching the top of App Store charts in multiple countries before being acquired earlier this year. 

Based on data collected at the Scheller College of Business, Calmon’s research demonstrates how AI models like Llama 4 Maverick 17B—equipped with optimized prompts, data-sharing rules, and guardrails—can outperform human teams in managing complex supply chains. Using the classic MIT Beer Distribution Game as a testbed, the authors benchmarked AI agents against more than 100 Georgia Tech students. The results were striking: AI-driven systems reduced total supply chain costs by up to 67% compared to human performance.
 

Traditional automated systems rely on rigid, human-designed rules. Calmon and his co-authors employed autonomous agents that learn, adapt, and coordinate across functions in real time. The study highlights four critical factors for success: selecting capable reasoning models, implementing guardrails to prevent costly errors, curating data through orchestration, and refining prompts for optimal performance.
 

“This breakthrough positions the Scheller College of Business as a thought leader at the intersection of AI and supply chain innovation,” said Calmon. “World-class supply chain management is becoming a plug-and-play capability. Businesses that understand how to guide generative AI agents with the right data and policies will gain a decisive competitive edge.”
 

The implications extend beyond cost savings. By delegating operational decisions to autonomous systems, human managers can focus on strategic priorities such as network design and supplier relationships. In an era of global volatility, this research emphasizes how future supply chain success depends on the strategic use of AI-driven technology.
 

Read More: Harvard Business Review 

Tech College of Engineering alumni Chad Pozarycki, Ph.D., CHBE, 2022, and José Andrade, AE, 2025, are on a mission to make biochemical monitoring more accessible — with a focus on preventing disease. Today, their startup Deleon, using NASA’s technology (originally designed to search for life on Mars) and metabolomics, provides a system that uses daily urine sampling to track metabolites related to overtraining, stress, and recovery. Future applications will be aimed at early disease detection.

“Something that frustrated me about metabolomics was its lack of focus on preventive care,” said Andrade. “We created Deleon by combining these ideas and tracking the human metabolome to optimize for healthy lifestyles.”

The Deleon founders began the company shortly after Pozarycki completed his graduate studies at Georgia Tech, with Andrade moonlighting and Pozarycki working a part-time job at Georgia Tech’s bike shop to keep the project afloat. In the beginning, funding was a major challenge. 

“I finished my Ph.D., was working on Deleon, and didn’t have any income. CREATE-X gave us $5,000 in funding, which motivated us to keep going on this project,” said Pozarycki.

CREATE-X, Georgia Tech’s campus-wide initiative to instill entrepreneurial confidence and help students launch startups, provided more than funding. Through the program, Deleon received guidance on finding potential customers. 

“The one-on-one advice from expert CREATE-X entrepreneurs and organizers like Rahul [CREATE-X director] and Margaret [LAUNCH associate director] was super valuable and helped us focus on launching our minimum viable product and getting our first customers,” said Andrade.

The program’s culminating event, Demo Day, gave Deleon a platform to present to investors and the public. Among dozens of student-led startups, Deleon’s data-driven approach attracted strong interest. The exposure led to an eventual $850,000 investment, partially funded by Georgia Tech's early-stage fund, GTF Ventures. This investment allowed the founders to work full-time on the company, hire a team, and build a lab space.

“I would recommend the CREATE-X program to anyone,” Pozarycki said. “Even if you don’t think you want to start a company, there’s a lot you can learn about commercialization in this program that may change your mind and give you more control over your own fate.”

Deleon’s path from concept to launch highlights the growing role of Georgia Tech’s entrepreneurial ecosystem in supporting student innovation. Programs like CREATE-X not only help students build companies but also contribute to regional economic growth by keeping talent and investment in the Southeast.

“CREATE-X is the best environment on campus to learn by doing,” Pozarycki said. “You are encouraged to build something real, not just talk about it. You’ll leave knowing how to talk to customers, how to pitch, and how to think like a founder.”

Opportunities for Entrepreneurs

Students, faculty, researchers, and alumni interested in developing their own startups are encouraged to apply to CREATE-X’s Startup Launch. The early admission deadline to apply for Startup Launch is Nov. 17. Spots are limited. Apply now for a higher chance of acceptance and early feedback.

That was the question posed to Scheller College of Business Evening MBA students Katie Bowen (’25), Ellie Cobb (’26), and Christopher Jones (’26) in a marketing practicum course that paired them with Creature, a brand, product, and marketing transformation studio.
 

For 10 weeks, the students worked as consultants in a project that challenged them to rethink the role of artificial intelligence in creative industries. Course instructor Jarrett Oakley, director of Marketing at TOTO USA, guided the student project as they developed strategies to help Creature navigate the evolving landscape of AI-driven marketing.
 

Business School Meets Real Business
 

“Nothing accelerates the value of a business school education like applying it in real time to real businesses,” Oakley said. “This course mirrored a consulting engagement, turning classroom learning into actionable expertise through direct collaboration with local firms. It was designed to spark creative thinking, build confidence, and bridge theory with practice.”
 

What began as a traditional strategic analysis quickly evolved into a forward-looking exploration of AI’s impact on branding, user experience, and performance creative. “Our team realized early on that AI wasn’t a threat but a powerful tool,” the students shared. “We found that AI’s real impact lies not in replacing creativity, but in reshaping expectations, accelerating timelines, and redefining performance standards. It also gives forward-thinking agencies like Creature the opportunity to guide clients still catching up to the AI curve.”
 

Creature’s founders, Margaret Strickland and Matt Berberian, welcomed the collaboration. “We solve creative challenges across brand, product, and performance,” said Strickland. “AI is transforming each of these areas. The students helped us see how to stay ahead of the curve.”
 

Students applied frameworks like SWOT, Porter’s Five Forces, and the G-STIC model to diagnose challenges and develop actionable strategies. Weekly meetings with Creature allowed for iterative feedback and refinement.
 

One of the team’s most surprising insights came from primary research: many agencies hesitate to disclose their use of AI, fearing clients will demand lower prices. “We recommended Creature define and share their AI philosophy,” said the students. “Clients want transparency and innovation, and they’ll choose partners who embrace AI, not hide from it.”
 

Creature took the advice to heart. Since the project concluded, the firm has launched a new AI consulting offering, SNSE by Creature, and implemented automation across operations, resulting in a 21% boost in efficiency. They’ve also adopted an AI manifesto to guide future initiatives.
 

A Transformative Student Experience
 

Katie Bowen, Evening MBA '25
“This project let us apply MBA concepts to a real-world business challenge. We dove into Creature’s business and tailored our analysis to their needs. It pushed us to think critically about how companies stay competitive when AI tools are widely accessible. Using strategy, innovation, and marketing frameworks, we bridged theory and practice to deliver forward-looking recommendations.”
 

Ellie Cobb, Evening MBA ‘26
“This project strengthened my ability to use AI effectively in both personal and professional contexts—not just knowing how to use it, but when not to. Exploring such a fast-evolving topic made me more agile and open-minded, ready to follow where research and emerging trends lead.”
 

Christopher Jones, Evening MBA ‘26
“The Marketing Practicum with Creature was an eye-opening experience that deepened my understanding of AI’s impact on business. It sharpened my critical thinking as I navigated conflicting information about AI, and gave me practical insight into business strategy, from integrating new technology to managing innovation and diversifying product offerings.”
 

Education With Impact
 

Oakley believes the practicum will have lasting impact. “These students now understand how traditional marketing strategy integrates with emerging AI capabilities. They’re ready to lead in a rapidly evolving industry.”
 

As AI continues to reshape marketing, partnerships like the one between Scheller and Creature demonstrate the power of collaboration, innovation, and education in preparing future leaders for whatever comes next.

The event marks the culmination of the semester-long I2P course, where undergraduate students develop functional prototypes aimed at solving real-world problems. Prototypes this semester include a smart military drone, a gentler device for cervical cancer screening, a rotating espresso station, tools to keep AI safe, compact data centers, systems that simulate cyberattacks to help companies strengthen their defenses, and many more. 

The showcase is free and open to students, faculty, staff, and members of the local community. 

Winning teams will receive prizes and a “golden ticket” into CREATE-X’s Startup Launch, a summer accelerator that provides optional seed funding, accounting and legal service credits, mentorship, and more to help students turn their prototypes into viable startups.

This is a free event, and refreshments will be provided. Register for the Fall 2025 I2P Showcase today!

In this episode, Beril Toktay, Regents' Professor and faculty director of the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business, defines net zero and discusses some ways to alleviate climate change by reducing carbon emissions to the point of net zero emissions.

Globally, most major polluters, such as China, the U.S., India, and the EU, are among over 140 nations with net-zero goals, which encompasses roughly 88 percent of global emissions. Meeting the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C climate threshold requires 45 percent emissions cut by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050 (United Nations Climate Action).

Toktay describes ways this can be accomplished in different business sectors. For example, in the energy sectors, this means moving from fossil fuels to renewable technologies, and in the transportation sector, moving to electrification and innovative battery technologies as well as developing the infrastructure to support these initiatives. These efforts help move businesses towards achieving net zero as well as providing cleaner air and water, and better health outcomes to the global population.

Listen as Toktay discusses what net zero means, the importance of getting to net zero, and how businesses can help reduce carbon emissions. 

PEMBROKE, GA — For more than two decades, Ray Butler has run Butler’s Tire & Lube in the heart of Pembroke. He’s seen the town evolve, shrink, and now, rapidly grow — all during the time of his life as a local here. 

Lead author Michael Galarnyk, Ph.D. Machine Learning ’28, joined lead authors Veer Kejriwal, B.S. Computer Science ’25, and Agam Shah, Ph.D. Machine Learning ’26, along with co-authors Yash Bhardwaj, École Polytechnique, M.S. Trustworthy and Responsible AI ‘27; Nicholas Meyer, B.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering ’22 and Quantitative and Computational Finance ’24; Anand Krishnan, Stanford University, B.S. Computer Science ‘27; and, Sudheer Chava, Alton M. Costley Chair and professor of Finance at Georgia Tech.

Aptly named VideoConviction, the multimodal benchmark included hundreds of video clips. Experts labelled each clip with the influencer’s recommendation (buy, sell, or hold) and how strongly the influencer seemed to believe in their advice, based on tone, delivery, and facial expressions. The goal? To see how accurately AI can pick up on both the message and the conviction behind it.

“Our work shows that financial reasoning remains a challenge for even the most advanced models,” said Michael Galarnyk, lead author. “Multimodal inputs bring some improvement, but performance often breaks down on harder tasks that require distinguishing between casual discussion and meaningful analysis. Understanding where these models fail is a first step toward building systems that can reason more reliably in high stakes domains.”

Read More

At Demo Day, founders bring solutions that tackle some of today’s most urgent challenges across industries. Expect to see startups tackling global challenges with bold new solutions, such as: providing mRNA therapies that could transform vaccine access, using ultra-efficient AI chips that run on a fraction of the power, and building innovative inspection tools that are already helping companies like Tesla catch defects in seconds. Demo Day provides attendees an opportunity to gain hands-on experience with new products, meet the founders behind them, and experience the momentum of a startup ecosystem in full swing.

Donnie Beamer, the City of Atlanta’s senior technology advisor, attended the last Demo Day and spoke about moments that impressed him most.

“The founders of NeuroChamp had a headband that reads brainwaves. It makes me call into question what I was doing in college!” Beamer said.

Founders showcasing at Demo Day have spent 12 weeks working on their startups during the CREATE-X accelerator, Startup Launch.

“Every founder in that room will have spent the summer chasing the right problem and building a solution to solve it,” Rahul Saxena, director of CREATE-X, said. “Demo Day is proof that entrepreneurship can be taught and developed, from ideation to customer discovery.”

Beamer said that the program pushes people to be creative.

 “Georgia Tech is a safe place to try and fail and innovate, which is invaluable. Instead of just telling students to do X and expecting them to execute on it, CREATE-X allows for creativity and discovery,” Beamer said. “That can be transformative for students, the Institute, and the city of Atlanta.” 

Unlike other startup exhibitions, there are no on-stage pitches — just direct connection in a casual, interactive format. Attendees and investors can test the tech out themselves. Past Demo Days have led to venture funding, strategic partnerships, media coverage, and more. It’s an energetic atmosphere with the exchange of ideas, an opening of doors, and a community building the future together. 

“There are a few kinds of naysayers; for example, some who think Atlanta doesn’t have much entrepreneurial activity and others who feel isolated from communities like this one,” Beamer said. “Demo Day lets them look behind the curtain and see the vibrant, innovative ecosystem that they can be a part of in our city as we look to become a top-five tech hub in the nation. Georgia Tech is a huge part of that.” 

Register for Demo Day today! The future is waiting for you to discover it.

When McCallum learned about the Jim Pope Fellowship, he saw it as a tremendous opportunity. “Biomedical engineering research has so much potential to be translated into products and solutions that tackle unmet clinical needs, that could be shaped to enhance society in general,” he says. “It’s a collaboration between biology, medicine, and engineering. The Pope Fellowship is a unique opportunity to explore new projects dedicated to entrepreneurship.” 

McCallum is one of five faculty members to receive the Jim Pope Fellowship, which supports faculty in becoming entrepreneurial instructors and mentors in CREATE-X. He hopes to leverage this fellowship to instill entrepreneurial confidence in biomedical engineering graduate students and faculty and help them translate their research into IP and healthcare-focused products to be used in and out of the clinic.

Since being named a fellow, McCallum has applied the funding to attend conferences to learn more about new methods for teaching commercialization and entrepreneurship, develop programming to enhance the student experience, increase student understanding and interest in entrepreneurship, and explore creative new projects he has envisioned while at Georgia Tech.

Establishing a New Commercialization Course

Beginning in the fall, he will teach a new course, Fundamentals of Biotechnology Commercialization, targeting BME graduate students. McCallum developed the curriculum, which begins with an overview of technology commercialization and the commercialization process, followed by modules on IP — how to protect one’s inventions; financing, with a focus on early-stage commercialization funding opportunities; and choosing a commercialization path.

“In the second part of the course, students will simulate a patent filing,” says McCallum. “It’s a really important step in the commercialization process. In future iterations of the course, I would love to have students file real disclosures and provisional patent applications with our Tech Transfer Office and have a licensing associate talk to them about managing the IP.”

BME Innovations Pivotal to Georgia Tech’s IP Ecosystem

McCallum sees Georgia Tech BME researchers as an important driver of innovation, and the Institute’s patent track record reflects their critical role: More than 21% of U.S.-issued patents to Georgia Tech have at least one BME inventor listed, according to the Office of Commercialization. 

In the past year, he has already seen the value of infusing an entrepreneurial spirit into his curriculum. Annabelle Singer (BME) and Levi Wood (ME) were mentored by McCallum while they were developing an audiovisual device to help stimulate brain activity in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. Through this mentorship, Singer and Wood recognized possible use cases and commercialization pathways for their technology.

“Their device has potential applications in a wide range of other neurological conditions — to lessen the impact of these disorders on people in their everyday life,” says McCallum, adding, “I’m excited about Georgia Tech and Emory’s commitment to developing programs to enhance neuroscience and neural engineering research. There’s so much potential in that space, especially for being able to significantly impact diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease, as well as strokes and epilepsy. We are moving in the right direction with being able to improve the efficacy of the modalities to diagnose and treat these conditions.”

According to McCallum, his close connection to CREATE-X has given him a unique opportunity to see the impact of the program on the entrepreneurial endeavors of students and even faculty members. 

“Previous fellows have been very successful with developing new educational programs and courses, as well as creating new spaces to spawn innovation, to instill entrepreneurial confidence in undergraduate students, and I want to use those successes as inspiration to make an impact on graduate student entrepreneurial confidence in BME, with much more to come,” he said.

As one of President Ángel Cabrera's four Big Bets, the drive for entrepreneurial education and opportunities has accelerated at Georgia Tech. In 2023, over a third of all Georgia Tech applicants selected entrepreneurship as an interest. Pope Fellows have a unique opportunity to help students tap into entrepreneurial pathways with CREATE-X, access an abundance of resources, and solve real-world problems. For faculty interested in joining, applications are open for the 2025 Jim Pope Fellowship until Sept. 2. For more information, visit https://create-x.gatech.edu/faculty/jim-pope-fellowship.

The durable, affordable, and highly customizable product debuted in Italy in the 1970s and continues to grow in popularity. Between 2010 and 2018, U.S. imports of engineered stone slabs increased by 800%. One report predicted that global demand will increase 5.4% each year, to reach 97 million square meters by 2028.

Sometimes referred to as manufactured stone or quartz (which is, confusingly, also the name of one of its main components), to the untrained eye, the material looks no different from natural stone. One of its biggest advantages is that it can be made to resemble marble, granite, or nearly any other stone.

Beneath the material’s familiar smooth surface, however, lie safety risks for engineered stone workers.

Research conducted by a team of Georgia Tech scientists demonstrates that everyone in a fabrication shop is at risk, not just the workers cutting and fashioning the material.

The group included members of the Enterprise Innovation Institute’s Safety, Health, and Environmental Services (SHES) program: Jenny Houlroyd, Hilarie Warren, Brandon J. Philpot, and Sean Castillo. Together with Jhy-Charm Soo of Georgia Southern University, they recently published their findings in Oxford Academic.

The study divided engineered stone workers into four risk groups and charted their relative exposure to the material’s chief hazard: respirable crystalline silica.

A “Toxic Product”

Engineered stone differs notably from its natural counterpart, both in composition and in danger to worker health.  

A stone slab cut from the ground, such as granite or marble, comprises several different minerals and typically has a concentration of 40% or less of mineral crystalline silica — usually quartz, which is the most abundant form of crystalline silica.

Engineered stone, however, can contain more than 90% silica. Slabs are produced when silica is crushed, combined with synthetic resins, and compressed using heat or pressure.

During fabrication, these slabs are cut and shaped by powered hand tools. The resulting dust contains tiny particles of respirable crystalline silica. Once inhaled, some of the particulate may stay in the lungs and cause an inflammatory response. 

While crystalline silica is released from both natural and engineered slabs during fabrication, the engineered slabs’ significantly higher percentage of silica poses a much greater risk to human health. 

A growing body of research indicates that breathing engineered stone dust leads to lung inflammation and can cause acute silicosis, an untreatable lung disease.

“I would classify engineered stone as a really toxic product,” said Houlroyd, manager of occupational health services at SHES. “When you have something that’s high-risk, you have to prepare for systems to fail and have backup measures.” 

Committed to Safety

Over six years, the SHES research group collected air-sampling data, making 17 visits to 11 Georgia stone fabrication shops. The shops had all requested air-sampling services offered by SHES. 

“The companies agree that by working with us, they commit to correcting the hazards and reducing exposures, as much as is feasible,” Houlroyd noted.

Because most kitchen and bathroom countertop fabrication shops are small employers, workers often complete a variety of tasks, resulting in a range of exposure factors.

The research team recommended that all manufactured stone fabrication workers wear respirators, such as an N95 mask. For employees who are the most exposed, they recommended a respirator with a powered air-purifying element or supplied air.

But personal protective equipment (PPE) alone does not ensure safe conditions.

“Most of the workers in this industry are relying on respirators as their primary source of protection, and they need a lot more to protect them,” explained Houlroyd. “PPE is the last line of defense, and safety needs to be addressed from all angles.”

Part of that multifaceted strategy includes repeated monitoring of air quality and equipment. It’s also crucial for employers to make sure that exposure risks are understood by all workers — not just employees, but also contract and day laborers, as well as those working for cash.

More Than Just a Job

As members of SHES, the Georgia Tech research team members are first and foremost health and safety consultants, with expertise spanning industrial hygiene, environmental compliance, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.

For Houlroyd, worker safety is not just a professional calling; it’s also a personal mission.

“My dad got sick with brain cancer from exposure to contaminants on the job, and he died four years ago,” she said. 

“Though he didn’t work in the manufactured stone industry, his story is representative of many people who go to work each day to feed their family, are not aware of workplace hazards, and then find themselves sick.” 

The public can play a part in worker safety, too.

“Consumers have a choice and can educate themselves about what type of countertop materials they choose to have installed — like how we look at food labels for nutritional information,” said Warren, who oversees the OSHA Training Institute Education Center at Georgia Tech.

“We should be aware of the risk to workers, as well as how the installation process in our homes should be properly managed to prevent dust contamination,” she added.

A Zero-Risk Solution

In 2024, Australia eliminated the risks associated with engineered stone fabrication. Despite having enacted stronger regulations in 2019, the country continued to see a rise in silicosis cases resulting from exposure to respirable crystalline silica. 

Australia’s solution? Enacting a ban on the import and fabrication of the material until its safe manufacture can be demonstrated. 

In their report, the Georgia Tech group recommends that the U.S. do the same. As Houlroyd put it, “I would love to see our country find a safer substitution and take this dangerous product off the market.”

____________________

Title: “Respirable dust and respirable crystalline silica exposures among workers at stone countertop fabrication shops in Georgia from 2017 through 2023”

Conflict of interest: Jenny Houlroyd has served as an expert witness in silicosis legal cases unrelated to this research. All other authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding: The U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as part of the OSHA 21(d) Consultation Program grant.

DOI: https://academic.oup.com/annweh/advance-article/doi/10.1093/annweh/wxaf014/8116008?utm_source=advanceaccess&utm_campaign=annweh&utm_medium=email

Following school shootings, community members are 2% less likely to shop at area grocery stores. Convenience shops and liquor stores lose 3% of their business during this period. Restaurant and bar patronage drops even further — to 8%. 

Cumulatively, a local economy can lose $5.4 million over six months. 

“We set out to explore whether school shootings would have a direct causal impact on community economic activity,” said Adithya Pattabhiramaiah, Sharon A. and David B. Pearce Professor in the Scheller College of Business. “It may seem like a 2% loss is small, but that can add up to a pretty sizable revenue impact for a retailer with small margins.” 

The Data

The three-year study combined statistical data and experimental interviews. The researchers started by examining NielsenIQ data, which tracks what shoppers buy at stores by county. Their NielsenIQ sample included 63 fatal school shootings between 2012 and 2019. Next, the researchers combined this with a Center for Homeland Defense and Security dataset of school shootings. They also examined a study of the nutritional value of products people bought at grocery stores in areas with school shootings. 

The researchers hypothesized that people buy unhealthier foods to cope with negative emotions. Instead, their analysis showed people don’t buy comfort food after school shootings — because they generally don’t shop at all.

Pattabhiramaiah and his collaborators compared these datasets with those of neighboring counties that did not experience a school shooting. They followed purchasing patterns for a year, from six months before the event through six months after. The study’s statistical controls helped rule out other reasons people might shop less, such as weather events or holidays.

The Emotional Impact

It was important to the researchers to show that people not only spend less, but also why. So, the team conducted experimental studies in which participants read a hypothetical shooting scenario and were asked to share their emotional response to it and discuss how such an event might affect their shopping. 

This experimental data backed up the numbers. People are more likely to consolidate their shopping trips and dine out less. This often comes down to anxiety about being in public. 

“We show the main driver isn’t fear, or even sadness,” Pattabhiramaiah said. “If that were the case, we would see evidence of people indulging in comfort foods, as past studies have shown. Rather, the main feeling is anxiety.” 

One thing is clear from Pattabhiramaiah’s research. Policymakers need to think about how to help their communities recover when school shootings occur. Thriving local businesses are a sign of a community’s economic health — and also its emotional well-being. 

The commendation acknowledged GaMEP for leveraging its world-renowned expertise and resources to advance manufacturing and economic prosperity across the state, supporting an industry that adds $82 billion to the economy and employs 425,000 residents, according to the National Association of Manufacturers.

This impact reflects decades of intentional growth and support for the industry. By 1960, more than 4,500 manufacturers had planted roots across Georgia — the result of strategic efforts by state leaders, with economic development assistance from Georgia Tech, to industrialize the economy. But growth brought new challenges. Manufacturers needed technical support to stay competitive. In response, the Georgia General Assembly voted to establish the Georgia Tech Industrial Extension Service (now known as the GaMEP). This created statewide field offices that provide a direct link between industry and innovation, delivering on-site technical expertise to help manufacturers thrive.

“Our role is to support those manufacturers so together we can help grow the state’s economy — and we’ve been really successful at that,” said Tim Israel, GaMEP director and EI2 associate vice president for corporate engagement/firm-based programs. “In 2024, Georgia experienced a significant return on its investment with the GaMEP generating an impressive $294 for every state dollar allocated to manufacturing projects. This remarkable outcome highlights the critical importance of the state’s strategic investments in strengthening Georgia’s manufacturing sector.”

Over the past decade alone, the GaMEP has provided assistance and education to more than 3,900 manufacturers across 144 counties, helping them create or retain 14,500 jobs, invest $1 billion in capital improvements, realize $3.5 billion in sales, and save nearly $450 million in costs. The GaMEP primarily serves small- to medium-sized manufacturers with 75% employing less than 250 workers. Its top-served industries include fabricated metal products, food, machinery, and chemical and transportation equipment manufacturing.

“When Georgia manufacturers become more productive and profitable, they hire more people, pay better wages, and stabilize local economies, especially in rural and underserved areas of the state,” said David Bridges, EI2 vice president. “This also creates pathways for career advancement for frontline workers who might not have had previous opportunities.”

Today, GaMEP’s reach spans 10 regions across the state, each led by a dedicated region manager who lives and works locally, offering manufacturers direct, knowledgeable connections to its expert team, valuable resources, and diverse partners.

“The GaMEP has been a trusted collaborator and valued partner in strengthening manufacturing across Georgia,” said Lloyd Avram, Georgia Association of Manufacturers CEO and president. “Together, we’ve supported thousands of manufacturers statewide — helping them embrace innovation, improve operations, and remain competitive. We appreciate their extensive expertise and shared dedication to advancing the industry, and we look forward to continuing our work together to ensure Georgia remains one of the best states for manufacturing.”

GaMEP’s impact and success by region, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development regions:

Coastal Region

• Counties: Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, and Screven.
• Manufacturers served: 269.
• Jobs created/retained: 283.
• Capital improvement investment: $23,171,292.
• Costs saved: $1,645,061.
• Sales realized: $13,965,000.
• Success story: Roger Wood Foods.

East Region

• Counties: Burke, Columbia, Glascock, Hancock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond, Taliaferro, Warren, Washington, and Wilkes.
• Manufacturers served: 169.
• Jobs created/retained: 3,899.
• Capital improvement investment: $127,754,280.
• Costs saved: $14,771,582.
• Sales realized: $975,465,000.
• Success story: Nutritional Resources.

East Central Region

• Counties: Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Madison, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton.
• Manufacturers served: 209.
• Jobs created/retained: 621.
• Capital improvement investment: $19,703,035.
• Costs saved: $2,535,494.
• Sales realized: $29,486,000.
• Success stories: Creature Comforts Brewing Company and Poly Tech Industries.

Metro Atlanta Region

• Counties: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale.
• Manufacturers served: 1,601.
• Jobs created/retained: 2,928.
• Capital improvement investment: $235,763,480.
• Costs saved: $112,083,262.
• Sales realized: $844,679,890.
• Success stories: Compass Technology Group, Construction Specialties, and Highland Forge.

Middle Region

• Counties: Baldwin, Bibb, Crawford, Houston, Jones, Monroe, Peach, Pulaski, Putnam, Twiggs, and Wilkinson.
• Manufacturers served: 170.
• Jobs created/retained: 972.
• Capital improvement investment: $121,814,846.
• Costs saved: $8,810,950.
• Sales realized: $300,213,400.
• Success story: Unified Defense.

Northeast Region

• Counties: Banks, Dawson, Forsyth, Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Lumpkin, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union, and White.
• Manufacturers served: 280.
• Jobs created/retained: 1,029.
• Capital improvement investment: $88,443,395.
• Costs saved: $63,999,228.
• Sales realized: $259,453,900.
• Success story: Freudenberg Sealing Technologies.

Northwest Region

• Counties: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield.
• Manufacturers served: 387.
• Jobs created/retained: 1,090.
• Capital improvement investment: $ $92,948,931.
• Costs saved: $141,460,651.
• Sales realized: $326,366,408.
• Success story: Trenton Pressing.

South Region

• Counties: Appling, Bleckley, Candler, Dodge, Emanuel, Evans, Jeff Davis, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, Wheeler, and Wilcox.
• Manufacturers served: 176.
• Jobs created/retained: 969.
• Capital improvement investment: $219,300,221.
• Costs saved: $6,596,254.
• Sales realized: $39,632,275.
• Success story: Healthy Pet.

Southeast Region

• Counties: Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Tift, Turner, and Ware.
• Manufacturers served: 166.
• Jobs created/retained: 281.
• Capital improvement investment: $20,684,800.
• Costs saved: $3,098,700.
• Sales realized: $77,724,500.
• Success stories: CJB Industries and South Georgia Pecan.

Southwest Region

• Counties: Baker, Calhoun, Colquitt, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee, Miller, Mitchell, Seminole, Terrell, Thomas, and Worth.
• Manufacturers served: 130.
• Jobs created/retained: 130.
• Capital improvement investment: $12,266,730.
• Costs saved: $1,682,790.
• Sales realized: $5,002,020.
• Success story: Sweet Grass Dairy.

West Region

• Counties: Chattahoochee, Clay, Crisp, Dooly, Harris, Macon, Marion, Muscogee, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, and Webster.
• Manufacturers served: 111.
• Jobs created/retained: 713.
• Capital improvement investment: $37,948,131.
• Costs saved: $3,197,600.
• Sales realized: $69,588,348.
• Success story: Oneda Corporation.

West Central Region

• Counties: Butts, Carroll, Coweta, Heard, Lamar, Meriwether, Pike, Spalding, Troup, and Upson.
• Manufacturers served: 234.
• Jobs created/retained: 1,658.
• Capital improvement investment: $90,750,763.
• Costs saved: $89,931,074.
• Sales realized: $615,900,002.
• Success stories: Complete Truck Bodies and Mountville Mills.

For more information about GaMEP’s impact, including impact by county, visit gamep.org/statewide-impact.

About the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership
The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a program of the Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech, serves manufacturers by offering solution-based assistance that promotes top-line growth and reduces bottom-line cost. The GaMEP, a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership, has advanced manufacturing and economic prosperity in Georgia since 1960. For more information, visit gamep.org and like/follow on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.

In 2012, Washington, a seasoned construction veteran with 25 years of expertise and a master’s degree in building construction from Georgia Tech, noticed a shortage of project managers. She oversaw capital improvements and construction buildouts nationally and was consistently getting asked by clients to oversee the construction buildouts. This would spark the idea to start her business and launch Cancave Management & Engineering. 

Over the next decade, Washington built a successful company and yet she continued to see this recurring shortage of project managers. According to Associated Builders and Contractors, the construction sector still grapples with a significant talent shortage that extends beyond the skilled trades to include construction management positions, with a projected need for nearly half a million additional workers in 2025 alone.

“We have fewer people entering the industry. With the pandemic, we had a great exodus where a lot of people decided to get out of the industry and retire early, and then you have the emerging housing market and infrastructure needs, creating demand for construction in general — the perfect storm,” Washington said.

Determined to find more ways to address the problem, she joined Georgia Tech’s School of Building Construction as a part-time instructor and, in 2024, began pursuing her Ph.D. at Tech, where she learned about the Jim Pope Fellowship.

“Being a Pope Fellow has been transformational to my experience as an entrepreneur,” Washington said. “When I started my company, I wish I had something like this. Through this fellowship, I was able to dig deeper into my idea, validate assumptions, and shape it into a solution that addresses the pain points of labor shortages and compliance bottlenecks in the underutilization or over-utilization of resources.” 

As a fellow, Washington was also awarded $15,000 in discretionary funds to support her teaching and entrepreneurial efforts. With the resources from Jim Pope, Washington has been able to make meaningful impacts for students and her company. 

Over the last year, she has worked on the next evolution of her business by building Extend the Ladder®,  a workforce resource and compliance platform built around an industrywide shared resource model for construction professionals. One application of her platform would allow general contractors to share resources by enabling them to find and coordinate talent from a single database.

In addition to helping her pursue a construction job-matching platform, the fellowship has reinforced her love of teaching and mentoring entrepreneurial-minded students. As a part of the fellowship, Washington taught CREATE-X’s Startup Lab, which teaches the fundamentals of evidence-based entrepreneurship.

One student, Vivianne Akerman, a rising junior in industrial engineering, became Washington’s mentee after her spring Startup Lab class. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, Akerman decided to continue her entrepreneurial journey in CREATE-X’s Idea-to-Prototype (I2P) course. She turned an idea into action with guidance from Washington, building a solution for a problem she identified during Startup Lab.

“Candace is an amazing mentor who pushes students to be their best selves,” said Akerman, who is developing a makeup platform designed “to make makeup practical and less overwhelming.” The platform will enable consumers to compare and review products and ultimately find what brands work best for them, given their skin type and desired look.

“I love how positive she is,” adds Akerman. “This is new for me — it’s very exciting but also very overwhelming. She helps me stay focused on my priorities and what’s most important.”

Washington emphasizes that there is no guidebook to becoming an entrepreneur; rather, the path must be discovered through conversations, relationship-building, and learning from the experiences of others.

“This experience deepened my appreciation for the spirit of entrepreneurship — it’s been invaluable for me,” she says. “I would tell anybody who's trying to start a business, you need to go through this process.”

Now, as a mentor herself, Washington credits her fellowship in CREATE-X for giving her the confidence and framework to help others. And she credits her path as a mentor and teacher of entrepreneurship to the home she’s found at Georgia Tech. 

Drawing from her own experiences, both the challenges and the triumphs, she offers a piece of advice that she believes aspiring entrepreneurs should carry with them. 

“Start now — you don’t need all the answers. Focus on the process, stay committed, and be open to real-world feedback.”

Applications are now open for the 2025 Jim Pope Fellowship until Sept. 2. Interested faculty can learn more at https://create-x.gatech.edu/faculty/jim-pope-fellowship.

Armed with a desire to do good in the world, and growing expertise in their current studies at the colleges of Business, Computing, Engineering, and Industrial and Systems Engineering, the students discovered how powerful interdisciplinary collaboration and cutting-edge technology can be in creating social change.

The Law, Data, and Design Lab is the brainchild of Alexander, who from a young age felt a call to serve her community. “I went to law school because I saw law as a tool to look beyond myself and contribute to the greater good,” said Alexander. “I see this as part of my purpose. Being at a public university, I take seriously the responsibility to ensure my research is outward facing, that it reaches beyond academia and helps make the world a better place.”

Read More

CREATE-X was established to instill entrepreneurial confidence in Georgia Tech students and provide them with the knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to create their own future. From its humble beginnings with eight teams, the program has expanded to include three distinct branches: Learn, Make, and Launch. These branches cater to the multifaceted needs of entrepreneurial students, offering courses, mentorship, seed funding, and opportunities to develop and launch startups.

Through our value pillars of experiential education, entrepreneurial confidence, and real-world impact, we strive to enable our students to solve the problems they are passionate about solving. And as we look to the future, CREATE-X aims to become the nation’s top startup campus, launching 300 startups each year. 

Our commitment to nurturing student innovation and expanding entrepreneurial education remains steadfast. We invite all Georgia Tech students, faculty, alumni, and the public to join us in this exciting journey. Together, we create the future.

Download our report.

Interested in creating your own startup?

Georgia Tech students, faculty, researchers, and alumni interested in developing their own startups are encouraged to apply to CREATE-X’s Startup Launch. The program provides $5,000 in optional seed funding, $150,000 in in-kind services, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops, networking events, and resources to help build and scale startups. The program culminates in Demo Day, where teams present their startups to potential investors. The deadline to apply for Startup Launch is March 19, 2025. Spots are limited. Apply now for a higher chance of acceptance and early feedback. 

For students interested in taking a CREATE-X course, consider exploring Startup Lab, Idea to Prototype, and CREATE-X Capstone Design. These courses can be taken in any order to fit your schedule, and they offer opportunities for funding and other resources. The deadline for applications and registrations for these courses is Jan. 6 for Spring 2025 and May 12 for Summer 2025. 

And as always, we invite you to attend our CREATE-X events. CREATE-X hosts workshops and events throughout the year, focusing on brainstorming and receiving feedback on startup ideas, networking and building a team, understanding the legal landscapes of startups, hearing founder insights, and witnessing the latest innovations at Georgia Tech. We hope to see you there.

Interested in supporting CREATE-X?

Faculty members interested in getting involved with CREATE-X can participate as teachers or mentors in various programs such as Startup Lab, CREATE-X Capstone, Idea to Prototype, and Startup Launch. Faculty can also apply for the next cohort of the Jim Pope Fellowship when it opens in the spring. For additional information or inquiries, contact the director of CREATE-X, Rahul Saxena, at rahulsaxena@gatech.edu.

For those interested in donating to or partnering with CREATE-X, your generosity and collaboration is greatly appreciated. Donations to CREATE-X can be made through Georgia Tech’s Give Campus portal. For questions and requests to collaborate, please email create-x@groups.gatech.edu.

CREATE-X appreciates the unwavering support from our community, donors, and partners. Your contributions have been instrumental in shaping the entrepreneurial landscape at Georgia Tech. 

To our students, we encourage you to continue being bold, creative, and fearless in your pursuits. CREATE-X is here to support you every step of the way, providing the resources, mentorship, and opportunities you need to turn your ideas into reality. 

This year’s cohort spans a wide range of industries, including artificial intelligence, defense, healthcare, gaming, sustainability, media management, agriculture tech, fashion tech, education, and more. 

“These founders are in the messy middle and that's a beautiful place to be. There’s a lot of freedom in that,” said Margaret Weniger, director of Startup Launch. “We’re all going to be in this together. It's a safe space to try new things. It’s OK if it doesn't work out because what we want founders to learn is an entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial spirit — something you take with you no matter what you do after this.”

Over the next 12 weeks, teams will validate ideas, build products, and acquire customers with the help of dedicated coaches, a robust founder community, and a network of mentors and alumni. 

Raghupathy "Siva" Sivakumar, Georgia Tech’s inaugural vice president of Commercialization and the faculty founder of CREATE-X, spoke about the core of CREATE-X and what it would take for founders to succeed.

“Startup Launch is not about Georgia Tech gaining from your success. We are here just for one reason, which is to make you successful,” he said. “You need to hold yourself accountable. You need to be ambitious in terms of how big a problem you solve. You need to be emphatic that the customer matters. The successful teams are 100% behind what's going to make the lives of customers easier and better.”

In 2014, CREATE-X was co-founded by Sivakumar, Steve McLaughlin(who is now the president of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art), and other Georgia Tech faculty, including Ray Vito, Craig Forest, and Ravi Bellamkonda (who is now the executive vice president and provost of The Ohio State University). The program received its initial major philanthropic support from Chris Klaus, a Georgia Tech alumnus and tech entrepreneur, whose gift helped launch the initiative, and , played a key role in building out the program's maker courses. Over the years, CREATE-X has continued to grow, thanks largely to the philanthropic support of alumni and foundations who believe in its mission.

In the last decade, the program has produced over 650 startups, $2.4 billion in portfolio valuation, and had eight founders named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30. Wagner shared stories of past teams who pivoted dramatically — from a glucose-monitoring pillow to a sobriety app now valued at over $350 million, and from a camping gear delivery service to a billion-dollar logistics platform. 

“We don’t know which ideas will become the next unicorns,” Weniger said. “But we’re betting on you.”

At the kickoff event, McLaughlin and Klaus were honored for their contributions to Georgia Tech’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. McLaughlin encouraged the founders through the story of CREATE-X.

“From the very beginning, we challenged CREATE-X to be a startup as well. To this day, CREATE-X has raised its own money to do this. It's a reminder of what it takes to make this happen,” he said. “This is the most difficult challenge you have ever taken. I think at the time, we were probably skeptical about whether students could do it. Now we know that you can.”

Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera reflected on the impact of McLaughlin, Klaus, and others who saw the vision of Georgia Tech being an entrepreneurial campus. 

“Ten years ago, this was a crazy, absurd idea,” he said. “Now, 150 teams are working on their own crazy ideas. Even though sometimes there's this idea of the entrepreneur as a loner, what you learn very quickly is entrepreneurship is a team sport.”

Klaus spoke about people collaborating and helping solve problems together. 

“I'm especially inspired by Georgia with its complex history,” he said. “It continues to be a place where peace can be envisioned and pursued. I think this recognition strengthens my commitment to building bridges, resolving conflict, and lifting up voices that seek unity. As you build your businesses, you'll be building collaborations and partnerships, and hopefully make the world a better place.”

As the summer progresses, founders will be guided by CREATE-X’s core values: experiential education, entrepreneurial confidence, and real-world impact. Weniger encouraged teams to “show up uncomfortable” and “leverage every single resource” available.

The journey will culminate at Demo Day, where teams will showcase their startups to investors, industry leaders, and the broader community. The event is free, open to the public, and promises a front-row seat to the next wave of Georgia Tech-born innovation.

Demo Day 2025 will take place on Thursday, Aug. 28, at 5 p.m., in the Exhibition Hall. For more information and to RSVP, visit the CREATE-X Demo Day Eventbrite.

“It felt really hollow,” Park recalled. “All we talked about was how much money we were making or losing. There was no conversation about how people were feeling, how they were working together, or whether they were satisfied.” 

Despite the prestige and pay, she walked away to pursue more meaningful work. She enrolled in a master’s program, fell in love with the field of organizational behavior, and eventually committed to a Ph.D. Today, Park’s research works to understand people and organizations.  

What fascinated Park most wasn’t just the study of organizations; it was the people within them. She became fascinated by a simple question: Why don’t employees speak up when they see something going wrong? Park soon discovered that this deceptively simple question was deeply complex in practice.  

Her research led down a path of discovery that would shape her doctoral research. Park homed in on a concept known as employee voice — the act of speaking up with concerns, suggestions, or warnings. But she wasn’t interested in the obvious cases. She wanted to understand what happens when the threat isn’t clear. What happens when the warning signs are ambiguous, and the danger is uncertain? 

“In American culture, we value speaking up,” she said. “But in the workplace, it’s not that easy. People worry about how their managers will react. Will they look foolish? Will they be punished or even lose their job?” 

Her research, published in the "Journal of Applied Pyschology", revealed a troubling pattern. Employees are least likely to speak up when they face ambiguous threats. Through interviews, field studies, and experiments involving over 1,400 participants, Park found that cognitive overload and a deep-rooted reliance on managerial judgment often silenced employees. “When the signals are unclear, people freeze,” she explained. “They assume someone else — usually a manager — will figure it out.” 

One quote from her interviews stood out: 

“I noticed something was off with the readings, but I wasn’t sure if it was serious. I didn’t want to raise a false alarm, so I stayed quiet.” 

This hesitation, Park argues, can be dangerous. “These are the moments when employees should speak up the most,” Park explained. “They’re on the front lines. They notice things first. But ironically, this is when they’re least likely to say anything.” 

It turns out, managers are often just as confused by ambiguous signals. This creates a dangerous silence — one where early signs of trouble go unaddressed until it’s too late. In industries like chemical engineering or electronics — where she conducted many of her interviews — early warning signs can mean the difference between a minor issue and a major disaster. 

Park’s work doesn’t just diagnose the problem. She offers a path forward. She advocates for organizations to build a culture of “preoccupation with failure.” This is a mindset where employees are trained and encouraged to notice and speak up about potential issues, even when they’re not sure. Companies like Netflix, she noted, are already investing in training programs to help employees analyze early warning signs and feel confident raising concerns. 

Park hopes her research will empower employees to trust their instincts and speak up sooner. “Employees should realize the kind of power that they have, and they should feel free to challenge leadership and management and the decisions that are being made. Their voices are critical when they see signs of a problem.” 

Your voice matters, even when you’re not 100% certain. Park’s research shows that moments of ambiguity are when your voice is needed most.

Read More: Harvard Business Review

“When I was 14, I dreamed about being in space one day,” recalls Chen, 22, a native of Hong Kong and a Ph.D. student in aerospace engineering. “I think the industry has been making space more accessible to everyone. Commercialization is a big part of enabling this.”

Gantt, an engineer and former U.S. Army veteran graduating with an MBA from the Scheller College of Business this spring, remembered seeing the space shuttle retire and companies begin privatizing space as he entered young adulthood. 

“I’ve always been interested in space, and a lot of it comes from the challenge of going to space,” he observes. “Seeing how hard it is to get to space and seeing it become achievable — that to me was the most attractive thing about it.”

For Gantt, the feeling always brings to mind John F. Kennedy’s famous line that spelled out America’s space ambitions: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

Recognizing Georgia Tech’s aerospace strengths, Gantt didn’t waste time building bridges within Scheller and in other parts of Georgia Tech. He founded the Scheller MBA Space Club, a first at the College, to track the industry as it grows and develops. 

“I came from a military background, so I had my eye on the defense industry going into the MBA program. Georgia Tech, being the No. 2 aerospace engineering undergraduate school in the nation, I knew they already had strong industry connections. Making connections was a big goal coming into this program.”

Assessing Early-Stage Space Tech 

He took part in the Entrepreneurship Assistants Program (EAP), which pairs a Scheller MBA student with a faculty or student inventor to evaluate early-stage technology for potential commercialization. He evaluated two space-related technologies, one with Chen’s support. 

“The EAs conduct technology commercialization assessments and develop a business model canvas. By applying an entrepreneurial strategy compass, they predict potential go-to-market strategies for new technology,” says Paul Joseph, principal in the Office of Commercialization’s Quadrant-i unit, who created the EAP.

 (See sidebar to read more about the EAP and the specific technologies assessed.)

Tapping Into a Nearly $2T Industry

According to McKinsey & Co., the space technology market, fueled by advancements in satellite technology, commercial space travel, and 5G networks, is projected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035.

“We're seeing an industry shifting from a multibillion-dollar market cap to a multitrillion-dollar market cap in less than a decade. If you look at this from a business perspective, this is a massive addressable market for entrepreneurs," says Gantt.

From its Center for Space Technology and Research to the new Center for Space Policy and International Relations and labs like the Space Systems Design Lab, which focuses on areas such as CubeSat propulsion, lunar research, and hypersonic flight, Georgia Tech excels in space research across disciplines. In July, Georgia Tech will launch the Space Research Institute (SRI), one of its newest Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRI), to foster additional collaboration in this growing field.

“At Georgia Tech, there are competencies across every single College that will help to augment our understanding of space,” says Alex Oettl, professor of strategy and innovation in Scheller College, whose interest in the new space economy spans the last 20 years. “When you look at the technologies coming from Georgia Tech, they can impact this future trillion-dollar industry.”

 An economist by training, Oettl led Georgia Tech’s involvement in the Creative Destruction Lab-Atlanta, a multi-university program that helped commercialize early-stage scientific technologies.

Leveraging Affordable Launch

The emergence of affordable launch, spurred by SpaceX’s introduction of the Falcon 9 rocket using reusable rocket technology, has made space much more accessible, from biomedical companies to academic institutions.

“Because there has been a drop in the cost of accessing space, it allows experimentation to flourish,” says Oettl. 

He recalls Mark Costello, former chair of the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, explaining how he could launch a CubeSat into Low Earth Orbit out of his research budget, whereas before it would have been cost-prohibitive.

Today, Georgia Tech students and researchers are poised to capitalize on the new space economy stack — from new launch capabilities to new development in propellants and in-space operations and maintenance to more powerful sensors on Earth-observation satellites.

“I’ve seen firsthand the traction occurring on the commercial side. There are a lot of social scientists waking up to the opportunity that exists and thinking about business dynamics that will emerge as a result of this great opportunity,” he says.

Georgia Tech, an interdisciplinary, tech-focused university, brings significant capabilities across its Colleges to drive new and emerging technologies that have implications for space. 

“Space hits on all the strengths that exist at the various Colleges,” Oettl explains. “Faculty at Georgia Tech are pushing the boundary and showing our students innovations that will emerge in the space economy that are not immediately obvious — such as in adjacent industries.”

Oettl calls these first-order and spillover impacts of new technology. By first-order impacts, he means businesses can take advantage of these opportunities and create new products on top of the original innovation. By spillovers, he cites as an example an Earth-observation satellite enabling other industries to take advantage of data from the ground. For instance, insurance companies are one of the largest users of space technology by way of satellite imagery.

Bringing Capabilities Together Through New Space IRI

The SRI will bring together the best in engineering, computer science, policy, and business research across Georgia Tech. Along the way, it could help engineers and computer scientists think with a more business-minded approach to pitch their innovations to the commercial space sector. 

“You don’t see a lot of engineers having that inherent ability,” notes Gantt. “The Space IRI can shine by fostering collaboration between business students and engineers, enabling them to develop innovative go-to-market strategies and clearly define the unique value propositions these technologies offer to end users. You can bring these people together and create some forward momentum in the space industry.”

Second place was awarded to Team Sensible, made up of juniors Oluwatooni Alade, computer science; Brandon Parker, computer science; Angela Duodu, computer science; Jesus Sierra Jr., computer science; and Hadley Williams, computer engineering. Sensible is a browser extension that rates the sustainability of products users find online and offers alternative products for items that score low. 

Third place went to Team Onyc, which includes Yasmine Green, a first-year mechanical engineering student. Onyc replaces the computer mouse with a wearable alternative that allows users to control computer navigation with the movement of their fingertips and fingernails.

Dozens of teams competed at the showcase, which is the culmination of I2P, a CREATE-X course focused on supporting students in creating solutions. The course offers research credit (for undergraduates only), up to $500 in reimbursements for physical material expenses, the opportunity to work collaboratively across majors, and faculty mentorship. It is held in the spring, summer, and fall, and it’s open to undergraduate and graduate students from all majors.  

Read our Q&A with the winner and stay tuned for our interviews with the other winning teams.

Team Carchive

Jack Rose, Junior, Computer Science

Why did you pursue your startup? 

Rose: I’ve been into cars my whole life. Trying to track cars is my hobby. There are always edge cases, and how are you planning to attack them? Because I spent so much time, especially working with other people, getting this data, and trying to figure this out, I became very adept at understanding the data. The dealers, collectors especially, were trying to understand the whole story, so they would come to me. But the way I had to do it was spreadsheets all over the place, and I was trying to find a solution to keep it all in one spot. I couldn’t find a way to do it, so I said, “Well, I’ll build it.” And then I got into I2P.

What was challenging about building your prototype over the semester? 

Rose: This semester, it was mainly trying to come up with the schema and how to physically account for the edge cases. It’s not easy; it took a lot of deep thought, discussions with other people who are into these niche cars, and understanding what details we needed. I’m still trying to add more things and figure it out. It’s not perfect, but it’s enough.

What was your favorite part about I2P? 

Rose: Adding features that I was looking for. For example, let’s say I was looking for a car. Filter all the cars over 25 years old and imported to the U.S. — I can easily search my database.

What would you say to students who are interested in entrepreneurship? 

Rose: It’s always, “You should have started sooner.” I’ve always thought about it. My biggest advice is to just start doing it, even if it’s a little bit here, a little bit there. If it doesn’t work out, at least you’ve tried.

A photo gallery from the Spring 2025 I2P Showcase can be viewed on the CREATE-X Flickr page.

Students interested in the I2P program can register for the upcoming summer and fall semesters. The deadline for Summer 2025 is May 14, and the deadline for Fall 2025 is May 16.

CREATE-X's next event, Demo Day, will take place on Aug. 28 at Exhibition Hall, where more than 100 startups will be on display. Attendees can experience the newest batch of founders leveraging the latest technology to solve pressing challenges. The event offers an opportunity to network with entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and passionate enthusiasts, and supports the next generation of innovators. Register for Demo Day today and be a part of these founders’ journeys!  

The weeklong, all-expenses-paid program offers university-affiliated innovators the chance to refine their innovations, engage in customer discovery, and network with industry leaders and peers at SXSW. The annual festival celebrates technology, film, music, education, and culture. Students participated in a competitive application process, which involved submitting applications, meeting specific evaluation criteria, and being selected by a panel of industry experts, mentors, and SXSW organizers.

Yolanda Payne, the students’ Startup Lab instructor, presented the SXSW opportunity in class.

"My goal is to be their biggest cheerleader,” she explained. “I had great teachers who helped me get to where I am today, and I strive to emulate their support. I’m always willing to guide students toward new opportunities."

She learned about the SXSW immersive cohort from Nakia Melecio, director of the National Science Foundation I-Corps Southeast Hub. The $15 million initiative crosses nine major research universities in the southern U.S. and accelerates the translation of deep tech research into commercial ventures. The hub works closely with entrepreneurial faculty, students, and researchers to equip them with the tools, networks, and support to bring their innovations to market.

Melecio plays a central role in identifying and advancing strategic opportunities for university partners and their entrepreneurial teams. “When the opportunity to participate in SXSW arose, I recognized it as an ideal platform to showcase the talent and innovation coming out of our region.”

Melecio added that Startup Lab is ideal for amplifying NSF I-Corps’ goals because of the course’s proven track record of fostering hands-on learning and commercialization readiness. “Startup Lab helps prepare students not just to think entrepreneurially, but to act on their ideas with confidence and a structured path forward. It was a natural fit for this opportunity.”

Payne says the experience students gained in Startup Lab helped prepare them for the immersive cohort. “The knowledge is being solidified by an experience you’re having in my class and the real world.”

Chopra agrees that Startup Lab teaches essential business development fundamentals and customer discovery principles, skills that are relevant to the SXSW program. She recommends the course to other students and emphasizes the value of combining engineering or technical backgrounds with entrepreneurship skills.

“We take a lot of classes that are directly related to our major, and they're very technical. But when it comes to wanting to start something of your own or even understanding how startups work, it's completely different than the rest of our coursework.”

Startup Lab is a three-credit course that focuses on evidence-based entrepreneurship. This hands-on class covers ideation, teamwork, customer discovery, minimum viable products, the business model canvas, and other topics. Students learn how to launch a startup by integrating in-class lectures with practical, out-of-class activities, including interviewing potential customers and refining their startup ideas based on real-world feedback. 

The program provides access to valuable resources, mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs, and a supportive community to help students develop their startups. Startup Lab and NSF I-Corps are also exploring other industry showcases for student entrepreneurs like SXSW. 

Chen chose Startup Lab to pursue his entrepreneurial interests. “I knew that Georgia Tech had a really good startup culture, so I researched what they had to offer, and Startup Lab was the first step." He also noted Payne's impact as an instructor. "The best part is how much she cares about the topic. She has a lot of background knowledge and is passionate.”

Startup Lab is unique because it "de-risks the business model,” Payne says. Many entrepreneurs first build their products and then talk to potential customers. However, Startup Lab students perform customer discovery, sharing their ideas with potential end users, listening to their needs and feedback, and then building the product. 

Peng recalls a powerful moment of pitching an idea for an app to streamline MARTA operations. “I had a fun time coming up with this idea. We learned a lot about interviewing, coming up with possible solutions, and refining our idea,” she says. "Being surrounded by so many brilliant individuals at Georgia Tech makes it easy to get idea formation or networking connections you need for your idea to succeed."

Aridgides has ambitious post-program goals, envisioning creating change through entrepreneurship. "I want to start a company to change the world for the better and make a big impact. That's my life goal. I think through a company, I can achieve that."

Payne reminds students that they possess something many adults lack: time to explore different ideas. She also says Startup Lab can help students value and see their ideas in new ways. 

“They don't recognize that the product they're working on could be pursued through entrepreneurship or think of themselves as entrepreneurs. And even if they don't pursue it, it helps them in all aspects of life because business and capitalism are part of what we do every day.”

If you’re a student interested in adding entrepreneurship to your course schedule, registration for the summer and fall semesters opens on April 15. In addition to Startup Lab, students also have the opportunity to build a prototype with support through Idea to Prototype and CREATE-X Capstone Design. 

To be more precise, it’s a liquid cooling system developed at Georgia Tech for electronics aimed at solving a long-standing problem: overheating.

Developed by Daniel Lorenzini, a 2019 Tech graduate who earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, the cooling system uses microfluidic channels — tiny, intricate pathways for liquids — that are embedded within the chip packaging.

He worked with VentureLab, a Tech program in the Office of Commercialization, to spin his research into a startup company, EMCOOL, headquartered in Norcross.

“Our solution directly addresses the heat at the source of the silicon chip and therefore makes it faster,” Lorenzini said. “Our design has our system sitting directly on the silicon chips that generate the most heat. Using the fluids in the micro-pin fins, it carries the heat that’s produced away from the chip.”

That cooling solution is directly integrated into the electronic components, making it significantly more efficient than conventional cooling methods, because it enhances the heat dissipation process.

The result is a much lower risk of overheating and reduced power consumption, he said.

Lorenzini, who researched and refined the technology in the lab of Yogendra Joshi at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded a patent for the technology in September 2024.

Now, EMCOOL, which has five empoloyees, is actively pursuing venture capital funding to scale its technology and address the escalating thermal management challenges posed by AI processors in modern data centers.

The system uses a cooling block with tiny, pin-like fins on one side and a special thermal interface material on the other. There's also a junction attached to the block, with ports for the fluid to flow in and out. The cooling fluid moves through the micro-pin fins and helps to carry away the heat.

Since the ports are designed to match the shape of the fins, it ensures that the fluid flows efficiently and the heat is dissipated as effectively as possible at chip-scale. 

As electronic devices — from high-performance personal computers to data centers used for artificial intelligence processing — become more powerful, they generate more heat. This excess heat can damage components or cause the device to underperform.

Traditional cooling methods, which include fans or heat sinks, often struggle to keep pace with the increasing demands of the newer model electronics. Lorenzini’s microfluidic system addresses the challenge of overheating with his patented, more effective, compact, and integrated cooling solution.

With the guidance of Jonathan Goldman, director of Quadrant-i in Tech’s Office of Commercialization, Lorenzini secured grant funding through the National Science Foundation and the Georgia Research Alliance to further the research and build design prototypes.

“We immediately had the sense there was commercial potential here,” Goldman said. “Thermal management, or getting rid of heat, is a ubiquitous problem in the computer industry, so when we saw what Daniel was doing, we immediately began to engage with him to understand what the commercial potential was.”

Indeed, the initial focus for the technology was the $159 billion global electronic gaming market. Gamers need a lot of computing power, which generates a lot of heat, causing lag.

But beyond gaming systems, the company, which manufactures custom cooling blocks and kits at its Norcross facility, is eyeing more sectors, which also suffer from overheating, Goldman said.

The technology addresses similar overheating electronics challenges in high-performance computing, telecommunications, and energy systems.

“This work propels us forward in pushing the boundaries of what traditional cooling technologies can achieve because by harnessing the power of microfluidics, EMCOOL's systems offer a compact and energy-efficient way to manage heat,” Goldman said. “This has the potential to revolutionize industries reliant on high-performance computing, where heat management is a constant challenge.”

A program housed in Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, SHES offers occupational safety, health, and environmental (OSHA) consulting and training services to manufacturers across the country and has worked extensively examining food-processing workers’ exposure to chemicals.

UCSF needed a partner with specific scientific expertise regarding employee exposure to a chemical used to limit bacterial growth during pork processing. SHES’ prior working relationship with UCSF also proved beneficial. In 2021, SHES industrial hygienist Brandon Philpot was the primary investigator (PI) for a collaborative project with a group from the UC system to develop safety training for workers fabricating engineered stone countertops.

“UC San Francisco’s School of Medicine was so impressed with our team's work, they came back to us for this much larger project,” said Jenny Houlroyd, Ph.D., manager of occupational health services at SHES. “We're trying to build meaningful relationships and leverage expertise across institutions.”

Study Parameters

The study was initiated when the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service division contracted with third-party experts to investigate whether increases in poultry and swine evisceration line speeds affected worker safety.

A secondary aspect of the study looked at the potential for an increase in worker exposure to peracetic acid (a food-safe chemical applied to surfaces in certain food-processing applications) when processing line speeds are increased.

“The study’s designers believed that ergonomics was the driving factor in worker safety, but they were unsure if by slaughtering and processing more animals per day, workers were also applying more peracetic acid,” said Houlroyd. “This is what the SHES team was asked to measure.”

In addition to tapping Georgia Tech’s expertise in industrial hygiene, UCSF brought in several other schools in the University of California system, primarily UC Berkeley, to assist with research.

Scope of SHES’ Role

“Our work with UC started in July 2024 and was completed in January 2025,” said Houlroyd, who served as the project’s PI and UC liaison.

Conducting the field research were SHES industrial hygienists Philpot, Sean Castillo, and Bob Hendry, as well as SHES OSHA Training Institute Education Center manager Hilarie Warren. The group traveled to six pork processing plants across the U.S. over 11 weeks.

Although the preferred method for industrial hygiene and worker exposure is to chart direct exposure to the workers themselves, the study did not allow employees to wear chemical monitors on the processing line for safety reasons.

“Our on-site sampling included putting on a variety of wearable monitors on ourselves,” Hendry said. “We’d then go to the various work areas in the plant where peracetic acid was used, stand next to the workers, and take readings.”

Each SHES team member upheld consistent sampling standards, but they were stationed at different sites. As a result, Castillo said, “It was up to us to use professional judgment to evaluate where the areas of concern were. We had to make sure we were very organized so that if I was at one site one week and Bob came out the next week, we could replicate our data almost one-to-one.”

Importance of Worker Interviews

The USDA study received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, which is needed if researchers interact with human subjects. Houlroyd noted that because the USDA study was considered formal research, IRB approval was necessary.

Although conducting worker interviews was not a requirement of their participation, the SHES team set up a special room where they interviewed employees on ergonomic issues and musculoskeletal disorders.

“We were able to take the load off from our collaborators and, in doing so, speed up their process so that they could finish their research earlier,” said Castillo.

Philpot stressed the importance of worker interviews to the study. “The process was good for collecting background information on what the employees were going through, day in and day out, to see if there’s anything that we could do to help their situation.”

By putting workers at ease, he and his teammates were able to gain their trust and listen to their concerns. “They could actually see that we cared about what's going on,” Philpot said.

According to Houlroyd, “One of the reasons the UC group loved Brandon and Sean and Bob so much is that we've had so much experience doing interviews, we were quick to jump into that role and help them. Our team knows that there is dignity in all labor, so we approach workers with respect. We meet the workers where they are, and we speak to them not as an academic, but human to human.”

Study Results

Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su reported that the USDA study found that faster line speeds did result in an increased risk of injuries, but that this risk “could be mitigated with other controls, specifically having more workers on the line and having effective ergonomic plans.”

The results of the peracetic acid research conducted by SHES, however, were inconclusive. “Was there more exposure at the faster line speed?” asked Houlroyd. “We found one plant where it was true, but it wasn't consistently true at all the plants, so it was determined that there should be more research.”

Regardless, she welcomed the chance to strengthen collaborative ties with the UC system and celebrated the meticulous and compassionate work conducted by SHES.

“I am so grateful for this team for traveling to remote locations in our country and spending 11 weeks in slaughterhouses,” said Houlroyd. “I had no doubt that we could do it, and we did it well.”

Read the full story on Scheller News

Founded by John-Wright Stanly, a fourth-year computer science major, SuperStream addresses companies’ audience engagement problem by enabling video previews through shared URLs.

Q&A With SuperStream's Sole Founder, John Wright Stanly

What made you want to pursue this idea?
Stanly: I did a startup three years ago, and we failed miserably. While doing that, I was trying to build in-house and share videos through links.  I realized that nothing currently on the internet that I could find was actually solving this issue. Basically, the standard around sharing videos and links is very complicated, and we simplify that process for companies. Even though it's very small and particular, I wanted to be the first person that would solve this problem.

What surprised you about the I2P process?
I did I2P last semester, and I've already pivoted once in the idea. I don’t have all the answers. I’m just starting, and I think it's really cool that a course like this exists at George Tech, where you can be supported and figure things out in the first stages, maybe in three months. 

What was your favorite part of I2P?

I think it's the meetups. We get to see what everyone else is working on.

 What was the most challenging part of I2P?
I think the most challenging part was being a solo entrepreneur. Honestly, just finding the time in my day. 

What advice would you give to other students considering entrepreneurship?
I think entrepreneurship is not as scary as it seems. We're really lucky that we go to a university where it’s supported. I think that Georgia Tech students take it for granted how enriched the ecosystem is here. My friends at other schools don't really have the same support. So, when you go to a school that is as supportive as that, I think you should totally take the leap of faith.
 

Want to be part of the next wave of technological advancements? Register for the Spring 2025 I2P Showcase to see our latest cohort of I2P inventors and their prototypes. The event takes place April 21, 5 p.m., in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building Atrium.

For those interested in taking I2P, course registration opens for the summer and fall semesters on April 14. The I2P course offers undergraduate students research credit, up to $500 in reimbursement for physical material expenses, faculty mentorship, and the opportunity to compete in the I2P Showcase. Winners receive golden tickets to CREATE-X’s Startup Launch program, a summer accelerator that provides $5,000 in optional seed funding; $150,000 in in-kind services (including accounting and legal support); mentorship; entrepreneurial education; and more. Winners also advance directly to the semifinal round of the InVenture Prize, a faculty-led innovation competition.

The I2P course opens three times a year: in the spring, summer, and fall. Both undergraduate and graduate students can take the course, and undergraduate students can take it up two times. For more information, visit the I2P program website. 

The demand for AI education is clear, and Georgia Tech, along with the new OpenAI Academy, is poised to meet this need by offering opportunities and resources to advance public knowledge in this emerging field. 

To meet this demand, the College is doubling down on efforts to equip students with entrepreneurial skills, offering expanded course sections and deeper collaborations with CREATE-X. Faculty say the goal isn’t just to produce startups—it’s to teach students how to identify and tackle meaningful problems, a skill that’s increasingly vital in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

Entrepreneurial Capstone Growth Through Cross-College CollaboratiThe College’s entrepreneurial capstone more than doubled in size within the same academic year, growing from 55 students in Fall 2023 to 126 this semester. Enrollment in the CREATE-X entrepreneurial capstone surged by 14% this semester, continuing its steady growth since launching in 2018. What began with just nine students has now expanded to 126 participants eager to transform their ideas into real-world ventures.

This growth can be traced back to the collaborative roots of the CREATE-X Capstone. In 2018, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Olufisayo Omojokun partnered with Mechanical Engineering Professor Craig Forest to co-teach the Institute's first multi-college capstone section. 

This allowed engineering and computing students to work together in a dynamic learning environment.  

"Right away, we saw how powerful this combination of engineers and computer scientists working together was. The College of Computing has always been a willing and eager partner to try experiments and boldly move toward this future direction. Every step of the way, they've risen to the challenge," Forest said. 

Preparing Problem Seekers, Not Just Problem Solvers 

This jump represents the College’s emphasis on creating the next generation of problem solvers who are also problem seekers. 

“It’s not just about finding solutions but identifying the problems that must be solved. This emphasis is more important than ever given the changing landscape of computing,” Omojokun said. 

He points to AI and automation as key drivers of this shift. While launching startups is an exciting outcome, the deeper focus is on preparing students for a future where the definition of a software engineer may evolve and the number of traditional roles in the market could shift. With the power of computing, students who can identify meaningful problems are better equipped than ever to solve them—often with fewer resources and smaller teams. 

“Can our College lead in graduating such multifaceted students who know how to fix things and what to look for? Embedding entrepreneurship into our non-elective courses gives us that opportunity,” Omojokun said.  

RELATED: SCI Pilots AI-Enhanced Capstone to Advance Software Engineering Instruction

Building Confidence Through Entrepreneurship 

While some students may go on to continue their projects after the course, others might revisit them after graduation, driven by personal motivation or market opportunities. Many will enter the workforce and, perhaps years later, draw on the confidence they built through this capstone to forge their paths in entrepreneurship. 

“It’s not necessarily about launching the most successful startups right now. It’s about giving students the confidence to try—and even fail—while the stakes are low,” Omojokun said.

“Whether they pursue entrepreneurship immediately or later in their careers, my hope is that the confidence from this course sticks with them if they ever choose to do something different and forge their path.” 

Inside the CREATE-X Capstone Experience 

SCI faculty members Aaron Hillegass, Dan Forsyth, and Jennifer Whitlow co-mentor the College’s entrepreneurial capstone course. Whitlow describes the course as a hands-on, problem-driven environment where students are encouraged to tackle scalable, global challenges. 

“We’re trying to treat it like a venture studio would work,” said Whitlow, who is familiar with executing such a model from her leadership role at a startup accelerator. “The first part of the class is focused on identifying scalable real-world problems and understanding actual pain points through customer discovery.” 

How did you first hear about CREATE-X?

We did the CREATE-X Capstone with an initial team of seven people, later transitioning to Startup Launch in the summer. Capstone required a hardware product, but for several reasons, we pivoted to software. By that point, we already had a grasp on the problem that we were working on but didn't have the resources to start working on a large hardware product.

Why did you decide to pursue your startup?

One of our close buddies was an emergency medical technician (EMT), and we also had family connections to EMTs. When we were doing our customer interviews, we found out that Emergency Medical Services (EMS) had multiple problems that we thought we'd like to work on and that were more accessible than the broader medical technology industry. 

What was Startup Launch like for you?

Startup Launch seemed to transition pretty seamlessly from the Capstone course. We came to understand our customer base and technical development better, and the program also led us through the process of starting and running a company. I found it very interesting and learned a whole lot.

What was the most difficult challenge in Startup Launch?

Definitely customer interviews. We spent a lot of time on that in the Startup Launch classes. It's a difficult thing to have a good takeaway from a customer interview without getting the conversation confused and being misled. We didn't mention the product, or we tried to wait as long as possible before mentioning the product, so as to not bias or elicit general, positive messaging from interviewees. 

We're working in EMS, and the products we are building affect healthcare. EMS is a little informal and a little rough around the edges. Many times, people don't want to admit how bad their practices are, which can easily lead to us collecting bad data. 

What affected you the most from Startup Launch?

The resources at our fingertips. When we were running around, it was nice to be able to consult with our mentor. It's great having someone around with the know-how and who's been through it themselves. I revisit concepts a lot.

How did the partnership with NGHS come about?

During Demo Day, we met a Georgia state representative. He put us in touch with NGHS. They were looking for companies to work with through their venture arm, Northeast Georgia Health Ventures(NGHV), so we pitched our product to them. They liked it, and then we spent a long time banging out the details. We worked with John Lanza, who's a friend of CREATE-X. He helped us find a corporate lawyer to read over the stuff we were signing. It took a little back and forth to get everything in place, but in September of last year, we finally kicked it off.

What’s the partnership like?

We provide them a license to our product, have weekly meetings where experts give feedback on the performance of the system, and then we make incremental changes to align the product with customer needs. 

While we're in this developmental phase, we're kind of keeping it under wraps until we make sure it’s fully ready. Our focus is primarily on emergent capabilities that NGHS and other EMS agencies are really looking for. Right now, the pilot is set to be a year long, so we're aiming to be ready for a full rollout by the end of the year. 

How did you pivot into this other avenue for your product?

EMS does not have many resources. That makes it not a popular space as far as applying emerging technologies. There's only competition in this very one specific vein, which is this central type of software that we plug into, so we're not competing directly with anyone.

EMS agencies, EMTs, and paramedics - the care that they give has to be enabled by a medical doctor. There has to be a doctor linked to the practices that they engage in and the procedures that they do. With the product that we're making now, we want to provide a low-cost, plug-and-play product that'll do everything they need it to do to enable the improvement of patient care. 

How are you supporting yourself during this period? 

I was paying myself last year, but we're out of money for that, so we're not currently paying for any labor. It's all equity now, but our burn rate outside of that is very low. The revenue we have now easily covers the cost of operating our system. I'm also working part-time as an EMT now. This helps cover my own costs while also deepening my understanding of the problems we are working on.

How are you balancing your work?

It's hard to balance. There's always stuff to do. I just do what I can, and the pace of development is good enough for the pilot. Every week, and then every month, Kevin and I sit down and analyze the rate at which we're working and developing. Then we project out. We're confident that we're developing at a rate that'll have us in a good spot by September when the pilot ends.

What’s a short-term goal for your startup?

Kevin and I are trying to reach back out and see if there's anyone interested in joining and playing a major role. The timing would be such that they start working a little bit after the spring semester ends. I think most Georgia Tech students would meet the role requirements, but generally, JavaScript and Node experience as well as a diverse background would be good.

Where do you want your startup to be in the next five years?

I want to have a very well-designed system. Despite all the vectors I’m talking about for our products, everything should be part of the same system in place at EMS agencies anywhere. I just want it to be a resource that EMS can use broadly.

Another issue in EMS is standards. Even the standards that are in place now aren’t broadly accessible. I think that these new AI tools can do a lot to bridge the lack of understanding of documentation, measures, and standards and make all of that more accessible for the layperson.

What advice would you give students interested in entrepreneurship?

Make sure the idea that you're working on, and the business model, is something you enjoy outside of its immediate viability. I think that's really what's helped me persevere. It's my enjoyment of the project that's allowed me to continue and be motivated. So, start there and then work your way forward.

Are there any books, podcasts, or resources you would recommend to budding entrepreneurs?

 I’d recommend Influence to prepare for marketing. I have no background in marketing at all. Influence is a nice science-based primer for marketing.

 I reread How to Win Friends and Influence People. I am not sure how well I'm implementing the concepts day-to-day, but I think most of the main points of that book are solid.

I also read The Mom Test. It's a good reference, a short text on customer interviews.

Want to build your own startup?

Georgia Tech students, faculty, researchers, and alumni interested in developing their own startups are encouraged to apply to CREATE-X's Startup Launch, which provides $5,000 in optional seed funding and $150,000 in in-kind services, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops, networking events, and resources to help build and scale startups. The program culminates in Demo Day, where teams present their startups to potential investors. The deadline to apply for Startup Launch is Monday, March 17. Spots are limited. Apply now.

Forbes 30 Under 30 is a yearly list of notable young people in art, entertainment, healthcare, science, and more. CREATE-X has had founders on this list 11 times since 2017. Read about how some of the 2025 honorees got their start — and their advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs.

Sohan Choudhury: Flint

The Beginning

“I decided to start Flint because I was passionate about education as a space, and I felt that there's a lot more that could be done with AI in education. When we started the company in May 2023, the perspective of a lot of schools and teachers on AI was very negative because they were looking at how students were using it to cheat. As technologists, my co-founder and I asked, ‘Is there something more we can do to change this narrative and perspective?’ We started building tools for teachers and students and partnering with schools.” 

The CREATE-X Experience

“CREATE-X gave me the first avenue to work on my own thing. When I was a first-year or sophomore in college, I didn't know that was possible. I thought once I graduate I'll maybe get an engineering job and just do that. But CREATE-X changed that story for me by giving me another path. As I went down that path with my first company, the advisors we had through CREATE-X were incredibly helpful to us.”

The Outlook

“Day to day, a lot of the work we do is pretty unglamorous. We’re dealing with bugs that our customers are facing, or we’re cold emailing people. It's easy to get lost in the weeds. The Forbes announcement was a great way for us to reflect on what we've done so far. It's such a team effort, so it was validating to get recognition on a broader level for the work we're doing.”

Advice for Success

“If you can code or are interested in coding, pull on that thread. If you can build your own prototypes, which is becoming easy to do nowadays with AI, it will help you get further with your ideas. The second piece of advice is to take your idea and try to convince someone to pay for it. Even if you have a tool that will save your peers time with studying, build something basic for it, but then ask them to pay you five bucks. People speak with their money. There were times at Flint where we had a lot of positive feedback, and then we asked people to pay, and all of the constructive feedback came out.”

Garrett Smiley: Sora Schools

The Beginning

“I was a military brat, so I moved around to a lot of different schools and experienced a bunch of different styles of learning. I went to school in the early 2010s, right when laptops were entering the classroom. We had YouTube, Khan Academy, Coursera, and all these things hit the mainstream. Because of my background, education was a very active question in my life. I saw how these tools completely supercharged my learning and changed the relationship between student and teacher and the dynamics of the classroom.”

The CREATE-X Experience

“CREATE-X asked us to think about large systemic problems we were passionate about. That pushed me to think seriously about how I could help solve a problem in this space. It was helpful to put into practice many of the startup lessons that I'd been studying forever, and it was great to have a community of founders before anyone believed in us.”

The Outlook

“I'm inspired by Forbes’ emphasis on education, so to be recognized in that context was extra special. We’re in 46 states and 16 countries, so it's great to see the breadth that Sora has accomplished. We're bringing this style of education to different communities that, in many cases, have never considered something like this before. Seeing our students accepted into places like Harvard, Georgia Tech, and other elite institutions shows families that you can have a transformative education like Sora and still go to those schools if it makes sense.“

Advice for Success

“Use your free time in school to try the things you're thinking about. Sora was an idea I thought I would circle back to when I was 30 or 40 and had money and credibility. But I was shocked by how open people were to listening to a young person with a few resonating ideas. There's no qualification or age requirement to provide value and improve people's lives.”

Sarah Hamer: RetailReady

The Beginning

“I met my co-founder, Elle, while we were working at a company called Stord, which is also an Atlanta-based startup. Elle and I were put on a project going to a warehouse every week for six months. We saw some gaps in supply chain software and decided to solve them since nothing was on the market. So I applied to Y Combinator and got in, and now we’re here.”

The CREATE-X Experience

“CREATE-X was my first foray into starting a business. It gave me confidence, and I learned a lot of lessons with my first business. I think I would've made a lot of mistakes starting a business now if I hadn't had that experience in college. For example, knowing how important user interviews are, how you’ll probably fail here and there, start small, then scale — the principles you take for granted that CREATE-X taught.”

The Outlook

“I started at Microsoft right out of Georgia Tech and was there for a year and a half. It was a very stable, well-paying job. I followed my gut to leave and join a startup called Stord and then followed it again to leave and start RetailReady. Quitting your stable day-to-day job takes a lot, and I’m proud I took the chance. We’ve grown fast, and it’s a huge honor to be included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the first year of being in business. We’re really happy about it.” 

Advice for Success

“When you can, take the chance and do it. Even if you’re not sure, always believe you’ll win. A lot of it is mental fitness, believing what your gut is telling you. There will be times when you’ll say, ‘This probably isn’t the right move to make.’ Listen to that.”

Bruno Geoly: Lumindt

The Beginning

“An inflection point for me was the summer of 2021. I was working at SpaceX, and at the same time, my friends and I had started this Web3 crypto company dealing with NFTs. And I was like, I can mix these two things together to do something cool, something important. The idea of what Lumindt is wasn't even a sparkle in my eye at that time. But I knew I wanted something of my own, doing these two things I enjoy — entrepreneurship and high-level engineering. And that's what I did.”

The CREATE-X Experience

“CREATE X was a way for me and my co-founder to stay accountable for our work. When you have an idea you want to turn into a business, it’s hard to stay on yourself to do that. CREATE-X was a good way for us to always have a thing to go to and ideate what we’re working on. And there was a little bit of competition. You see all of these other people making progress, and it’s good inspiration and a motivator to continue working.”

The Outlook

“My co-founder and I were very appreciative of being included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Looking back on what I wanted to do in college, I just loved building stuff. And to have this small team of people, and we’re able to build what we want, and there's cohesion and camaraderie, I'm very happy with that. It's fun to go to work every day and work with the people I do. And not only that, we now have a business that impacts the world.”

Advice for Success

“If you want to be an entrepreneur, that's a skill set like anything else. If you want to get better at karate, you practice karate. If you want to be a better entrepreneur, you have to practice entrepreneurship. You'll learn a lot about yourself — what problems you like to solve and what problems you need help solving.”

Want to Build Your Own Startup?

Georgia Tech students, faculty, researchers, and alumni interested in developing their own startups are encouraged to apply to CREATE-X's Startup Launch, which provides $5,000 in optional seed funding and $150,000 in in-kind services, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops, networking events, and resources to help build and scale startups. The program culminates in Demo Day, where teams present their startups to potential investors. The deadline to apply for Startup Launch is Monday, March 17. Spots are limited. Apply now.

As part of the class, Trigger made several trips to the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI). When the faculty asked if anyone wanted an internship, Trigger raised his hand. 

“Coming to Georgia Tech allowed me to clarify what I wanted to do,” he said. “I’ve always been in service-based jobs, but I was interested in additive manufacturing,” or 3D printing.

For five months every weekday, Trigger drove from his home in Macon to Georgia Tech’s campus for his internship. The paid internship took place at Tech’s Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF). This 20,000-square-foot, reconfigurable facility serves as the research and development arm of GTMI, functioning as a teaching laboratory, technology test bed, and workforce development space for manufacturing innovations.

During his time there, Trigger focused on computer-aided manufacturing and met with faculty and students to learn about their research. The internship wasn’t convenient, but it was worth it. 

“From our campus visits, I understood the mission of AMPF, so the fact they offered me this opportunity was huge for me,” he said. “The internship had a big impact on my life in terms of the technical and soft skills I gained.”

Building the Workforce

Launching new careers is just one of AMPF’s goals in testing new manufacturing and growing the future U.S. workforce. Since 2022, AMPF has improved the manufacturing process at all parts of the talent pipeline — from giving corporate researchers space to test and adopt AI automation technologies to training and upskilling their employees. Collectively, GTMI and AMPF’s efforts have led to a stronger, bigger network of manufacturers that other companies and the U.S. government can rely on. 

“We are going to need to manufacture more in the U.S. — from computer chips to cars — so we want to create jobs and fill them,” said Tom Kurfess, GTMI’s executive director. “We need more people working in the manufacturing sector, and we've got to make these jobs better and make people more efficient in them.” 

AI is one way to boost efficiency, but artificial intelligence won’t cut humans out of the process entirely. Rather, people will be integral to monitoring the systems and advancing them. As AI becomes more widely adopted, a college degree won’t necessarily be required to work in the AI field.

“Our workforce is going to need the next generation of employees to be amenable to retraining as the technology updates,” said Aaron Stebner, a co-director of the Georgia Artificial Intelligence Manufacturing program (AIM). A statewide program, Georgia AIM helps fund AMPF and sponsored Trigger’s internship. “Education is going to be more of a lifelong learning process, and Georgia Tech can be at the forefront of that.”

While GTMI already integrates AI into many processes, it remains committed to staying ahead of the curve with the latest technologies that could boost manufacturing. The facility is in the process of an expansion that will nearly triple its size and make AMPF the leading facility for demonstrating what a hyperconnected and AI-driven manufacturing enterprise looks like. This will enable GTMI to build and sustain these educational pipelines, which is key to its work.

“We’re developing the workforce for the future, not of the future,” explained Donna Ennis, a co-director of Georgia AIM. “It’s AI today, but it could be something else five years from now. We are focused on creating a highly skilled, resilient workforce.”

Part of Georgia AIM’s role is creating the pipelines that people like Trigger can follow. From bringing a mobile lab to technical colleges to hosting robotics competitions at schools, these efforts span the state of Georgia and touch populations from “K to gray.” 

“Kids don’t say they want to be a manufacturer when they grow up, but that’s because they don’t know it’s a viable career path,” Ennis said. “We’re making manufacturing cool again.”

Creating Corporate Connection

To create these job opportunities, GTMI is also partnering with corporations. Companies can join a consortium to access the AMPF research facilities and collaborate with researchers. Any size or type of company can take advantage of AMPF facilities — from corporations including AT&T and Siemens to small startups like Alegna, which licenses and commercializes Navy research.

“The ability to manufacture domestically is critical, not only for national security purposes, but also to keep the U.S. economically competitive,” said Steven Ferguson, a principal research scientist and executive director for the GT Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium. “Having the AMPF puts Georgia Tech within the innovation epicenter for these areas and will help us reshore manufacturing.”

The benefit of such an arrangement is twofold. Companies can work with the newest manufacturing technologies and make their own advances, and Georgia Tech builds a network of manufacturers across the state and world that students can work with. For example, AT&T uses the AMPF to test sensors for expanding personal 5G networks, and George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Professor Carolyn Seepersad has Ph.D. students funded by a Siemens partnership through AMPF.

Trigger was able to connect and collaborate with some of these corporations and researchers during his internship. “I told them about my interest in machine learning because I wanted to see how they were integrating machine learning into their research projects,” he said. “All of them invited me to come by to observe and be part of the research.”

Starting a New Path

Because of his research collaborations during his AMPF internship, Trigger now has a new focus. “The internship clarified for me that AI is where everybody is going,” he explained. He wants to be at the forefront of AI manufacturing and hopes to pursue a certificate in machine learning next.

While he knows he still has much to learn, AMPF gave Trigger a foot in the door and confidence about the future. He — and other veterans like him — will help build the workforce that propels America forward in manufacturing.

He has established several scholarships under the Todd Family Fund to support the next generation of students, including a new Grady Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Scholarship. The scholarship is inspired by his personal experiences with EMTs and Lianna Homrich, a pre-med Biology student in his Management in the Healthcare Sector class.

Like many Georgia Tech professors, Todd spends time after class talking to his students about their career aspirations. One day, while talking to Homrich about Grady Memorial Hospital, he learned that she is an EMT with Central EMS and a member of EMS at Tech, a student organization dedicated to expanding access to and knowledge of emergency medical services at Georgia Tech.

The EMS at Tech Club piqued Todd’s interest, and he immediately saw a gap he wanted to fill. The organization, coupled with his experience being transported by Grady ambulances three times in 18 months, sparked the idea to create the scholarship.

Read the full story from the Scheller College of Business. 

1. Identify a Problem You’re Interested in Solving

We often gravitate toward familiar problems, but it's crucial to explore beyond our immediate surroundings. Take the time to venture off campus and learn about problems faced by small businesses, corporations, and communities. Engaging with diverse groups will help you uncover unique challenges that you might not have considered. We accept startups in a variety of industries, from fashion to healthcare.

2. Understand the Problem Before Creating a Solution

It's tempting to rush into building a solution once you've identified a problem. However, it's essential to thoroughly understand the problem first. Before you start building, conduct at least 10 – 20 customer discovery interviews. This will give you valuable insights into the problem you're solving and help you validate your business thesis.

3. Start With Your Business Thesis

Formulate a clear business thesis: "X will buy Y because of Z." Here, X represents your target customer, Y is your product, and Z is the reason they will purchase it. As you engage with potential customers, refine your hypothesis based on their feedback. This iterative process will help you develop a product that meets real needs.

4. Build a Version 1 of Your Product

This is easier than it sounds and can be very low-tech to start. Concentrate on developing the core functionality of your product that addresses the primary pain point for your users. This unlocks user insights that can help you know if and where to pivot your solution.

5. Think About Your Business Model

While you don't need to have a concrete business model from the start, it's beneficial to brainstorm potential models. Consider how your product could generate revenue and sustain itself. Your business model can evolve as you gain more insights and experience.

6. Put in the Time

Launching a startup requires a significant time commitment and focus. You can create real momentum when you can dedicate consistent time.

Looking for more support on your entrepreneurial journey? Be sure to check out Startup Launch, a 12-week accelerator that helps you move from idea/prototype to your first customer. You have access to expert mentors, exclusive founder-focused workshops, vendor discounts, and $5,000 in seed funding. 

The application deadline is Monday, March 17, for the summer cohort. 

A previous info session on Startup Launch and a Startup Launch sample application are available to help students prepare. Attend CREATE-X events to get insights into entrepreneurship, workshop business ideas, find teammates, and prepare your Startup Launch applications. For additional questions, email create-x@groups.gatech.edu.

Deep Startups is a series that brings together knowledgeable entrepreneurs and Startup Launch alumni from various business sectors to discuss their experiences forming companies that address significant, contemporary challenges. Attendees spend an informative evening discovering the intersection of technology and entrepreneurship.

From 2016 until recently, S.K. Sharma led a global team of Ph.D. data scientists, engineers, and strategists at Universal Music Group (UMG) to develop innovative and scalable solutions that drive real-time market insights and audience engagement. His leadership has been instrumental in creating differentiated intellectual property and market-leading capabilities in AI, machine learning, and prescriptive analytics, earning him multiple patents in marketing analytics.

Sharma's academic background includes a Ph.D. in chemical physics and physical chemistry from Caltech. His research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, and he has held concurrent roles in academia and industry, including senior research scientist at Caltech's Beckman Institute. His corporate career includes significant positions such as vice president at Lehman Brothers, executive director at UBS, and vice president and partner at Mitchell Madison Group, where he advised global private equity funds and venture capital managers.

In addition to his role at UMG, Sharma is an entrepreneur in residence at UC San Diego's Office of Innovation and Commercialization, where he supports pioneering advancements in science and engineering. He is also an investor at Provisio Medical, a company revolutionizing endovascular procedures with its Sonic Lumen Tomography technology.

Sharma's contributions to the field of AI and analytics have been widely recognized. He was awarded Billboard magazine's 40 Under 40 and has been a commencement speaker at UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering. His work in developing AI-driven marketing technologies has set new standards in the industry, ensuring compliance with global privacy regulations while driving significant improvements in marketing efficiency.

Attendees of Deep Startups will hear practical knowledge and actionable advice on entrepreneurship from Sharma. Each CREATE-X event is an opportunity to network, build ideas, and prepare for the Startup Launch program, which provides $5,000 in optional seed funding, $150,000 in in-kind services, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops, networking events, and resources to help build and scale startups. Students, faculty, researchers, and alumni interested in developing their own startups are encouraged to apply. The deadline to apply for Startup Launch is March 17, 2025. Spots are limited. Apply now for a higher chance of acceptance and early feedback. If you have any questions about getting started, email us at create-x@groups.gatech.edu.

The findings were documented in the paper "Do sell-side analysts react too pessimistically to bad news for minority-led firms? Evidence from target price valuations" by Scheller College of Business associate professor Kathy Rupar-Wang and colleagues Sean Wang and Hayoung Yoon, both with the Edwin L. Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. 

"To strengthen the link between CEO race and company valuation, we show the same effect with a controlled experiment where only the CEOs' photo varies across companies. This approach addresses the concern that Non-White CEOs in our main analyses were somehow paired with uniquely poorly performing companies," said Rupar Wang.

The study also revealed that racial bias becomes more pronounced during periods of heightened racial tensions. Interestingly, increased familiarity with Non-White CEOs reduces these valuation disparities, indicating the bias may be subconscious. The researchers suggest that educational initiatives and increased awareness could help promote equality in financial markets.

The findings highlight the potential impact of implicit racial bias in professional settings, particularly in financial analysis and corporate evaluation.

While this has stimulated economic growth, especially in Medellín, Antioquia’s capital and largest city, it has also introduced challenges such as rising costs and gentrification, with certain neighborhoods becoming less affordable.

Comfama is a nonprofit organization that strives to grow the middle class by providing social and economic services to families. The organization has begun a groundbreaking project in collaboration with the Business Analytics Center (BAC) at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business to enhance its ability to forecast and meet the needs of the population.

Determining the Future of Compensation Funds

Comfama is a “compensation fund.” In Colombia, these private, nonprofit organizations have been created to improve the lives of workers and their families. They provide social services for recreation, culture, education, preventive healthcare, housing assistance, loans, and more. There are 42 compensation funds across the country that play a vital part in the country's social security system, according to Santiago García Rivera, head of the Information and Analytics Laboratory at Comfama.

For companies in Colombia, participation in a compensation fund is mandatory. Each fund collects a 4 percent payroll tax from affiliated companies to provide monetary subsidies to workers and their families. "We have about 121 thousand companies affiliated with Comfama, which includes about 1.4 million workers. When you take into account their families, that's around 2.7 million people we serve, plus a large group of non affiliated people that use our services," said García Rivera.

For Comfama, economic and demographic shifts have complicated the prediction of how many people will use its services. "Recognizing these challenges, Comfama is embracing data-driven solutions. We want to build a robust prediction model to help us forecast what will happen to our affiliated population in the future," he said.

The Georgia Tech Connection

This is where Georgia Tech comes in. One of García Rivera's colleagues at Comfama, Juan David Penagos, head of Ventures and New Business Development, knew about the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute Medellín Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center and suggested they reach out to see whether they could put a project together with business analytics students. Sara Araujo Santos, managing director of Development for Latin America for the Center, contacted Sherri Von Behren, the BAC's corporate engagement manager, about possibly creating an MBA business analytics practicum project to help Comfama.

Von Behren contacted Jonathan Fan, a faculty member of the Information Technology Management group in the Scheller College. Fan leads students in transforming data into business solutions through the Business Analytics Practicum course, which is offered in the fall for graduate students and in the spring for undergraduates.  Fan immediately saw the value of the opportunity for his MBA students and set up a practicum in which they are developing predictive models using time series data and macroeconomic variables.

There are two teams assigned to the project: Team Data Paisa Squad with Aaron Payne, MBA ‘26 (team lead), Lissette Chavez, MBA ‘25, and Boris Taganov, MBA ‘25, and Team The Growth Gurus of Antioquia, with Justin Siegel, MS in Analytics ’25 (team lead), Srinjoy DasMahapatra, MBA ’25, and Vinaya Vinigalla, MBA ’24. Haofei Qin, Ph.D. candiate at Scheller helped mentor students along the way. 

They meet weekly with the Comfama team, which includes analysts and data scientists Alejandra Bernal, Susanna Londoño, and Wbeimar Ossa. The teams discuss their progress and address any challenges they face that week. With less than two months to go, they're seeing results.

Fan has been pleased with the results so far. “This cohort was truly outstanding,” he said, speaking of his students. ”They approached complex topics with clarity and creativity, and their collaborative spirit led to innovative ideas and enlightening discussions. They handled challenging subjects effortlessly, always coming up with fresh and interesting perspectives."

Managing the Present and Predicting the Future

Regarding the work of Team Data Paisa Squad, Aaron Payne remarked, "One of our key successes has been developing a model framework that provides accurate forecasts and adapts to changes in external economic indicators. By integrating machine learning techniques alongside traditional time series models, we've increased our forecasts' robustness. Additionally, the collaboration with Comfama's internal team has been highly productive, enabling us to align our technical solutions with their business needs. The early feedback on our findings has been positive."

Payne stated that one of the main challenges they've faced has been combining data from multiple sources, as each source has different levels of detail and accuracy. Ensuring these data sets are consistent and reliable has been difficult, especially for economic factors that may not directly match Comfama's internal data. Another challenge is adapting standard forecasting models like SARIMAX—Seasonal AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average with eXogenous variables— to account for external influences like government policies or unexpected economic changes.

"This experience has reinforced the value of experiential learning in advancing my business analytics skills. Working with real-world data, especially in a dynamic organization like Comfama, has provided a deeper understanding of how to apply advanced analytical methods to solve practical business problems. The practicum has helped bridge the gap between theory and practice, giving me confidence in using these tools to drive decision-making in real business environments," said Payne.

The practicum is more than just about numbers, though. It's about understanding the lives behind the data points. As Fan reminds his students, "A model is just a model, but those data points represent individual lives. We want to understand the mechanism or the story behind the data."

The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a roundtable on artificial intelligence (AI) in infrastructure and transportation on April 16, 2024 where Partnership Executive Director Debra Lam was invited to speak and share how the organization is leveraging AI as a tool to bring innovative solutions in the transit space.

Lam also sat down with U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, the committee's ranking member, for Q&A session on how AI can help drive innovation in transportation forward.

Below are Lam's prepared remarks for the hearing:

Good morning, Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Larsen and distinguished members of the House Transportation Committee. It's an honor to be here today to discuss the transformative potential of AI in Transportation.

My name is Debra Lam and I lead the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation based out of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Our mission is to catalyze and invest in innovative solutions that drive shared economic prosperity through public-private collaborations. Since 2020, the Partnership's work has deployed millions in financial and social capital and catalyzed hundreds of projects with local governments, corporates, universities, startups, and nonprofits. The projects have created new businesses, increased jobs, and deployed hundreds of technologies and innovations.

In the realm of AI and transportation, we are guided by three core principles:

• Community-centered problem solving: We believe in starting with the challenges faced by communities themselves, who best understand their needs. However, complex issues like transportation and infrastructure require a collective approach. This is why we form robust public-private partnerships, combining the expertise of multidisciplinary research teams to find the most effective tech-based solutions tailored to community goals. Whether it is AI or other future, unknown technology, it should be seen as one of many tools that is centered on solving community problems.
• Innovation for all: We stand by the idea that every community, regardless of its size or location, can be a hub of innovation. Our objective is to democratize access to technology and foster an understanding of innovations like AI. This empowers communities to not just utilize technology but to refine and advance it.
• A holistic view of transportation: Transportation is the lifeline connecting housing and employment. We are dedicated to ensuring that accessible and affordable transportation, especially with the integration of AI and other advanced technologies, is not a hurdle but a support system for securing employment and accessing homes.

Now, let me illustrate how these principles come alive in one of our projects:

Through a U.S. Dept. of Transportation SMART grant, the Chatham Area Transit Authority, with Georgia Tech researchers, is improving transit services in historically underserved neighborhoods. Piloting an On-Demand Multi-model Transit System (ODMTS) powered by AI, riders, including paratransit riders can use a mobile application to summon prompt and efficient transit service.

The AI-driven algorithm behind the service not only learns and evolves from increased usage but also guides the existing, professional drivers along the safest and most expedient routes. The project utilizes union operators and trains early career professionals as operators and maintenance personnel from the local colleges. Additionally, we are improving algorithms to optimize electric vehicle charging to increase operational efficiency and energy conservation.

This project stands as a testament to our approach, showcasing AI as a powerful ally in elevating and integrating transportation services to meet the needs of all communities.

I look forward to delving into these topics with you today.

Thank you for your attention and for supporting this vital work.

We talked with John Taylor, the Frederick Law Olmsted Professor and associate chair for graduate programs and research innovation in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Neda Mohammadi, city infrastructure analytics director in Georgia Tech’s Network Dynamics Lab to get some answers. These are edited highlights from an interview.  

Q: What is a digital twin? 

Taylor: A digital twin is an intelligent, adaptive system that pairs virtual and physical worlds. In community development work, a Smart City Digital Twin (SCDT), like those used in Warner Robins and Columbus, pairs a real city to its digital counterpart to generate data-driven feedback loops of interactions between cities’ three main components: (1) human systems, which includes government, industry, and residents; (2) infrastructure systems, which are physical systems and the services they provide; and (3) technology systems, such as devices, sensors, and data analytics infrastructure. 

Q: They’ve been used in manufacturing for some time. How is that different from a SCDT?

Taylor: They're somewhat easier to implement in a manufacturing context, because everything's under control, under a roof. They model all the different manufacturing machinery and they use that to see when a part might need to be changed, and when they need to do maintenance. And they can play with the system, using real-time running data to see what happens if this piece does wear out. How bad would it be? They could either adjust that piece or adjust that machine or maintain it, whatever it might be, based on the scenario analysis. 

Q: How does that translate to the less controlled environment of a city? 

Taylor: It involves replicating multiple systems. For example, if a tall building is on fire, there will be multiple systems brought into play. First, you can see what's happening in the city at a basic level. You can see that there's traffic building up, for example. The next level is, why is it happening? And that's where it gets a little bit more interesting. Most of the digital twin work that we've seen — that anyone's doing out in the world — is to understand why things are happening the way they're happening. But really, the value starts to unlock the third and fourth levels. 

The third level is the “what if” scenario. In the context of a city, for example, in Midtown they've just installed new traffic signals. Hopefully, someone tested that out in advance. But one “what if” analysis could be: We've got bad traffic in Midtown. What if we put these traffic signals in the Tech Square area? What effect will that have on the flows in the city? With a digital twin, you can know that before you install the lights. That is one of the big opportunities. 

The fourth level is the idea that the infrastructure could start to intervene on behalf of the citizens. And so in the example of the tall building fire, the traffic signals might preemptively allow the fire trucks through. But they could also do other things like make all of the signals around the building red, so no traffic is moving and there's more space for people to evacuate the building. That would be something we might allow the systems to do for us. 

Q: How is that different from, for example, a project in Valdosta that allows first responder vehicles to change the traffic lights so they can get to an emergency more quickly? 

Mohammadi: A digital twin will update itself based on data that keeps coming in. If you think about the interaction with the traffic signal, it doesn't care about what happened five minutes ago, 10 minutes ago. At that moment, they know that the driver probably has a better situational awareness than the automated system. So they let the driver interfere and put useful inputs into the systems to make a better decision. 

The digital twin is accumulating data as it comes because it is based on prediction. The definition of prediction is looking at past data and, based on past experience, predicting what's likely to happen in the future. We know that time is a moving target. As we move on, things that happened in the past accumulate. There are more things that we know. A digital twin is really at the edge of this moving target. 

Q: Tell us about the river safety project in Columbus, which uses a digital twin to create an alert system to prevent drownings in the Chattahoochee River. The city was recently named a Smart 20 award winner by Smart Cities Connect for the Citizen Safety Digital Twin project.  

Taylor: A good project from our perspective involves a complicated enough scenario where multiple sensors are involved. With the river safety project, we had to understand and predict water levels with a water level sensor. We use visual sensing to understand, if people were in the environment when hazardous conditions might begin to occur, whether we could get them out of harm's way before they get swept away into the water. 

We had to build a digital twin of the entire river basin, so we would know just what the danger is if the water level rises this much. Are the islands that people are standing on before the water level rises going to vanish? 

That one was particularly interesting to us. If you look at the smart city digital twin work we did first, it was related to energy consumption. We're increasingly excited about having a more direct effect on people's lives. This one is stopping people from drowning. 

Q: Tell us about the digital twin you developed for the Warner Robins’ Citizen Safety Digital Twin for Community Resilience project, which deploys dynamic license plate reader cameras to help deter crime. It received the Intelligent Community Forum’s Smart21 Community Award at the 2024 Taipei Smart City Summit and Expo. 

Taylor: This project is pretty complicated from our perspective, because we had to build a geographic information systems (GIS) map of the city. We also have to know where crimes have been occurring. We've got more than 10 years of crime data, including very recent crime data. We're deploying sensors in part to deter crimes, but also to detect and collect more information about crime patterns. It comes down to taking the information about where crimes are occurring and coupling that with predictions about routes people would take if they did commit a crime, so that the car would come into view of one of the cameras. We don't hide the camera; we put it on a very visible structure, where we predict most likely the crimes are going to occur this week. We put this very visible thing to discourage people from doing anything once they realize they're being watched. And we found that it did in fact, reduce crimes in those high-crime spots by 20%.

Q: What are some other ways communities can use digital twins? 

Taylor: We published something this spring, and we're working on a funding proposal now, about how ambulances move around during a period of inundation — coastal flooding, coastal inundation, or heavy rains. We’ve met with Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah about this. We looked at data in Virginia Beach to see if, in real time as the flooding is changing, we could deploy ambulances in different parts of the city ahead of where they're needed. It’s ambulance routing during a natural disaster event.

Q: Are there limitations to smart city digital twin technology?

Taylor: When we travel around and we present this, some clever student or faculty member will say, “Wouldn't a great research project be to figure out how to build a central platform for the collection of this data or a standard format for the way this data should be sent so that all the systems can talk to each other?” And they’re right. It's difficult to get the value across a whole city if you're only looking at one system at a time. A future research topic is figuring out those data flows and the centralization of that data. 

Georgia AIM (Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing) was recently awarded the 'Tech for Good' award from the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), the state’s largest tech organization.

The accolade was presented at the annual TAG Technology Awards ceremony on Nov. 6 at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. The TAG Technology Awards promote inclusive technology throughout Georgia, and any state company, organization, or leader is eligible to apply.

Tech for Good, one of TAG’s five award categories, honors a program or project that uses technology to promote inclusiveness and equity by serving Georgia communities and individuals who are underrepresented in the tech space.

Georgia AIM is comprised of 16 projects across the state that connect smart technology to manufacturing through K-12 education, workforce development, and manufacturer outreach. The federally funded program is a collaborative project administered through Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute.

TAG is a Georgia AIM partner and provides workforce development programs that train people and assist them in making successful transitions into tech careers.

Donna Ennis, Georgia AIM’s co-director, accepted the award on behalf of the organization.

“Georgia AIM’s mission is to equitably develop and deploy talent and innovation for AI in manufacturing, and the Tech for Good Award reinforces our focus on revolutionizing the manufacturing economy for Georgia and the entire country,” Ennis said in her acceptance speech.

She cited the organization’s many coalition members across the state: the Technical College System of Georgia; Spelman College; the Georgia AIM Mobile Studio team at the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs and the University of Georgia; the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission; the Georgia Cyber Innovation & Training Center; and TAG and Georgia AIM’s partners in the Middle Georgia Innovation corridor, including 21st Century Partnership and the Houston Development Authority.

Ennis also acknowledged the U.S. Economic Development Administration for funding the project and helping to bring it to fruition. “But most of all,” she said, “I want to thank our manufacturers and communities across Georgia who are at the forefront of creating a new economy through AI in manufacturing. It is a privilege to assist you on this journey of technology and discovery.”

Researchers from the School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) created the Large Pre-Trained Time-Series Model (LPTM) framework. LPTM is a single foundational model that completes forecasting tasks across a broad range of domains. 

Along with performing as well or better than models purpose-built for their applications, LPTM requires 40% less data and 50% less training time than current baselines. In some cases, LPTM can be deployed without any training data.

The key to LPTM is that it is pre-trained on datasets from different industries like healthcare, transportation, and energy. The Georgia Tech group created an adaptive segmentation module to make effective use of these vastly different datasets.

The Georgia Tech researchers will present LPTM in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at the 2024 Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2024). NeurIPS is one of the world’s most prestigious conferences on artificial intelligence (AI) and ML research.

“The foundational model paradigm started with text and image, but people haven’t explored time-series tasks yet because those were considered too diverse across domains,” said B. Aditya Prakash, one of LPTM’s developers. 

“Our work is a pioneer in this new area of exploration where only few attempts have been made so far.”

[MICROSITE: Georgia Tech at NeurIPS 2024]

Foundational models are trained with data from different fields, making them powerful tools when assigned tasks. Foundational models drive GPT, DALL-E, and other popular generative AI platforms used today. LPTM is different though because it is geared toward time-series, not text and image generation.  

The Georgia Tech researchers trained LPTM on data ranging from epidemics, macroeconomics, power consumption, traffic and transportation, stock markets, and human motion and behavioral datasets.

After training, the group pitted LPTM against 17 other models to make forecasts as close to nine real-case benchmarks. LPTM performed the best on five datasets and placed second on the other four.

The nine benchmarks contained data from real-world collections. These included the spread of influenza in the U.S. and Japan, electricity, traffic, and taxi demand in New York, and financial markets.   

The competitor models were purpose-built for their fields. While each model performed well on one or two benchmarks closest to its designed purpose, the models ranked in the middle or bottom on others.

In another experiment, the Georgia Tech group tested LPTM against seven baseline models on the same nine benchmarks in zero-shot forecasting tasks. Zero-shot means the model is used out of the box and not given any specific guidance during training. LPTM outperformed every model across all benchmarks in this trial.

LPTM performed consistently as a top-runner on all nine benchmarks, demonstrating the model’s potential to achieve superior forecasting results across multiple applications with less and resources.

“Our model also goes beyond forecasting and helps accomplish other tasks,” said Prakash, an associate professor in the School of CSE. 

“Classification is a useful time-series task that allows us to understand the nature of the time-series and label whether that time-series is something we understand or is new.”

One reason traditional models are custom-built to their purpose is that fields differ in reporting frequency and trends. 

For example, epidemic data is often reported weekly and goes through seasonal peaks with occasional outbreaks. Economic data is captured quarterly and typically remains consistent and monotone over time. 

LPTM’s adaptive segmentation module allows it to overcome these timing differences across datasets. When LPTM receives a dataset, the module breaks data into segments of different sizes. Then, it scores all possible ways to segment data and chooses the easiest segment from which to learn useful patterns.

LPTM’s performance, enhanced through the innovation of adaptive segmentation, earned the model acceptance to NeurIPS 2024 for presentation. NeurIPS is one of three primary international conferences on high-impact research in AI and ML. NeurIPS 2024 occurs Dec. 10-15.

Ph.D. student Harshavardhan Kamarthi partnered with Prakash, his advisor, on LPTM. The duo are among the 162 Georgia Tech researchers presenting over 80 papers at the conference. 

Prakash is one of 46 Georgia Tech faculty with research accepted at NeurIPS 2024. Nine School of CSE faculty members, nearly one-third of the body, are authors or co-authors of 17 papers accepted at the conference. 

Along with sharing their research at NeurIPS 2024, Prakash and Kamarthi released an open-source library of foundational time-series modules that data scientists can use in their applications.

“Given the interest in AI from all walks of life, including business, social, and research and development sectors, a lot of work has been done and thousands of strong papers are submitted to the main AI conferences,” Prakash said. 

“Acceptance of our paper speaks to the quality of the work and its potential to advance foundational methodology, and we hope to share that with a larger audience.”

SubjECTive-QA is the first human-curated dataset on question-answer pairs from earnings call transcripts (ECTs). The dataset teaches models to identify subjective features in ECTs, like clarity and cautiousness.   

The dataset lays the foundation for a new approach to identifying disinformation and misinformation caused by nuances in speech. While ECT responses can be technically true, unclear or irrelevant information can misinform stakeholders and affect their decision-making. 

Tests on White House press briefings showed that the dataset applies to other sectors with frequent question-and-answer encounters, notably politics, journalism, and sports. This increases the odds of effectively informing audiences and improving transparency across public spheres.   

The intersecting work between natural language processing and finance earned the paper acceptance to NeurIPS 2024, the 38th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems. NeurIPS is one of the world’s most prestigious conferences on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) research.

"SubjECTive-QA has the potential to revolutionize nowcasting predictions with enhanced clarity and relevance,” said Agam Shah, the project’s lead researcher. 

“Its nuanced analysis of qualities in executive responses, like optimism and cautiousness, deepens our understanding of economic forecasts and financial transparency."

[MICROSITE: Georgia Tech at NeurIPS 2024]

SubjECTive-QA offers a new means to evaluate financial discourse by characterizing language's subjective and multifaceted nature. This improves on traditional datasets that quantify sentiment or verify claims from financial statements.

The dataset consists of 2,747 Q&A pairs taken from 120 ECTs from companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange from 2007 to 2021. The Georgia Tech researchers annotated each response by hand based on six features for a total of 49,446 annotations.

The group evaluated answers on:

• Relevance: the speaker answered the question with appropriate details.
• Clarity: the speaker was transparent in the answer and the message conveyed.
• Optimism: the speaker answered with a positive outlook regarding future outcomes.
• Specificity: the speaker included sufficient and technical details in their answer.
• Cautiousness: the speaker answered using a conservative, risk-averse approach.
• Assertiveness: the speaker answered with certainty about the company’s events and outcomes.

The Georgia Tech group validated their dataset by training eight computer models to detect and score these six features. Test models comprised of three BERT-based pre-trained language models (PLMs), and five popular large language models (LLMs) including Llama and ChatGPT. 

All eight models scored the highest on the relevance and clarity features. This is attributed to domain-specific pretraining that enables the models to identify pertinent and understandable material.

The PLMs achieved higher scores on the clear, optimistic, specific, and cautious categories. The LLMs scored higher in assertiveness and relevance. 

In another experiment to test transferability, a PLM trained with SubjECTive-QA evaluated 65 Q&A pairs from White House press briefings and gaggles. Scores across all six features indicated models trained on the dataset could succeed in other fields outside of finance. 

"Building on these promising results, the next step for SubjECTive-QA is to enhance customer service technologies, like chatbots,” said Shah, a Ph.D. candidate studying machine learning. 

“We want to make these platforms more responsive and accurate by integrating our analysis techniques from SubjECTive-QA."

SubjECTive-QA culminated from two semesters of work through Georgia Tech’s Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program. The VIP Program is an approach to higher education where undergraduate and graduate students work together on long-term project teams led by faculty. 

Undergraduate students earn academic credit and receive hands-on experience through VIP projects. The extra help advances ongoing research and gives graduate students mentorship experience.

Computer science major Huzaifa Pardawala and mathematics major Siddhant Sukhani co-led the SubjECTive-QA project with Shah. 

Fellow collaborators included Veer Kejriwal, Abhishek Pillai, Rohan Bhasin, Andrew DiBiasio, Tarun Mandapati, and Dhruv Adha. All six researchers are undergraduate students studying computer science. 

Sudheer Chava co-advises Shah and is the faculty lead of SubjECTive-QA. Chava is a professor in the Scheller College of Business and director of the M.S. in Quantitative and Computational Finance (QCF) program.

Chava is also an adjunct faculty member in the College of Computing’s School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE).

"Leading undergraduate students through the VIP Program taught me the powerful impact of balancing freedom with guidance,” Shah said. 

“Allowing students to take the helm not only fosters their leadership skills but also enhances my own approach to mentoring, thus creating a mutually enriching educational experience.”

Presenting SubjECTive-QA at NeurIPS 2024 exposes the dataset for further use and refinement. NeurIPS is one of three primary international conferences on high-impact research in AI and ML. The conference occurs Dec. 10-15.

The SubjECTive-QA team is among the 162 Georgia Tech researchers presenting over 80 papers at NeurIPS 2024. The Georgia Tech contingent includes 46 faculty members, like Chava. These faculty represent Georgia Tech’s Colleges of Business, Computing, Engineering, and Sciences, underscoring the pertinence of AI research across domains. 

"Presenting SubjECTive-QA at prestigious venues like NeurIPS propels our research into the spotlight, drawing the attention of key players in finance and tech,” Shah said.

“The feedback we receive from this community of experts validates our approach and opens new avenues for future innovation, setting the stage for transformative applications in industry and academia.”

Y Combinator, which has produced companies like Twitch, Reddit, AirBnB, and Coinbase, has funded over 143 Georgia Tech alumni, surpassing institutions like the University of Michigan, Duke, and Princeton. YC recruits startups four times a year and provides a $500,000 investment. 

Spotlight on Founders

Flora, the event's keynote speaker, shared his journey from a YC founder to a partner, emphasizing the accelerator's commitment to supporting college-age founders. He also spoke about finding ideas, meeting co-founders, knowing when to persist and when to pivot, and more.

“A lot of people think you have to have a great startup idea before you start working on a startup,” Flora said. “The theme you find again and again for the best YC founders is that they were doing something that was interesting to them.”

Flora encouraged students to explore their interests and identify problems they are passionate about solving. He also spoke about "tar pit ideas,” or ideas that seem interesting and novel but don’t translate to a wider audience and wouldn’t be widely used. He advised them to focus on ideas with clear, demonstrable demand.

“The best way to avoid tar pit ideas is to get feedback from your users and find out if they’re actually using them,” Flora said. 

Georgia Tech alumni and Greptile founders SooHoon Choi and Vaishant Kameswaran talked about the origins of their company. Choi and Daksh Gupta, their other co-founder, participated in CREATE-X Capstone and then in CREATE-X Startup Launch to develop Tabnam, which initially was an AI shopping assistant that scraped the internet to tell users what people think about their product. 

The founders discussed starting Tabnam in a course and moving across the country to work on it in their apartment to getting rejected by YC, pivoting the startup at a hackathon, and developing Greptile. This AI product enables large software teams to review core changes before merging, find issues in their code, understand the source of bugs, and perform other related tasks. That iteration proved successful, gaining millions in funding and hundreds of customers.

Gupta spoke about a framework that kept the co-founders open to pivots. “Startups aren’t small companies. They’re a hypothesis that asks if a company should exist in this space. That means your job is to prove or disprove that hypothesis,” he said. 

For more insights, watch the video of the event.

Opportunities for Entrepreneurs

Students, faculty, researchers, and alumni interested in developing their own startups are encouraged to apply to CREATE-X's Startup Launch. The program provides $5,000 in optional seed funding, $150,000 in in-kind services, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops, networking events, and resources to help build and scale startups. The program culminates in Demo Day, where teams present their startups to potential investors. The deadline to apply for Startup Launch is March 19, 2025. Spots are limited. Apply now for a higher chance of acceptance and early feedback.

Georgia AIM Week, which takes place Sept. 30 – Oct. 4, is hosted by Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing (Georgia AIM). The week kicks off at Georgia Tech's John Lewis Student Center with the debut of the Georgia AIM Mobile Studio. The vehicle will tour the state during the week to showcase how a wide range of organizations, including public schools, manufacturers, and technology startups, are using AI. The week will conclude on Oct. 4, National Manufacturing Day, at the University of Georgia in Athens. 

Funded by a $65 million federal Economic Development Administration grant, Georgia AIM launched in September 2022 and connects 16 projects across the state, all working to develop a manufacturing workforce skilled in smart technologies and to deploy innovation in the manufacturing industry. Georgia AIM is one of the largest federally funded initiatives of its kind in the country to connect economic development with AI in manufacturing to foster advancements in innovation and workforce development. The grant project is led by Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute.

“Georgia AIM Week allows us to showcase the incredible work that we have accomplished in partnership with a range of organizations over the last two years,” said Donna Ennis, Georgia AIM co-director. “Artificial intelligence and smart technologies are a game-changer for small and medium manufacturers, and learning these technologies opens doors for our workforce. Georgia AIM is working across the state to ensure Georgia can take advantage of these new technologies, and Georgia AIM Week is highlighting these efforts.”

Along with the kickoff and wrap-up events, Georgia AIM Week events will occur in Atlanta, Augusta, Dawsonville, LaGrange, McDonough, Moultrie, Savannah, and Warner Robins. Virtual “Hour of Coding” activities for 6th to 12th graders are also planned from noon to 1 p.m. each day that week. 

Manufacturing-focused events will be hosted by the Georgia MBDA Business Center, Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and the Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility located at Georgia Tech.

Georgia AIM’s work across the state includes K-12 initiatives to connect STEM and problem-solving activities to students, new labs and equipment at Technical College System of Georgia campuses, a new program for cybersecurity training at the Cyber Innovation & Training Center with Augusta University, and new workforce development programs that include training and apprenticeships and fellowships that align with local manufacturing needs. Overall, more than 3,000 students and 1,500 teachers in K-12 schools have connected with new science-based challenges. New programs are connecting Southwest Georgia career academies to advanced technologies, and the number of robotics programs for K-12 schools in Middle Georgia has doubled. 

Georgia AIM funding created the AI-Enhanced Robotics Center at the Veterans Education Career Transition Resource (VECTR) Center in Warner Robins, where 24 students have received AI-Enhanced Robotic Manufacturing Specialist technical training certificates. Georgia AIM has also connected with dozens of manufacturers and communities across the state, assisting with technology implementation and pilot projects to help incorporate smart technologies.

About Georgia AIM
Funded by a $65 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration, Georgia AIM is a network of projects across the state that connect the manufacturing community with AI and smart technologies and a ready workforce. Georgia AIM works across all geographies and demographics to bring traditionally underrepresented participants to manufacturing spaces, specifically rural residents, women, people of color, veterans, and those without a college degree. Georgia AIM projects include K-12 education, Georgia’s universities and technical colleges, workforce education, regional partnerships, nonprofits, and support for emerging technologies and manufacturers.

For more information on Georgia AIM, please visit georgiaaim.org.

Since tickets are limited, students are encouraged to RSVP for Y Combinator @ Georgia Tech. As a part of the event, students can apply for Office Hours With Flora, which will be held earlier in the day, by answering optional questions in the RSVP form. Y Combinator will notify selected students. The sessions enable students to discuss side projects or startups, startup idea development, finding co-founders, and monetizing products. Confirmed RSVPs are required to attend the event and office hours. 

Y Combinator offers an intensive, three-month program designed to help startups succeed. It provides startups with seed funding, mentorship, and access to a network of investors, industry experts, and alumni.

In 2022, Daksh Gupta and SooHoon Choi participated in CREATE-X Startup Launch and developed Tabnam, which became Greptile after several iterations. Initially, the startup was promoted as an AI shopping assistant that scrapes the internet to tell users what people think about their product. 

In 2023, after they graduated from Georgia Tech, Choi, Gupta, and Vaishant Kameswaran launched the latest version of the startup. Now the AI platform focuses on entire codebases and allows users to query via an API. Through the platform, users chat with their codebases, generate descriptions for tickets, automate PR reviews, and build custom internal tools and automations on top of the API. Over 800 software teams, including Wombo, Metamask, Warp, Exa AI, Bland, and Leya, use Greptile. In June, it had a $4 million seed round. Greptile was part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 cohort. 

For those inspired by Greptile’s success and interested in launching their own startup, CREATE-X is currently accepting applications for Summer 2025 Startup Launch. The priority deadline is Sunday, Nov. 17. Early applicants have a higher chance of acceptance, the opportunity for more feedback, and more opportunities to apply if one idea isn’t accepted.

Startup Launch provides mentorship, $5,000 in optional funding, and $150,000 in services to help Georgia Tech students, alumni, faculty, and researchers launch businesses over 12 weeks in the summer. Teams can be interdisciplinary, made up of co-founders even outside of Georgia Tech, and solopreneurs. CREATE-X, as a whole, has had more than 34,000 participants, launched 560 startups, and has generated a total startup portfolio valuation exceeding $2 billion.

The NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Southeast Hub is a five-year project based on the I-Corps model, which assists academics in moving their research from the lab to the market. 

Led by Georgia Tech’s Office of Commercialization and Enterprise Innovation Institute, the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub encompasses four states — Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama. 

Its member schools include:

• Clemson University 
• Morehouse College 
• University of Alabama 
• University of Central Florida 
• University of Florida 
• University of Miami 
• University of South Florida 

In January 2025, when the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub officially launches, the consortium of schools will expand to include the University of Puerto Rico. Additionally, through Morehouse College’s activation, Spelman College and the Morehouse School of Medicine will also participate in supporting the project. 

With a combined economic output of more than $3.2 trillion, the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub region represents more than 11% of the entire U.S. economy. As a region, those states and Puerto Rico have a larger economic output than France, Italy, or Canada. 

“This is a great opportunity for us to engage in regional collaboration to drive innovation across the Southeast to strengthen our regional economy and that of Puerto Rico,” said the Enterprise Innovation Institute’s Nakia Melecio, director of the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub. As director, Melecio will oversee strategic management, data collection, and overall operations​. 

Additionally, Melecio serves as a national faculty instructor for the NSF I-Corps program. 

“This also allows us to collectively tackle some of the common challenges all four of our states face, especially when it comes to being intentionally inclusive in reaching out to communities that historically haven’t always been invited to participate,” he said. 

That means bringing solutions to market that not only solve problems but are intentional about including researchers from Black and Hispanic-serving institutions, Melecio said. 

Keith McGreggor, director of Georgia Tech’s VentureLab, is the faculty lead charged with designing the curriculum and instruction for the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub’s partners. 

McGreggor has extensive I-Corps experience. In 2012, Georgia Tech was among the first institutions in the country selected to teach the I-Corps curriculum, which aims to further research commercialization. McGreggor served as the lead instructor for I-Corps-related efforts and led training efforts across the Southeast, as well as for teams in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Republic of Ireland. 

Raghupathy “Siva” Sivakumar, Georgia Tech’s vice president of Commercialization and chief commercialization officer, is the project’s principal investigator. 

The NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub is one of three announced by the NSF. The others are in the Northwest and New England regions, led by the University of California, Berkeley, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively. The three I-Corps Hubs are part of the NSF’s planned expansion of its National Innovation Network, which now includes 128 colleges and universities across 48 states. 

As designed, the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub will leverage its partner institutions’ strengths to break down barriers to researchers’ pace of lab-to-market commercialization. 

"Our Hub member institutions have successfully commercialized transformative technologies across critical sectors, including advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, cybersecurity, and biomedical fields,” said Sivakumar. “We aim to achieve two key objectives: first, to establish and expand a scalable model that effectively translates research into viable commercial ventures; and second, to address pressing societal needs.

"This includes not only delivering innovative solutions but also cultivating a diverse pipeline of researchers and innovators, thereby enhancing interest in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.”

U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, is a proponent of the Hub’s STEM component. 

“As a biology major-turned-congresswoman, I know firsthand that STEM education and research open doors far beyond the lab or classroom.,” Williams said. “This National Science Foundation grant means Georgia Tech will be leading the way in equipping researchers and grad students to turn their discoveries into real-world impact — as innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders. 

“I’m especially excited about the partnership with Morehouse College and other minority-serving institutions through this Hub, expanding pathways to innovation and entrepreneurship for historically marginalized communities and creating one more tool to close the racial wealth gap.” 

That STEM aspect, coupled with supporting the growth of a regional ecosystem, will speed commercialization, increase higher education-industry collaborations, and boost the network of diverse entrepreneurs and startup founders, said David Bridges, vice president of the Enterprise Innovation Institute. 

“This multi-university, regional approach is a successful model because it has been proven that bringing a diversity of stakeholders together leads to unique solutions to very difficult problems,” he said. “And while the Southeast faces different challenges that vary from state to state and Puerto Rico has its own needs, they call for a more comprehensive approach to solving them. Adopting a region-oriented focus allows us to understand what these needs are, customize tailored solutions, and keep not just our hub but our nation economically competitive.” 

Wendy Hagenmeier, Evening MBA '24, did her independent study with Eric Overby, Catherine and Edwin Wahlen Professor, before graduating this summer from the Evening MBA program. Building on the framework she learned in Eric’s Analysis of Emerging Technologies course, Wendy conducted a comprehensive analysis of library emulation networks, which provide access to historical information stored in outdated software formats to users around the world. 

Listen to the episode as Wendy and Eric discuss the potential of emulation networks, the challenges they face, and how those challenges might be overcome. 

Team Sustain

Sustain offers a way to crowdsource meals and provide home cooks with a cash incentive. The system includes software for ordering, reviewing, and collecting data and hardware for meal exchange.

Nirmal Karthik, electrical and computer engineering

Soughtout Olasupo-Ojo, computer science

Nathan Kashani, mechanical engineering

Meghan Janicki, electrical and computer engineering

Joseph Nehme-Haily, mechanical engineering

John Mark Page, electrical engineering

Why did you all choose this project?

“One of the main things CREATE-X Capstone encourages us to do is customer discovery. Through our discussions, we realized that many people enjoy home-cooked meals but find them inconvenient to prepare. While most things in life are just a click away, home-cooked meals still require a personal touch. CREATE-X challenged us to find a problem and create a solution, so we focused on making home-cooked meals more convenient,” Page said.

Why CREATE-X Capstone?

“After graduation, I wanted to try my hand at entrepreneurship later. I thought CREATE-X was a good way for me to try and learn entrepreneurship skills: how to run a business, what it looks like, the timeline, and so on. Either way, if it went well or badly, I could say with my heart that I have an idea of how to do entrepreneurship,” Olasupo-Ojo said.

“You can go into a big city like Atlanta and actually feel like you can do something to help people. It is a great benefit, as opposed to being in the technical weeds of an engineering project. Mixing them together has been a great experience,” Janicki said.

“CREATE-X empowers students to think independently and explore projects they’re passionate about. We get to drive our projects and businesses, learning skills firsthand rather than just in theory,” Kashani said.

What was your biggest struggle?

“As engineers, we’re classically, especially in school, already given the problem. So, the challenge was figuring out what the problem was, and if our solution really solves the root cause of the problem. We figured out how to find the problem,” Page said.

“Figuring out the idea was our biggest struggle. We delved into markets to find opportunities and ways to help people,” Kashani said.

What has been your favorite part of this experience?

“The team. Make sure you surround yourself with good people, and I think each of us has done that. That’s what I’m proudest about — our team,” Page said.

What advice would you give to someone considering entrepreneurship?

“Develop the skill sets to see problems and be able to think about them. At the beginning of the semester, we were thinking about solar design and building solar design for farms, and now we are in a completely different space. But we’re still applying the same skills and building something up from it that matters. The most important skill is adaptability,” Janicki said.

“Be ready to make mistakes. You won’t get it right the first, second, or even third time. Customer discovery is a continuous process — don’t let setbacks discourage you,” Olasupo-Ojo said.

“Don’t be afraid to get started. If you’re feeling nervous or unsure, there’s only one way to find out, so I’d say go full force into it,” Kashani said.

CREATE-X Capstone Design is open to senior undergraduate students in mechanical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, industrial and systems engineering, and computer science. Course registration is available for the fall and spring semesters, and the current sections are ME4723-X/X01, CS4723-X/X01, ECE4853 X/LX, BME4723-X/X01, and ISYE4106. 

CREATE-X also offers other programs like Startup Lab and Idea to Prototype, providing students with a foundational entrepreneurial education. For those interested in launching their own ventures, CREATE-X’s 12-week summer accelerator, Startup Launch, offers mentorship, $5,000 in seed funding, and $150,000 of in-kind services. The priority deadline for the accelerator is Nov. 17. Apply for Startup Launch to maximize your chances of acceptance and receive early feedback.

Making Sustain: The Gallery

But Galicia, who is pursuing master’s degrees in business and public administration, found herself doing just that as an Enterprise 6 Intern in the Safety, Health, Environmental Services group at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute.

Because some of her family members work in manufacturing, construction, and landscaping, she felt a strong personal connection to the group’s mission to help employers reduce workplace hazards.

“To come to work, learn the educational side, and go home and educate my family is something I've been very fortunate to do,” Galicia said. “Everyone who works in these environments works to be able to feed their family and have a place to live. They don't know how serious these hazards are that they come across each day. We’re able to tell people, ‘This chemical’s harming you, this air is harming you, this safety hazard is harming you.’ It’s saving lives.”

Galicia was one of seven Enterprise 6 students from Georgia universities who put the skills they’ve honed in labs and classrooms into a host of dynamic economic development projects across the state this summer.

Launched in 2021, the Enterprise 6 program allows University System of Georgia undergraduate and graduate students to work in the economic development space. In the past three years, 31 interns have been selected.

The Enterprise Innovation Institute is the nation’s longest-running and most diverse university-based economic development organization. Since launching its founding program more than 60 years ago, it has expanded to serve a wide range of businesses of all sizes while also increasing its focus on socioeconomic development, providing resources, support, and skills to local communities.

Enterprise 6 interns receive practical, real-life work experience and $25 an hour for a 20-hour work week, as well as mentorship from a research faculty member and biweekly check-in meetings. The program is made possible by funding from the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research.

“Our Enterprise 6 internships immerse students from Georgia Tech and other universities in the work of socioeconomic development across our programs that serve communities and business,” said Enterprise Innovation Institute Vice President David Bridges. “Students don’t always see direct parallels between socioeconomic development and their courses of study, but this experience is designed to help make those connections.”

That was the case for Anshika Nichani, who interned with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership. “Cybersecurity, supply chain, and Industry 4.0 projects provided me with invaluable experience and have been instrumental in my development across multiple domains,” said Nichani, a computer science major.

“I learned more here than in some of my classes. It was also fascinating and enjoyable to learn about general workplace practices and dynamics.”

For Shreya Dudeja, an undergraduate studying business administration in the Scheller College of Business, the internship enabled her to learn about the inner workings of university finance, tracking processes, and delving into research and policy. What she especially appreciated about the internship was “the fact that I could work with so many different people. It's a very collaborative environment.”

Ciera Hudson is a Georgia Tech mechanical engineering student who will graduate in December. Hudson, who grew up singing and playing the flute, chose an Arts Innovation internship and has discovered some overlap between her major and her creative passions.

As an engineering student, she said, “I've had a lot of opportunities to learn about how products are developed and the whole life cycle from concept to completion.” She sees similarities between that process and designing an arts program that meets a client’s particular needs.

Samuel Hutto, an economics major at Georgia College and State University, worked with Georgia Tech’s Center for Economic Development Research (CEDR), building surveys and collecting and organizing data on municipalities throughout the state.

What he enjoyed most about his experience was CEDR's team. “They've been very accepting and relaxed. They're very easy to work with,” said Hutto, who added, “I've learned more about how research can truly affect people's lives.”

Students participated at various stages in their educational and career paths. EI2 Global intern Ejaz Ahmed, for example, is a Ph.D. student in the School of Public Policy with previous work experience, and Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing intern Byron Fair enjoyed a successful military career before joining Scheller’s MBA program.

Krystle Richardson, program operations manager for Enterprise 6, supports students throughout their internships, helping them to fine-tune goals and navigate challenges while connecting them with relevant resources at the Enterprise Innovation Institute and Georgia Tech.

“I’m thrilled when interns extend their time with us as student workers or graduate research assistants,” she said. “Some even secure full-time positions.”

One such intern is Hanyu “Hannah” Lu. After her experience in the 2023 Enterprise 6 cohort, she completed a master’s degree in computational science and engineering at Georgia Tech. Lu then went on to work as a student employee at the Enterprise Innovation Institute, and she’s recently been hired as a data analyst in the organization’s Office of the Vice President.

“The success of the Enterprise 6 Internship program stems from both our exceptional interns — bright, driven individuals who eagerly apply their classroom knowledge to real-world projects — and our dedicated leaders who provide them with meaningful and valuable experience that shapes their career paths,” said Richardson.

“We hope the interns’ experiences will have a lasting, positive impact on their careers and lives.”

The event traditionally begins shortly after the semester starts, giving the entrepreneurially curious a preview of what’s to come if they join the program’s accelerator during the next application cycle.

Demo Day is the culmination of the 12-week summer accelerator, Startup Launch, where founders receive mentorship, $5,000 in optional funding, and $150,000 in services to help build their businesses. Teams can be interdisciplinary, made up of co-founders even outside of Georgia Tech, and solopreneurs, ready to solve real-world problems.

Each year, Startup Launch has grown, from an initial cohort of eight startups to over 100 this year. The Office of Commercialization, the home of CREATE-X, plans to keep expanding opportunities for the Georgia Tech community to grow their entrepreneurial skills.

Counting courses, events, programming, and partnerships, CREATE-X has had more than 32,000 participants. The ultimate goal and mission of the program is to instill entrepreneurial confidence in all Tech students. Rahul Saxena, director of the program, spoke about how far the Institute has come in the last decade. 

“I’ve been plugged into Georgia Tech for over 10 years. In the past, when you said Georgia Tech and entrepreneurship in the same sentence, they’d laugh, believe it or not,” he said. “Fast-forward, we’re one of the top entrepreneurial schools in the country. Our first four cohorts value over $100 million, with one of them being a unicorn, and our last four cohorts are well on their way. We want our students to have as many shots at gold as possible before they graduate. And even if they decide on a traditional career pathway, we believe they’ll be ahead with this entrepreneurial mindset, which is something lacking in corporate.”

This year, CREATE-X reached over 560 startup teams launched. Founders represented 38 academic majors, and their total startup portfolio valuation exceeds $2 billion. 

CREATE-X opened its Startup Launch application for its next cohort on Aug. 30. For those interested, the priority deadline is Nov. 17. Early applicants have a higher chance at acceptance and the opportunity for more feedback. So, send in your applications to Startup Launch and become the next founder at Georgia Tech.

Missed out on Demo Day? Check out the CREATE-X Flickr page to see photos from the event and the Demo Day page to see other teams. For more opportunities to engage, visit the CREATE-X Engage page for upcoming events. 

Spotlight on Startups

Some of the standout startups from this year’s Demo Day include:

Since its inception in 2014, CREATE-X has worked to infuse a spirit of entrepreneurship at Georgia Tech. From supporting eight teams in its inaugural cohort, the program has grown to support the launch of over 100 startups this summer, bringing the total to 560 startup teams boasting a total portfolio valuation of over $2 billion. In the last year, the program has expanded internationally and looks to continue building opportunities for its students. 

“Our mission is to instill entrepreneurial confidence. We believe that entrepreneurship is a life skill,” says Rahul Saxena, CREATE-X director. “Georgia Tech students are capable of creating startups. We’re just giving them the tools and resources to do it. We want every Tech student to have this advantage when starting their business.”

At the kickoff for Startup Launch, the program’s summer startup accelerator, CREATE-X co-founder Chris Klaus spoke on the landscape of startups. “The secret sauce for unicorns is colleges. The number of unicorns is increasing, and I expect that trend to continue. This is the perfect place to build a startup,” he said. 

Startup Launch has concluded for the summer, and the founders are preparing to showcase their solutions at Demo Day.

Register Now

“We invite you to become part of shaping what comes next. Support these founders as they creatively solve real-world issues. See future industry leaders be born. Join us for the culmination of these founders’ hard work, passion, and ingenuity at Demo Day,” Rahul said. 

Demo Day 2024 registration is open. Tickets are free but limited. Don’t miss this chance to witness the future of innovation and entrepreneurship. For more information, visit the CREATE-X website.

“This IAC is a great example of the ways in which Georgia Tech is serving all of Georgia and the Southeast,” said Tim Lieuwen, executive director of Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute (SEI) and Regents’ Professor and holder of the David S. Lewis, Jr. Chair in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering.

“We support numerous small and medium-sized enterprises in rural, suburban, and urban areas, bringing the technical expertise of Georgia Tech to bear in solving real-world problems faced by our small businesses.”

Georgia Tech’s IAC, which serves Georgia, South Carolina, and North Florida, is administered jointly by the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), part of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2). The organization has performed thousands of assessments since its inception in the 1980s – usually at the rate of 15 to 20 per year – and typically identifies upwards of 10% in energy savings for clients.

The assessment team, overseen by IAC associate director Kelly Grissom, comprises faculty and student engineers from Georgia Tech and the Florida A&M University/Florida State University College of Engineering.

In addition, Georgia Tech leads the Southeastern IACs Center of Excellence, which partners the institution with fellow University System of Georgia (USG) entity Kennesaw State University, local HBCU Clark Atlanta University, and neighboring state capital HBCU Florida A&M University.

Although mechanical engineering has historically been the chief area of concentration for IAC’s interns, the program currently accepts students across a range of disciplines. “Increased diversity from that standpoint enriches the potential of the recommendations we can make,” said Grissom.

Students are integral to the program, as is Grissom’s role in facilitating their experiences with client engagement and technical recommendations.

“Kelly is the reason our program has been recognized,” said Randy Green, energy and sustainability services group manager at GaMEP. “He works tirelessly to ensure that assessments are accomplished with success for our manufacturers and students.”

“We also recognize our partnership with the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and with IAC program lead Comas Haynes, Ph.D., who works diligently to keep us on track and connected with our sponsors at the U.S. Department of Energy,” Green added.

The DoE accolade represents “a ‘one Georgia Tech’ win,” symbolic of the synergistic relationships forged across the Institute, said Haynes, who also serves as the Hydrogen Initiative Lead at Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute (SEI) and Energy branch head in the Intelligent Sustainable Technologies Division at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. Haynes specifically cited Green’s “technical prowess and managerial oversight” as another key to the IAC program’s success.

Said Devesh Ranjan, Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. School Chair and professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, “It is truly an honor for Georgia Tech to be named the Department of Energy Industrial (Training and) Assessment Center of the Year. Clean energy and manufacturing have been a focus for the Institute and the Woodruff School for a long time, and GTRI, EI2, and SEI have collaboratively done phenomenal work in helping manufacturers save energy, improve productivity, and reduce waste.”

To check eligibility and apply for assistance from Georgia Tech’s IAC, click here.

Electrosuit 

Aubrey Hall, a first-year biomedical student, and Sherya Chakraborty, a first-year computer science major, founded a startup to produce a garment that eases the use of at-home, prescribed electrical stimulation for people with chronic pain, stroke, and motor impairments.

What made you interested in building this solution?

“I did research at Northwestern for a couple of years before this, and some of the patients I worked with had severe stroke and spasticity in their arms,” Chakraborty said. “I found out that when they tried using at-home prescribed electrical stimulation, they had trouble setting it off themselves. So, we created a garment to ease pressure on that.”

What part of the course was most helpful to you?

“One of our mentors, Sun Mi Park, was the first person to patent printable wires on fabric, and that gave us some inspiration to make our garment even more compact, easier to use, and integrate some interesting ideas that we wouldn’t have been able to without our mentors. So, our mentors are honestly the best part of the program,” Chakraborty said.

“For me, you don’t get a lot of chances to apply these engineering courses outside of the classroom,” said Hall. “This course is a really interesting way to get firsthand experience building a prototype and really understand the engineering process.”

What’s so special about CREATE-X?

“I think these student projects are the future, and a lot of these projects make it out of college and become actual companies. Giving students that possibility to make a change just from a simple idea and fueling that with funding so we don’t have to take risks out of our own pockets is a, really big deal,” Chakraborty said.

“It’s helpful to have that safety net, knowing that you have your mentors to back you, and also the people of the program to back you. It brings a lot of security and opportunity to try different things out and not have to be so fearful of failure. Even if you fail a million times, you can get back up and try again,” Hall said.

What’s the best insight you’ve gained from doing this?

“I think one big misconception is that entrepreneurship has a lot to do with finance and business and just lucrative ideas, but it’s pretty important to understand that you can solve a seemingly everyday problem,” said Chakraborty. “If it affects you or your friends, it’s still worth trying to find a way to solve it, especially backed up with money and mentors from CREATE-X. What’s the harm in trying something out?” 

“Don’t try to make it feel like it’s an all-or-nothing project,” Hall said. “You’re allowed to live your life as a college student but also pursue these interesting ideas and figure out if you enjoy entrepreneurship. It shouldn’t be this daunting task where if you don’t put everything in, you’re going to fail.”

“It’s also important to keep an open mind. We might come in with an idea and a very specific way of executing that idea, but we found out through talking with mentors, and with other students and people who gave us advice, that sometimes the idea you come in with is not going to be the same thing you end up with,” Chakraborty said. 

Next Steps

“We’ve only done four or five prototypes so far,” she noted. “We want to do at least 12 of those prototypes and keep working with our mentors, keep making connections at Emory, and just constantly getting more and more feedback about our prototypes until we get to a state where we’re satisfied, and we can demo our product and work with physical therapists across Atlanta.”

If you’re a student interested in building your own product for college credit, apply for I2P. And join us for Demo Day, Aug. 29, at 5 p.m., in the Georgia Tech Exhibition Hall to see new CREATE-X founders launch products in a variety of industries. Tickets are free but limited. Register today to secure your spot.

Dolfin Solutions

Marianna Cao, James Gao, and Jaeheon Shim, first-year computer science majors, are the founders of Dolfin Solutions, a personal financial management platform that promises a unified solution to budgeting, transaction management, and expense tracking, among other personal finance tasks. 

What challenges did you have in I2P, and how did you work through them?

 “We were really lucky to get an excellent mentor, Aaron Hillegass. He has a lot of experience in the industry as a startup founder himself, and he gave us a lot of help, both technical as well as business, throughout the process. That helped us make better decisions,” Gao said.

“I think the biggest challenge was, I had done projects in the past by myself, writing the full stack, but working together, communicating the requirements, and integrating everyone's different code at the end was a little bit of a logistical struggle,” Shim said. “But we managed to figure it out.”

What advice do you have for students interested in I2P or entrepreneurship in general?

“Go for it. It's a three-credit course, so it counts toward your junior capstone as well. You get $500. Now is the perfect time to start because you don't have much to lose. If you're doing I2P and your company fails, you still have four years of college; you can still pursue a traditional path. It's a little risk but a lot to gain,” Shim said.

“Even if you pivot or change your idea, it's important to believe in what you started,” said Cao. “If you don't believe in your app, then nobody else does. Right now, you have all of the friends, mentors, professors, and the right resources, and money is not an issue. It's a good opportunity for you to work on it on the side, and maybe it could turn into something.”

What’s Next?

“We’re going to build for the iOS and Android platforms, and then we're going to deploy hopefully by the end of summer,” Shim said. 

If you’re a student interested in building your own product for college credit, apply for I2P. And join us for Demo Day, Aug. 29, at 5 p.m., in the Georgia Tech Exhibition Hall to see new CREATE-X founders launch products in a variety of industries. Tickets are free but limited. Register today to secure your spot.

What’s something people don’t realize about poker?

The cool thing about poker is it’s statistics. If it was a game of luck, you could not have people who consistently win and do well. When you study and you learn the edges, you play differently, and you play in ways that give you a mathematical edge over your opponents. What a lot of people don't realize is luck only plays a factor when you're looking at any given hand. 

What was your strategy while playing competitively during this poker competition?

It's that funny thing at a table; everything conveys information. For me, I always wear a face mask when I play because I'm a very expressive person. As a founder, it's a great trait, but when you're playing poker, it's not ideal. You don't want to be giving away a lot of information. I'd say it is a very social game, but it is player-dependent. If you're not paying attention, you miss information.

The first hand I played at that tournament, I knocked out a player based on information I gleaned from the table talk they were having beforehand. I was able to put him in a spot that was not theoretically correct but is what we call an exploitative deviation. 

How have you seen the risk of entrepreneurship play out for you and your peers?

I'd say it's just been really lovely seeing the growth. A lot of people who I knew, they're no longer in entrepreneurship. They tried it out and it wasn't for them, but that was the beauty of it too. It's the perfect time to experiment with that and better to know early. I've seen entrepreneurs who went into industry and then go right back at it, and others would go off and join other startups and that, for them, was the way. 

The darkest time for me from an entrepreneurship point was in 2020. We’d just won the InVenture Prize. I’d been trying for three years to win. Then the day after, there's a Georgia Tech-wide press release. People test positive for Covid-19 at the InVenture Prize; get tested. The next week, all of Georgia's in lockdown. What could have been a really big moment for us suddenly was overshadowed by a once-in-a-century pandemic. It was just one of those brutal moments. 

Life is meant to give you curveballs. Adversity is part of the journey. Is there anything else that I would rather be doing with my life? 

One of the benefits of Covid was suddenly we had all these amazing Georgia Tech students whose internships were canceled. We had 17 full-time interns working at Queues within the next month, and we outputted more over that summer in lockdown than we ever did before. 

Even if, for whatever reason, your startup fails, there's so much you've learned that you wouldn't have otherwise learned. There are so many entrepreneurs whose first three startups failed, but their fourth ones have taken off and they're doing fantastic. And that fourth one never would have succeeded if it wasn't for the first three.

How do you think CREATE-X has prepared you for high-stakes situations?

When I came to Georgia Tech, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I also had the humility to know I don't know what that means, and there's more that I don't know than I do know. 

So, for me, the CREATE-X experience was all about learning skills and methodologies that have been tried and tested. It's understanding things that past successful founders have done. They did all the successful things, but underneath the hood it was all these tiny iterations, tweaks, improvements, and small gains. It takes 1,000 steps to climb the hill. The last one is not the most important; it's just the most symbolic because you finally get there.

What resources would you suggest to those who are interested in entrepreneurship?

Good to Great by Jim Collins. The biggest thing from that book is the concept of leadership. Everyone has a place on the bus. Your job as founder is to make sure they’re sitting in the right seat. We hire people we think are great fits and once they’re there, we find where they belong. 

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. I love it because it's all taught through anecdotes. He's taking you through real-life examples of him and the FBI. It's modern negotiation theory that's been practically tested.

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't by Simon Sinek.
If you're a founder or a CEO, your job above all else is to be a leader. Unfortunately, there's not much good leadership training. It's your job to create a culture where your people can succeed.

What’s next?

We're looking to deploy in the venue space. We're in talks with the Atlanta Braves right now. We've also just launched a new product for Queues for parking. Our goal is to try and modernize and improve these spaces with this AI tech.

As we celebrate the achievements of entrepreneurs like Sam Porta, we invite you to join us for to see the next batch of founders building products to solve real-world issues. Don’t miss out on Demo Day, August 29, from 5-7 p.m. at the Exhibition Hall. It’s a chance to meet these problem solvers, explore their ideas, and perhaps even find the spark for your own entrepreneurial journey. Register today! Tickets are free but limited. We look forward to seeing you there!