Georgia Tech has a wealth of resources at its disposal as a leader in engineering, business, and technology communities. This means that if students can dream it, they can do it.
Makerspaces
From makerspaces for building and creating, labs for experimenting and discovering, and startup incubators for researching and developing, there is unlimited potential for innovation. New partnerships and resources are initiated like clockwork, and if you have a bright idea, we can help you make it happen.
Makerspaces in particular are popular with any student wanting to create something with their hands or with a top-of-the-line machine.
Students use a laser prototyping machine in the Interdisciplinary Design Commons, the largest electronics-oriented student makerspace in the country.
The Flowers Invention Studio has a variety of tools and equipment for class, research, and personal projects.
CREATE-X
The CREATE-X Initiative was created in 2014, and since then has helped launch more than 400 startups with a combined valuation of nearly $2 billion. Intended for undergraduate students, there are three programs within the initiative that provide students with mentorship, guidance, and resources to launch their ideas off the ground.
- Startup Lab: students learn about the process of evidence-based entrepreneurship, and how to systematically vet ideas and validate market need. It is a 3-credit course and is open to all undergraduate students.
- Idea to Prototype (I2P): students get faculty mentors, guidance, and seed funding to build functional prototypes of their ideas. Students get 3-6 undergraduate research credits.
- Startup Launch: a summer program during which teams go from a developed idea or prototype to a fully launched startup. $20,000 in funding is provided to teams by an external investment fund.
Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2)
The Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) is Georgia Tech’s chief business outreach and economic development organization, and puts together over a dozen programs that aim to help students get their ideas into the world. Many of the programs below are affiliated with EI2.
Find a full list of their programs, which includes:
- Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC): Georgia Tech’s incubator that provides coaching, connections, and a community to foster the development of technology startups in Georgia.
- Innovation Corps (I-Corps): a competition-style program that prepares scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory and foster entrepreneurship that will lead to the commercialization of technology.
- Integrated Program for Startups (GT-IPS): provides training and support to faculty and students interested in launching companies based on Georgia Tech intellectual property
- VentureLab: transforms the innovations of Georgia Tech faculty, research staff, and students into companies.
Scheller College of Business
Business-minded engineers should take a look at a few of the programs offered by the Scheller College of Business. Their successful programs offer a unique perspective for College of Engineering students and just might give students an edge when it comes time for graduation.
- Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results (TI:GER) is a program that combines classroom instruction, team-based activities, and real-world consulting projects in order to address the multidisciplinary issues that come with technology commercialization.
- The Institute for Leadership and Social Impact administers a Minor in Leadership Studies that can be obtained by any Georgia Tech student.
- Scheller College of Business also provides both undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to get an Entrepreneurship Certificate that covers knowledge and skills surrounding the entrepreneurial process including opportunity recognition, concept development, business plans, resource acquisition, and value creation.
Ernie Scheller, Jr. birthday event at the Scheller College of Business
Accuity Brands Plaza, Scheller College of Business.
Tech Square
Many potential students hear about Technology Square, which is often praised as a gateway between Midtown and campus, while being an almost mythical place for entrepreneurs to get mentorship and seed funding. Technology incubators— such as Engage, which is a venture fund supported by 10 huge corporations like Home Depot, Delta Air Lines, and Panasonic— are common in the area.
Ceara Byrne at the AT&T Foundry Innovation Center.
Technology Square at Georgia Tech.