Tech Square ATL

You’ve opened your email and there’s a new $50 gift card from a retailer’s online customer service. There’s also a message that the gift card is related to the out-of-stock items you asked about. But here’s the thing. Your message to customer service…it didn’t mention “out-of-stock” items. So, what happened? This incorrect gift card may be a minor example, but certain actions can have more significant consequences, as was highlighted in the July 2026 incident where, as reported by METR, during an OpenAI security test, AI agents coordinated an attack on the Hugging Face platform. Shreyas Mavanoor, founder of Cortexa Labs, works at the intersection of cybersecurity and company policy. As a Georgia Tech cybersecurity alum, he listened to the challenges real companies were facing. “Through conversations with more than 100 companies since January 2026, I kept hearing the same worries in different forms. Those conversations showed me that companies want to use AI agents, but they need the AI agent to follow their policy every time. That is why we built Paladin,” said Mavanoor. Read the full story about how Cortexa Labs is building guardrails for AI agents here 👉 techsquareatl.com/tech-squar…

Lunch, games and your Tech Square neighbors. That's the whole plan. 🏈 Game Day kicks off next Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Biltmore Innovation Center. THE monthly midday hangout for anyone who works, studies, builds or meets in Tech Square. Grab some catered lunch (while it lasts!), jump into a few friendly games and meet the founders, students, operators and community folks who make this neighborhood what it is. 📅 Thursday, Nov. 5 🕛 Noon-1 p.m. 📍 Biltmore Innovation Center, Imperial Ballroom See you there! luma.com/cm8kd2kf

💻 There’s a good chance your office has a closet full of old laptops right now. @AtlantaTechBank wants them. Founder Jimmy Lowe saw nonprofits making do with aging computers while perfectly usable devices sat unused across the city. So he built a way to connect the two. His team picks up retired tech, securely wipes it, refurbishes it and gets it to organizations like Gateway Center, @georgia_works, and @PADVAtlanta. “There is plenty of technology in Atlanta, and there is plenty of need,” Lowe said. “Our job is to close the distance between the two.” Full story 👉 techsquareatl.com/tech-squar…

🎉 In celebration of IPaT's 15th anniversary, this week's IPaT GVU Lunch Lecture Series will feature a rapid-fire session where various IPaT researchers will present brief updates on their ongoing projects. The topics will range from animal-computer interaction and coastal ecology to augmented reality and AI and more. Don't miss out! Details 👉 peopletech.gatech.edu/events…

In the world of industrial manufacturing, making the wrong decision is expensive. Mistakes waste time, money, and resources. @MEGeorgiaTech researcher and alum Wei Huang believes a tool that predicts not only the outcomes of a manufacturing decision but also helps the engineering team make decisions could cut trial-and-error expenses. That's why Huang founded AtomForge AI, a @gtcreatex company that evaluates and ranks the next possible engineering decisions. 🗞️Read the full article here: techsquareatl.com/tech-squar…

Last week, Georgia Tech's CREATE-X hosted a Y Combinator event in the heart of Tech Square 💫 Over 320 attendees, including YC General Partners, startup founders, and students, gathered to share experiences, explore ideas, and engage in a conversation about lessons learned and future outlook. Visit techsquareatl.com/private-ev… to learn more about the Tech Square Clubhouse, and for questions about hosting your next event in the Tech Square Clubhouse, please contact Aries Burrell at [email protected] or 404-450-0094.

For MedTech founders, moving from concept to commercialization requires more than an innovative idea. It can mean navigating the lengthy FDA approval process, gathering data to support an innovation, raising funding to reach milestones, and determining whether clinicians and patients actually need what is being built. IASTMotion, a recent Georgia Tech CREATE-X Startup Summer 2026 participant, engaged in discussions with physical therapists and athletes to reduce their own assumptions during customer discovery. The team then used that feedback to iterate on an automated device for instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM). Read the full story about how IASTMotion learned that, just like practice before a game, MedTech founders need to test their ideas, listen to users, and keep refining what they build👉 techsquareatl.com/tech-squar…

Celebrating 15 years of IPaT! 🎊 Georgia Tech's Institute for People and Technology is celebrating its 15th anniversary on Wed., 10/28. The celebratory event will include: -A distinguished lecture -A panel discussion, reflecting on 15 years -IPaT Impact Awards & Reception (with drinks and appetizers) 🥂 📆 Doors will open at 2:15 PM, and the event will wrap up at 6 PM. 📍 George Tower Scheller Tower 🔗 Learn more about the event, including the lecturer and the panel, here: peopletech.gatech.edu/news/1…

Join us at the Georgia Tech @HackerHouseCo for an exciting pop-up founder café in partnership with the Corgi team! This engaging panel will focus on startups, growth strategies, and marketing insights. Sip on coffee while networking and participating in enriching conversations designed for founders at every stage of their journey. We look forward to seeing you at the Biltmore Innovation Center in Tech Square! ☕🚀 Join us tomorrow from 5-8 PM at the Hacker House in the Biltmore. RSVP 👉 luma.com/uo1smktz?fbclid=PAZ…

What if the most abundant life on the planet could fix the most ignored machine in your building? 🏨 That’s the bet Mark Snyder is making with VerdeTerra. HVAC has barely changed in decades, and it does nothing about the carbon dioxide piling up in our sealed rooms. His fix: algae, which pulls CO2 straight out of the air while using a fraction of the energy. He’s building two systems, a home unit that’s already on sale and a commercial prototype meant to retrofit into the HVAC equipment buildings already run. The long game is cleaner air and lower energy bills for schools, offices and hospitals. Full story 👉 techsquareatl.com/tech-squar…

Lunch plans for next Tuesday? 🥪 Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) GVU Lunch Lecture Series in the Clubhouse is featuring Dominic Kao, assistant professor in the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He will dig into how virtual worlds shape the people who spend time in them, from the games we play to the digital spaces we build. 📍 TSQ ATL Clubhouse 🗓️ Tuesday, Oct. 20, 12-1 PM 🔗 peopletech.gatech.edu/events…

✈️ Great tech doesn't automatically mean a great market fit, especially when you cross the Atlantic. After 20+ years in European enterprise tech, our latest contributor, Snezana Zivcevska, moved from Amsterdam to Atlanta and started mentoring founders in Georgia Tech's CREATE-X (@gtcreatex) program. What stood out: founders here bring customers, mentors and investors into the conversation early, while they're still shaping the business. Her advice for European companies eyeing the US? Swap "How do we enter the market?" for "What do we need to learn before we scale?" And Atlanta might be the best place to find out. Read the full piece 👉 techsquareatl.com/tech-squar… Interested in writing for Tech Square ATL? Click here 👉 techsquareatl.com/contribute

What happens to all that plastic once it leaves your hands? 🌀 Next Tuesday, @IPaTGT is bringing Conversations@TechSquare back to the Clubhouse for “Talkin’ Trash.” Tim Trent will kick things off with a quick look at the new Trash Lab in TSRB and updates on the miniTrashpresso, then it opens up to everyone. Bring your ideas on keeping plastic out of the waste stream, tying the lab into classes, or research it could spark. Or just come curious and brainstorm with the group. 📅 Tues, Oct. 20 | 3:30-5 p.m. 📍 Tech Square Clubhouse Register 👉 gatech.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe…

What if a career fair skipped the long lines, the stack of printed resumes and the “just apply online” brush-off? That was the idea behind Not A Career Fair, which hit Tech Square and the Biltmore Innovation Center yesterday. @hackerhouseco founder Yamil Quispe Silva built it around his own frustrations as a student job hunter. Companies reviewed every resume ahead of time, booked interview slots in advance and came ready to make offers on the spot. More than 30 fast-growing startups showed up looking for builders, with juniors and seniors from Georgia Tech, Emory, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Morehouse, Spelman and Agnes Scott in the room. The goal: at least one hire per company, ideally the same day. It’s the latest move from the team behind the new HackerHouse at the Biltmore Innovation Center, and they plan to run it every semester. 🔗 techsquareatl.com/tech-squar…

Want to know more about the code, tools, and people behind open source? Join @RefactrTech for Open Source Night at the Clubhouse. This event will include talks on open source from the people working on it, time to connect with others in the ATL tech community, and food and drinks. 📆 Tuesday, October 20th from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM 📍TSQ ATL Clubhouse Register for Open Source Night and check out other upcoming events at the Clubhouse. 👇 techsquareatl.com/events#cal…

From the universal to the nuanced. From concentrated power to a participatory approach. From exclusive to inclusive. In 2010, Dr. Shaowen Bardzell, a Professor and Chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing, published a foundational paper titled “Feminist HCI: Taking Stock and Outlining an Agenda for Design.” And now, 16 years later, this paper has received over 1,700 citations from researchers all across the world, has provided a systematic way for designers to investigate their assumptions, and continues to inspire researchers, including right here in Tech Square. In this publication to provide structure on the evaluation and application of feminist HCI into interaction design, Bardzell outlines six characteristics of feminist interaction design, including pluralism, participation, and advocacy. From projects focused on deeply human experiences to fashion and technology, AI in healthcare, and the environmental footprint of AI infrastructure, what unites these projects is their roots in Bardzell’s 2010 publication and ongoing commitment to feminism. Read more in the full story about how Bardzell’s 2010 publication continues to shape a path forward for feminist human-computer interaction 👉 techsquareatl.com/tech-squar…

📣 Reminder to submit your responses for Brains in the Bar by 10/16 for the opportunity to attend the event! This edition's question is, "If you could design a healthcare robot tomorrow, what would it do and who would it help?" The fifteen most thoughtful and creative responses will receive invitations to this exclusive event. Send your responses here: luma.com/tsqatl-7ijp

October's TSQ Traveling Library is here! 📖🎃 Join us in the TSRB lobby this Wednesday to donate your old books and check out a new spooky read. Whether you're a student, faculty, or just stopping by Tech Square, we're here to help you find your next read and connect with the community! Coffee and treats will be available. 📆 Wednesday, October 14th from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM 📍TSRB Lobby This is a monthly event. Learn more and find future Traveling Library events here: techsquareatl.com/events#cal…

Inspired by the golden light, falling leaves, and energy extending from Georgia Tech campus to The Biltmore Innovation Center, the Tech Square ATL team took to the streets to capture the scene 📸 It may have been Fall Break, but Tech Square was buzzing with activity 🐝

Cheer on the final student teams for the Atlanta Innovation Cup! 🏆 Presented by Avant South, the Atlanta Innovation Cup brings together students from different colleges to compete in an innovation challenge. Come to the showcase to see which of the final four teams takes home the cash prize. 📆 Oct. 12th from 2- 3 PM 📍Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center 🎟️ RSVP and learn more here: atlinnovationcup.softr.app/