Georgia Tech Academics Digest: AI Access for Georgia Founders, Sci-Fi Cinema, and a Carter Center Visit

A busy day on the Flats for research, innovation, and the liberal arts. Here’s what caught our eye in Georgia Tech academics news.

ATDC Launches North Star AI Labs for Georgia Entrepreneurs

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) has publicly launched North Star AI Labs, an initiative built to give founders across Georgia access to AI tools, technical talent, and a working community of builders. After a year in stealth mode, the lab is now open to startups and creators, offering hands-on programming and events, coworking, and a project-based platform that matches founders with AI engineers and students. “Most AI labs are not accessible to startups,” said James Harris, entrepreneur in residence at ATDC and founder of North Star AI Labs. “North Star AI Labs was created to remove that barrier and give entrepreneurs a place where they can access tools, connect with talent, and actually build.” Hartmann Studios signed on as founding sponsor, and the lab already hosts groups such as the Georgia Tech AI Club — hundreds of participants have come through its programming, with new startups emerging from the community. ATDC Director John Avery framed it as a scalable extension of ATDC’s mission to support founders at every stage.

Film Futures: Chris Marker’s Science Fiction and Cinematic Arts

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the Center of Excellence for French and Francophone Studies hosts a panel discussion and creative workshop built around Chris Marker’s La Jetée (1962), the 28-minute film told almost entirely in still photographs that still shapes how filmmakers imagine the future. From 2 to 3:15 p.m. in the Scholar’s Event Theatre at Price Gilbert Memorial Library, four scholars — including Stéphanie Boulard, Kristi McKim, and Ida Yoshinaga — will take up experimental and science-fictional filmmaking, the relationship between cinema and the photographic image, and how the creative arts handle science-fiction storytelling, closing with an open Q&A. A hands-on creative workshop with Jillann Hertel and Rachel Parish follows from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Refreshments will be served, and the event is co-sponsored by the School of Modern Languages and the School of Literature, Media, and Communication.

The Carter Center Recruiting Team Visits Ivan Allen College

Here’s a stat worth knowing: based on the last five years of compiled data, The Carter Center is the No. 1 public-sector employer of Ivan Allen College student interns and recent graduates. Hiring managers from The Carter Presidential Center will be on campus Friday, Nov. 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Savant Building Conference Room to talk through their 2027 internship programs and what makes an application stand out. Only 25 spots are available, and the interest form is due Nov. 10 — so students who want a seat should move quickly.

Looking Ahead

From AI infrastructure for Georgia’s startup ecosystem to a 1962 French short film and a pipeline into one of Atlanta’s most respected institutions, it’s a good reminder of how wide Tech’s academic footprint runs. Which of these would you want to hear more about? Drop a comment and let us know — and check back tomorrow for the next digest.