Creative Quarter
In the latest of Tech’s goals of expansion further into Atlanta, a new innovation district has been officially set for construction with plans of creating a new hub for arts and entertainment on campus.
The “Creative Quarter” will be located along North Avenue and Marietta Street, on Tech’s west side of campus, where it will stitch Tech with West Midtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.
“This makes so much sense for us as a place to lean into arts and creativity because it connects to what our students do and what they want to explore,” said Jason Freeman, associate vice provost for the Arts. “They want to pursue their passion for the arts while they’re students here, whether that’s in their academic studies or the activities they pursue outside of class.”
Mimicking past projects such as Tech Square and Science Square, Creative Quarter hopes to garner industry partners for the space in hopes of fueling current student and faculty ambitions.
“On this site and in this neighborhood, we want to attract creative industries and incubate the next great companies approaching art and technology in exciting new ways — and have that happen here, through the spark that Georgia Tech gives to this,” said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera.
Best described as a cross between Tech Square and the Flowers Invention Studio, students will be given the opportunity to express themselves through state-of-the-art creative makerspaces, performance halls, soundstages and production studios.
While no specific timeline has been set, the district will continue to reserve and plan infrastructure for academic, office, retail and housing spaces.
Azure Challenge
Interstellar Jobs clinched first place in this year’s 2025 Microsoft Azure Innovation Challenge, beating out 70 teams internationally and winning the $10,000 grand prize.
Constructed by several graduate students, including George Gomez, OMS CS ‘25, Ariel Magyar, OMS CS ‘27, Zachary Patrignani, OMS CS ‘26, and Maheer Sayeed, OMS CS ‘26, the team led the competition through its AI-powered approach for creating greater job accessibility to people with disabilities.
“Our mindset going into the challenge was that we’d find the problem first, and then we would look at the services we would use,” said Sayeed in an interview with Tech.
Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and three Microsoft Azure Web Services, Interstellar Jobs works to tailor specific job seekers’ disabilities, preferences and other personal features to a specific job outlook or search.
“We gained so much about cloud development and Azure Web Services from the experience,” said Sayeed. “We also learned the value of AI in these applications.”
With each team member currently engaged in full-time jobs or studies at Tech, there are currently no plans to expand Interstellar Jobs past the competition.
New Minors
Beginning in Summer 2025, the Institute officially introduced two new minors: Astrophysics and Business of Sport Entertainment.
Provided by the School of Physics, Tech’s new astrophysics minor, welcomed in tandem with a new B.S. in Astrophysics, is the newest addition to the College of Sciences.
Designed to fit a growing interest in courses and research related to astrophysics, the program will include a nuanced focus on the future of astronomy, specifically those made from the findings of the James Webb Space Telescope and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).
Additionally, the program will seek to include coursework bolstering students’ knowledge of the fundamentals of physics in relation to planetary systems, stars, galaxies and the universe.
“This program prepares students to solve complex problems in a very quantitative, rigorous way. Such problem-solving and computational skills are highly marketable for a range of career paths,” said David Ballantyne, associate chair for Academic Programs and professor in the School of Physics.
The Business of Sports and Entertainment minor has also been launched by the Scheller College of Business in collaboration with the School of History and Sociology in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
A multidisciplinary minor open to all majors at Tech, and the program seeks to prepare students for the distinct business models and marketing strategies that can be seen in the sports and entertainment industries.
Catering towards Georgia’s extensive presence within national sports, professional teams, film and television, the new minor will work to foster students’ career interests through the classroom and hands-on practicum.
“This minor is a strategic addition to our curriculum,” said Jonathan Clarke, Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Associate Professor of Finance. “It reflects Georgia Tech’s commitment to innovation and leadership in local emerging industries. We are thrilled that Scheller will now offer students the opportunity to link their academic studies to the sports and entertainment industries, and we’re grateful to Dick Bergmark for his vision and support.”