Georgia Tech is reshaping Midtown by making it not only a center for startups and research, but also a living classroom. Next spring, a new architecture studio class taught by Professor David Yocum will invite graduate students to imagine the future of one of Tech Square’s newest spaces: the Biltmore Block.

Known in Tech Square for her interdisciplinary work in interactive media and storytelling, Ph.D. candidate Shamim Shoomali has been making waves on the film-festival circuit with her short film Paw and Scissors.

On November 17, 2025, Georgia Tech hosted its first AI Career Fair. Throughout the inaugural event, the Georgia Tech Exhibition Hall was a hive of activity as over 500 students, interested in artificial intelligence (AI)-related career opportunities, engaged with nearly 30 employers to explore career paths, gain industry insights, and build professional networks. “This is an amazing event to have these opportunities to meet these employers in person. I have always gotten interviews from meeting people in person,” said a Georgia Tech student and computer science major.

Just as many of us are familiar with “reduce, reuse, recycle”, collaboration, community, and collective impact are central to building a resilient future and core elements of the Atlanta Sustainability Ambassador Program. On November 17th, 2025, the community-building milestone of empowering 500 ambassadors was celebrated at the City Council Meeting. Ambassadors shared stories about how the program has impacted their sustainability efforts in their businesses, workplaces, or at home.

By listening to communities and working with partners across education, industry, manufacturing, and the creative economy, Georgia Tech hopes to make innovation accessible to all 159 counties.

For Georgia Tech’s Yanni Loukissas, the core question is simple: “How can we inspire people to use data as a means of changing the way they see the places they live?” His work shows that data can be more than numbers. “It can reshape how everyday residents understand and care for their communities.”

It’s been 10 years since Rise of the Rest bus came to Atlanta, and a lot has changed. Entrepreneurial communities that were once just forming have now matured, early seeds have begun to bear fruit, and the city has emerged as a powerhouse — not just in the Southeast, but as it gears up to become one of the top five tech hubs in the country.

A record of 17 startups, focused on a diverse range of topics from healthcare and logistics to artificial intelligence and robotics, graduated from the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)’s program on October 21. The event was held at the historic Biltmore Georgian Ballroom, located on the ground floor of the new Biltmore Innovation Center in Tech Square, and celebrated the 2025 ATDC Graduating Class and ATDC’s 45th Anniversary.

As crisp mornings return to Tech Square, we’re celebrating a summer full of energy and creativity, including sharing innovative ideas during Midtown Day, as part of Atlanta Tech Week, and engaging in community service events with LifeLine Animal Project, the American Red Cross, and Agape Youth & Family Center. Our fall calendar is rich with innovative and creative events designed to spark connection, curiosity, and community. But first, let’s take a moment to relive our favorite summer memories!

On September 25th, Women in Technology (WIT), a nonprofit organization that is “supporting the women who are shaping the future”, hosted the 2025 WIT Career Fair at the TSQ ATL Clubhouse. Over 220 attendees engaged in dynamic conversations with tech-driven companies and formed valuable professional connections with community members.

TSQ Tuesday is a weekly happy hour/networking event that turns casual conversations into real-world collaborations, connecting researchers, entrepreneurs, and technologists. For Weiyuan “Vera” Wang, a chance meeting at the event sparked a partnership that could transform how live-animal research is conducted, reducing stress for animals while improving data accuracy.

“We hope to get everyone to catch ‘entrepreneur’s disease,’” says John Avery, referring to the contagious excitement of entrepreneurship. As director of Georgia Tech’s ATDC, Avery has helped cultivate a collaborative environment in Tech Square where mentors and founders spark ideas, share advice, and turn big concepts into startups.

San Francisco–based startup Pylon joined Bits of Good at The Clubhouse for a tech talk on modern web development, fresh off a $31M Series B.

Startups need talent. Students need experience. But too often, cost keeps them apart. Georgia Tech’s Office of Commercialization is breaking down that barrier—funding internships that give students real-world exposure while helping young companies scale.

Imagine an Atlanta where there’s a pathway for every breakthrough in a Georgia Tech lab to launch into a startup and scale to a billion-dollar “unicorn”. This isn’t a distant fantasy—it’s the vision that Dr. Raghupathy “Siva” Sivakumar, Georgia Tech’s chief commercialization officer, is championing.