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?

Inspire Placemaking Collective is shaping places that shape communities.

From the Biltmore Innovation Center, the firm planted its Atlanta office in Tech Square in April 2025, a full-circle move after drawing inspiration from the district years earlier.

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) affects around 20 million people in the United States. The only way to definitively treat PAD is through surgery. However, monitoring one’s health after surgery is expensive, requiring patients to return to hospitals, and there is still a 12.5-20% incidence of secondary blockage post-surgery. CREATE-X startup, VasSense, has a solution. The startup’s wearable device allows for at-home monitoring for second incidences, making post-surgical care accessible.  

Atlanta has always been a relationship city. Long before “community” became a startup buzzword, introductions powered Atlanta’s business ecosystem, building shared trust and informal networks that opened doors across industries. From real estate and logistics to fintech and SaaS, deals here rarely begin with cold outreach. They begin with, “You should meet…”

Researcher, game designer, and creative technologist Audrey Chung embraces uncertainty as they explore new ways of telling stories through game design, where narratives unfold through player choice rather than fixed scripts.

On a summer Atlanta afternoon, the temperature can shift block by block. A street lined with trees feels bearable. Two intersections over, asphalt radiates heat and the air hangs heavy. Those differences are not incidental, nor are they harmless. For PhD candidate Ashley Boone, data provides a pathway to change that reality by mapping, interpreting, and mobilizing environmental patterns in the city.

In Atlanta, entire industries can sit a few miles apart and barely speak the same language.

Film, gaming, esports, and nonprofits operate in silos. Founders gain cultural capital but lack visibility outside their circles. The issue is not lack of talent—it's a communications gap. Elise Riley built My Global Presence to bridge that gap.

On Thursday, March 5, 2026, around 90 founders, operators, builders, students, community builders, and neighbors gathered in the Biltmore Innovation Center for Tech Square Game Day. The goal? To connect with colleagues, meet new people, and have fun!

Most dress patterns and forms come in a base sizes, but do not reflect real people’s bodies and proportions. That’s where Your Form comes in. The startup uses 3D body scans to create custom-made dress forms and sewing patterns out of recycled materials, making fashion design sustainable and inclusive.

When Sabah Mohammed moved to Atlanta to build her career in architecture, she expected to be designing buildings, not drowning in paper. Yet in her job, she found herself lugging dozens of floor plan printouts onto construction sites. “I was working on a project, and we were struggling to collaborate; I’d have to print these giant sheets of paper just to share updates with my teammates and clients,” Mohammed recalls. The process felt inefficient and archaic. This frustration would soon spark an entrepreneurial journey.

Every Tuesday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 AM, the lobby of the Biltmore Innovation Center fills with conversation.

Coffee Connect, the Center’s weekly networking and social hour, has quickly become a standing fixture in the building’s rhythm.

Vaping is now widespread, particularly among young adults, yet researchers lack reliable tools to quantify real-time nicotine intake. A new device developed at TSRB’s Uncommon Senses Lab estimates nicotine exposure by detecting the electromagnetic fields generated during each puff. The team calls it PuffEM.

What started as a six-person, virtual book club is now a volunteer-led network of over 600 women across Atlanta who are building a greener future. When challenges are complex, such as with climate change, nurturing a community is a powerful starting point. This perspective is at the heart of the Atlanta Women in Sustainability, who gather, share stories and ideas, and explore solutions to society’s biggest challenges.

Disguise’s new experience center will bring hands-on workshops, industry events, and the latest visual technology to creators in the Southeast.