As we approach the halfway mark of 2026, let's look back at everything that happened last year in Tech Square. The latest edition of the TSQ ATL annual review, The Book, is out now, capturing the innovation, breakthroughs, and momentum that defined Technology Square in 2025.

After a whirlwind 72 hours of ideating, testing, and building, over 300 students gathered in the Biltmore Innovation Center for the Play with Purpose Sustainability Hackathon showcase. Teams arrived ready to pitch their solutions to real-world sustainability challenges. And the stakes of the friendly competition? Four FIFA World Cup match tickets and a guaranteed interview for the Cox Cleantech Residency.

“I didn’t start Unicoils to build 'just another hair brand.” I started it because women with textured hair—especially students like me—were doing everything right and still not seeing growth,” said Dajheonna Perry, Founder of Unicoils. Dajheonna is a Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business MBA alum, CREATE-X founder, and licensed cosmetologist growing Unicoils, a natural hair care brand focused on retention and scalp health.

After leading Georgia Tech through one of the most successful periods in its history, President Ángel Cabrera has been selected to serve as the next president and CEO of the Aspen Institute.

‍Startup ecosystems have traditionally been measured by how much funding has been raised, the number of exits, or planned initial public offerings, but these only tell part of a larger story. Consider instead “Network Impact Accounting” and how it provides a framework for measuring the economic value created through trusted relationships inside innovation ecosystems.

On May 21, Georgia Tech's CREATE-X program filled the Georgian Ballroom of the Biltmore Innovation Center with energy as 26 newly launched startups showed off what they do. The room also began to fill with the investors, founders, and students eager to meet them.

Nestled at the heart of Tech Square beneath the SQ5 building in Midtown, the TSQ Clubhouse has been woven into the neighborhood's innovation story since its early days as The Garage. What began as a coworking hub and startup home has evolved into one of the district's most versatile event and activation spaces, hosting everything from Atlanta Tech Week programming and corporate events to student showcases and research panels. For anyone looking for a flexible venue embedded inside one of the Southeast's most active innovation ecosystems, the TSQ Clubhouse is a natural fit.

Last week, the American Marketing Association's Atlanta chapter filled the College Football Hall of Fame for Celebrating the Global Games, an evening that doubled as a reckoning for what Atlanta has built as a sports city and where it's headed.

Georgia Tech researchers and community advocates with Propel ATL are attaching temperature and air quality sensors to their backpacks and bikes to get on-the-ground data that will show where the city is hottest. The goal of the Neutralizing Onerous Heat Effects on Active Transportation (NO-HEAT) Initiative, led by Dr. Rounaq Basu, is to mitigate the negative impact of extreme heat by providing city planners with actionable data to make design changes to make cities cooler where they are needed most, and by empowering people to find the coolest walking and biking routes as they move around the city.

Last week, members of the Tech Square community gathered for a secret meeting of the minds. A new event series called Brains in the Bar convened to spark conversation about artificial intelligence. The question that both inspired the gathering and earned attendees their invitation: "Where would you choose a human over perfectly accurate AI?"

Atlanta doesn’t need to reinvent community; it needs to activate it. The next phase of growth for the city’s startup ecosystem won’t come from more events, programming, or even capital. It will come from more people helping each other. And when people know who to connect, what a strong introduction looks like, and perceived risks are reduced, participation increases.

“You are not alone, and your experience is valued.” These are core messages that Dr. Ethan Trinh has for Asian LGBTQ+ immigrant and refugee communities in Atlanta. Dr. Ethan Trinh’s digital humanities project, Stories of In-Betweenness: An AI-Assisted Memory Map of Atlanta’s Asian LGBTQ+ Immigrant and Refugee Communities, has been awarded an Atlanta Interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence (AIAI) Network 2025-2026 seed grant.

A weekly meetup, prompted by curiosity about the possibilities of building with artificial intelligence (AI), is brewing at the Atlanta Technology Development Center (ATDC). On Monday mornings, builders, founders, and researchers gather first for a cup of coffee, then to share what they’ve been building with AI, get feedback, and brainstorm ideas.

Engaging speakers, thoughtful questions, and dynamic discussion. Tech Talks Business, hosted by Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business Dean Anuj Mehrotra, is like your favorite podcast, covering ideas and topics relevant to business, society, and leadership. But unlike a podcast, Tech Talks Business is held in person, so you can ask your questions and discuss ideas with other attendees after listening to the conversation.

Last semester, faculty, students, and researchers gathered in the Hodges Room at Centergy One for the latest IPaT GVU Lunch Lecture. Dr. Carl DiSalvo, professor in the School of Interactive Computing, took the floor to pose a simple but unsettling question: What if the real power of design is not what we produce, but how we stand with people along the way?