Students at Florida State University fused human creativity with modern technology during a recent 24-hour Create-a-thon. The design sprint, hosted by FSU’s Innovation Hub, challenged participants to celebrate Tallahassee’s community spirit by building interactive experiences that cultivate a lasting sense of belonging and connection.

The event served as a feature of the 2026 Festival of the Creative Arts (FCA), an initiative led by the FSU Office of Research that highlights the voices and talents of students and faculty across the university.

“Events like this Create-a-thon provide our students with a space where creativity is the primary driver of discovery,” said Ken Baldauf, founding director of the Innovation Hub. “When we bring together dancers, engineers, musicians, writers and scientists, we aren’t just making art, we are developing a universal language for problem solving that leverages the latest technologies.”

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Florida State University students spent 24 hours building AI-powered tools to help solve one of higher education’s toughest challenges: connecting students to the right internships and early career opportunities. 

Hosted by FSU’s Innovation Hub, the university’s 10th 24-Hour Design Sprint, “Hack the Job Market,” brought together interdisciplinary student teams and industry mentors from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to design, prototype and pitch new technologies aimed at simplifying and personalizing the job-search process. 

The event marked a new partnership between FSU and AWS that gives students access to advanced generative AI tools, hands-on technical support and continued mentorship to move winning ideas beyond a 24-hour prototype and toward production-ready solutions. 

“Events like this Design Sprint hosted by the Innovation Hub provide our students with unique and incredibly valuable opportunities to work closely with industry, university, and community partners, and apply what they are learning in the classroom to design innovative solutions to real-world, challenging problems.”

— Paul Marty, associate vice provost for academic innovation

“Higher education is at a critical turning point where we must move beyond traditional instruction to meet the needs of today’s lifelong learners,” said Paul Marty, associate vice provost for academic innovation. “Events like this Design Sprint hosted by the Innovation Hub provide our students with unique and incredibly valuable opportunities to work closely with industry, university, and community partners, and apply what they are learning in the classroom to design innovative solutions to real-world, challenging problems.” 

During the event, 10 interdisciplinary teams competed in an initiative led by the FSU Career Center, using AWS methods and AI technologies to develop systems that better match students with ideal internships, a process that is currently complex and time-consuming. 

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(Updated 12:20 p.m. Jan. 28, 2026) 

Florida State University’s Office of Research will host the 2026 Festival of the Creative Arts, a campuswide event that highlights the voices, talents and creativity of FSU faculty and students in February and early March.

Departments from across campus will celebrate the innovation and creative excellence that results from combining various modes of expression and disciplines.

“Each year, the Festival of the Creative Arts celebrates interdisciplinary engagement across campus with events that include faculty and student participation,” said Iain Quinn, festival director and FSU’s Research Fellow in the arts and humanities. “In addition to ongoing research conversations that develop from one festival to another, there are also new collaborations and multiple first performances.”

Several events are offered for K-12 students and families, including “It’s the Weather!” at the Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee on Saturday, Feb. 7. There will also be a premiere of a new performance work involving digital art and music.

“It’s an excellent opportunity to learn about the historic and contemporary connections between art and science with multiple hands-on activities,” Quinn said. “The festival is always a special opportunity for everyone to be inspired by the creative spirit that defines FSU.”

All events are free of charge, and no reservations are required. For more information, visit research.fsu.edu/fca.

The full list of events includes:

FRIDAY, FEB. 6

Poets at the Party
7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre, Katherine W. Montgomery Hall

A special collaboration between dance, hospitality, music and poetry featuring multiple premieres across disciplines.

Participants: Darcie Ogando Almánzar, Jacob Andrews, Lilian Baker, Shea Boeker, Jacob Grice, Isabelle Hagley, Caroline Laganas, Raúl Parra, Natalie Eleanor Patterson, Camille Pepper, Christell Victoria Roach, Jan Schwalbe, Sophia Upshaw, Hugh Wilhelm, Kuan-Yu Yang and members of the FSU Trombone Choir. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 7

It’s the Weather!
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee

Come and learn about the weather and nature in works of art while discovering scientific facts about the world around us. This event features hands-on activities led by faculty from the departments of art history, art education and music education, as well as the first performance of a new interdisciplinary work with digital art and music. Great for K-12 students.

Participants: Angelina Ciardi, Eren Gümrükçüoğlu, Ann Harrington, Stephanie Leitch, Marlo Ransdell, Keith Roberson, Sara Scott Shields, the FSU Guitar Ensemble and the National Weather Service Tallahassee.

SUNDAY, FEB. 8

Storytime Under the Stars
6 – 7 p.m.
Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee

Experience an evening of nostalgia and wonder at the Fogg Planetarium, where classic stories come to life under a celestial canopy of stars. This event is specially designed for young children and their families.

Participant: Christine Hansen.

TUESDAY, FEB. 10

Arts-Health-Humanities Symposium VI
12 – 2:30 p.m.
Claude Pepper Center

This annual festival meeting of faculty and students — from design, medicine, music education, music therapy and musicology — continues conversations about current research and future interdisciplinary collaborations. Includes poster presentations by art therapy and music therapy.

Participants: Michael Bakan, Daejin Kim, Adriana Lizardi-Vázquez, Parintorn “Pim” Pankaew, James Riley, Tana Jean Welch and Racheal Yap.

THURSDAY, FEB. 12

Classics Symposium
5:30 – 7 p.m.
Beth Moor Lounge, Longmire Building

Join a celebration of Ancient Greek and Latin poetry featuring an evening of readings of ancient texts and creative performances by students and faculty.

Coordinator: Virginia Lewis.

MONDAY, FEB. 16

Nickel Boys
6 – 9 p.m.
Askew Student Life Center

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, “Nickel Boys” chronicles the powerful friendship between two young African American men sentenced to Nickel Academy. Co-presented with the FSU Civil Rights Institute.

Participants: Ted T. Ellis, Keithen Mathis, Dennis Moore and Mark Schlakman.

TUESDAY, FEB. 17

The Art of Walking
12 – 1:15 p.m.
Bradley Reading Room, Strozier Library

Walking in the city is not only a form of physical exercise and transportation, but a social and cultural practice described as flânerie. The lecture will amble through some of the major French figures who wrote about the flâneur’s and flâneuse’s kaleidoscopic encounters with the sights and sounds of urban life. Co-presented with the Milton S. Carothers Faculty Lecture Series.

Participants: Aimée Boutin and Meaghan McSorley.

FRIDAY, FEB. 20

Lay of the Land
Symposium: 2 – 5:30 p.m.; Opening: 6 – 8 p.m.
Facility for Arts Research

“Lay of the Land” is a Department of Art faculty exhibition and symposium exploring the beauty, complexity and fragility of the landscapes we inhabit.

Participants: Department of Art Faculty.

SUNDAY, FEB. 22

Chamber Music of Frank Martin
4 – 5:30 p.m.
Longmire Recital Hall

A concert devoted to the music of the great Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974), offering an exceptional opportunity to hear his distinctive voice across numerous contrasting ensembles.

Participants: Stijn De Cock, Geoffrey Deibel, Amy Dill, Suzanne Lommler, Mary Matthews, Dylan Principi, Pamela Ryan, Gregory Sauer, Natalie Sherer, Marcy Stonikas, Shannon Thomas and Valerie Trujillo.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25

The Contemporary Film – Finding Your Family
6 – 9 p.m.
Askew Student Life Center

An evening of cinematic exploration with panel discussions about the many definitions of family. Screening of a collection of student shorts followed by a Q&A conversation with members of FSUFILM faculty.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, FEB. 27-28

24-Hour Create-A-Thon
Feb. 27, 4 p.m. – 12 a.m.; Feb. 28, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Pitches, Performances, Awards: Feb. 28, 2 – 4 p.m.
Innovation Hub

FSU students from across campus work in interdisciplinary teams to develop new works that celebrate creativity as a foundation of innovation across the disciplines. Registration opens Jan. 26.

Coordinator: Ken Baldauf.

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

Interlocking Art: A Mixed Media Gala
6 – 9 p.m.
Student Union

Club Downunder and the Department of Student Engagement present an evening of student creativity across the arts, culminating in an annual fashion show.

Exhibitions

Water Ways: Indigenous Ecologies and Florida Heritage
Elizabeth A. Cecil (Curator)
Co-presented with the FSU Native American and Indigenous Studies Center.
Museum of Fine Arts

Akimbo: A Solo Exhibition by Zoë Charlton
An installation and animated film exploring themes of memory, place, and resilience in the Tallahassee Landscape.
Museum of Fine Arts

Lay of the Land
Department of Art Faculty
Facility for Arts Research

The Art of Healing – Ted T. Ellis
Robert Manning Strozier Library

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Florida State University’s Innovation Hub has been buzzing with activity this month as dozens of students volunteered to participate in immersive educational events.  

Through hackathons, design sprints and game jams, the Innovation Hub is redefining traditional learning by emphasizing collaboration, creativity and real-world problem-solving. 

“These recent events are intensive problem-solving exercises that emphasize self-directed learning with expert guidance in a condensed timeframe,” said Ken Baldauf, founding director of the Innovation Hub. “We’ve seen firsthand how transformative these experiences are for everyone involved. Through ongoing research, we’ll better understand their long-term benefits and use those findings to shape innovative educational models.” 

Last weekend, the Innovation Hub partnered with NextEra Energy — the parent company of Florida Power & Light — to host the Next100 Hackathon. Students were challenged to develop innovative solutions to protect the power grid from cyberattacks and natural disasters. 

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Florida State University welcomed Google to campus for a full day of hands-on training, offering students, faculty and staff an immersive opportunity to explore Google’s latest generative AI platforms through interactive demos, workshops and direct engagement with technology experts. 

The Google Gemini Pop-up event, held on Landis Green, provided demonstrations of the AI assistant Gemini and research software NotebookLM. Participants engaged with Gemini to explore its capabilities in writing, research, coding and more, all supported within a secure, cloud-based environment. 

“This was a huge day for Florida State University,” said Jonathan Fozard, FSU’s chief information officer. “We partnered with Google to showcase the capabilities our students, faculty and staff now have across the university in a secure and reliable way. We take security very seriously — Google has partnered with us to ensure our researchers’ work and our students’ data are protected in a safe and secure environment.” 

FSU was the only Research 1 university in Florida selected to participate in Google’s AI for Education Accelerator program, part of the company’s $1 billion initiative to advance higher education through artificial intelligence.

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James Hudson IV is an information, communication and technology student at Florida State University who created the Innovators X Workshop Series, an Engage 100 class that teaches first-year students about design, innovation and prototype development in collaboration with Innovation Hub staff.

As part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), Hudson worked with research mentors to improve the student experience through faster grading using word processing systems. Additionally, Hudson was drawn to FSU’s Presidential Scholar Program and spends his free time ensuring the safety and health of his peers through community service. 

How did FSU stand out to you?

After I attended recruitment weekend, FSU offered me a place in the Presidential Scholars Program. The fast-paced, collaborative nature of the event made me excited about going to college. The students I met were leaders, valedictorians and changemakers at their high schools. All of them had been offered spots at many other prestigious universities, yet they all wanted to be at FSU because of Presidential Scholars. The idea of working with a group of like-minded, driven individuals was what excited me the most. The Presidential Scholars Program recognized me as a person, and I knew that Florida State University wanted me to be here.   

How have you served the FSU community?

As part of my computer and fabrication technologies internship at the FSU Innovation Hub, I had the incredible opportunity to start teaching in a classroom setting. I pioneered the first innovation based, hands-on Engage 100 class at FSU: Innovators X.

Each week, I lead a class of freshmen through the concepts of innovation, design thinking and prototyping while also teaching and training them on the resources available at FSU. I help them understand how much they can accomplish while they are at FSU and how they can use these skills for the rest of their lives.

Innovation Hub Assistant Director Wes Dorce had the vision for an innovation-based course designed just for freshmen. He saw potential in me, believed in me and supported me through the journey of making the idea a reality.

What are some of your academic achievements at FSU? 

In the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, I worked as part of a team designing a feedback system plug-in for word processors. The integration links with the Canvas learning management system and allows professors to create databases of pre-written feedback based on the common corrections students require. The system plug-in recommends professor-written feedback based on previous students’ work and how it was assessed. A teacher or teaching assistant can select feedback from the provided palette and grade assignments in an optimized manner to improve the students’ learning experiences.

The research on this system was completed under the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences. This was my first opportunity to complete research at the university level. Associate Professor Russell G. Almond and doctoral student James A. Hernandez served as leaders for the team and mentored me through every step of the process.

How have you engaged in community service in Tallahassee?

I am part of a student-led and student-founded Christian ministry that distributes water bottles to students heading home from nightclubs. As a Christian, I believe Jesus instructed us to love, and we do this by providing students with water and company. We want to make sure they stay safe, sometimes going as far as walking them all the way home. We give out water throughout the night and stay out until most students have made their way back home safely. During the last academic year, we gave out over 14,000 bottles.

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Florida State University’s Innovation Hub recently opened its doors and showcased student-led projects in science, technology and entrepreneurship at the Seminole Innovators Open House. 

The event featured live demos, exhibits and presentations, highlighting how students from different disciplines collaborate on real-world problem solving. 

“Students from across disciplines invested significant time and energy in learning and innovating through a wide range of projects over the past academic year,” said Ken Baldauf, founding director of the Innovation Hub. “Although we were disappointed to cancel our year-end showcase last April, this open house offers students closure, camaraderie and a chance to celebrate their achievements while ushering in a new year of innovation and opportunity.” 

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Florida State University launched its fall Faculty Innovators Series this week at the Innovation Hub, where faculty and staff gathered to explore new ways to advance teaching and technology through collaboration. 

Each Wednesday morning, the series brings together faculty and staff from across campus to explore emerging trends in education.

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This August, Florida State University’s College of Arts and Sciences will welcome its first cohort of students into a new interdisciplinary master’s degree track that will prepare them to enter a growing job market spanning industries including government, technology, health care, business, education and more.  

The new track in computational linguistics, part of FSU’s Interdisciplinary Data Science Masters’s Degree Program, pulls from foundational concepts of data science and computational research methods to unlock new avenues in the scientific study of language and its sounds, structures and meanings.  

“Rapid developments in artificial intelligence have highlighted the critical importance of analyzing spoken and written language as well as other forms of communication,” said Reinier Leushuis, chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics and a key player in the track’s establishment. “This new track is a perfect example of how interdisciplinary efforts lead to cutting-edge and innovative research that has exciting real-world implications.”

With demand for professional computational linguists — researchers who combine data science with linguistics to process language data — increasing, this track offers full-time and part-time study options as well as funding opportunities like tuition waivers for university and state employees, creating opportunities for working professionals in addition to students pursuing graduate study immediately after earning a bachelor’s degree. 

“AI software that uses voice recognition, such as Apple’s virtual assistant Siri, is developed by computational linguists using natural language processing engineering,” said Tom Juzek, assistant professor of computational linguistics. “They also contribute to literacy programming, language localization, translations, speech data analysis, knowledge engineering, voice interface design, language documentation and revitalization. Their skills are highly sought by government intelligence services and tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Duolingo.”

Students in the computational linguistics track will engage with world-class instructors inside and outside the classroom through opportunities such as the FSU Scientific Computing Artificial Intelligence Seminar in Tallahassee, the annual Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Expo, colloquia and technological resources at the FSU Innovation Hub and more. 

“As linguists, we gain key insights about our research that would be difficult or impossible to achieve without incorporating data science and computations into our work,” Juzek said. “In the last few decades alone, our understanding of language acquisition and children’s language acquisition, for example, improved greatly after using computational methods to analyze many language datasets, similar to datasets students will encounter in their computational linguistics courses.” 

While the track has no thesis requirement, students can pursue research opportunities with a program faculty member via Directed Individual Study and have access to laboratories such as the Visualization Laboratory in the Department of Scientific Computing and the Language Processing and Eye-tracking Laboratory in the Diffenbaugh Building. 

In addition to foundational data science courses on machine learning, regression methods, ethics and more, students in the track may also

take electives such as psycholinguistics, text analysis and deep learning, language invention, and more to stay updated on the newest applications in groundbreaking language technology.

“Large datasets are permeating and impacting every area of scientific endeavor, and this track is especially timely because large language models, the engine of today’s AI revolution, draw deeply from the field of linguistics,” said Gordon Erlebacher, director of the Interdisciplinary Data Science program and a professor in the Department of Scientific Computing. “By launching this track, we’re positioning FSU students at the forefront of a transformative field combining computational techniques with linguistic insights.”

Visit the FSU Computational Linguistics website to learn more about the new master’s degree track, including application information.

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Florida State University’s Innovation Hub presents its annual Seminole Innovators Showcase, an exhibition celebrating creativity and technological advancements across disciplines.

The 2025 Seminole Innovators Showcase is an exhibition of innovative projects created by FSU students, faculty, staff and community partners. The event will feature a variety of projects, including mobile apps, web apps, AI tools, virtual reality experiences, 3D printed products and more. Attendees will have the opportunity to play games, join projects and get involved in the innovative work happening at FSU.

The showcase will take place from noon to 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 18, at the Innovation Hub.

“We are honored to welcome everyone to the Innovation Hub for this exciting event,” said Ken Baldauf, founding director of the Innovation Hub. “Our Seminole Innovators Showcase is a celebration of innovation across campus. While departments and colleges offer events highlighting their students’ discipline-specific accomplishments, the Innovation Hub is interdisciplinary, celebrating the coming together of disciplines in creative, innovative work. We invite the FSU community to join us in enjoying and celebrating the results of those efforts.”

One of the highlights of the Seminole Innovators Showcase is the collaboration with the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship. This partnership brings back the popular SharkTank pitch competition, where participants have the chance to win a $1000 grand prize.

“Each year, the Seminole Innovators Showcase raises the bar — and this year is no exception,” said Wes Dorce, faculty advisor for Seminole Innovators, a student group facilitated by the Innovation Hub. “What makes this event truly special is the way it unites students, faculty, staff and community partners around bold ideas and real-world innovation. I’m especially excited to see what groundbreaking ideas have been brewing in the Innovation Hub.”

Many projects being exhibited are created by members of the Seminole Innovators. The group allows students regardless of major, year or experience level to learn unique, cutting-edge skills in a variety of disciplines outside the classroom and put great projects in their portfolios.

“We at the Hub absolutely love putting on the Showcase, it’s like our Super Bowl,” said Jacob Javor, showcase organizer and former president of Seminole Innovators. “It’s the perfect opportunity to show everyone what amazing work is being done at FSU.”

The Showcase provides students the chance to present projects they worked on throughout the academic year.

“It’s a way for them to share the skills they’ve cultivated and celebrate their growth through real, hands-on work in technical areas they may not have had the opportunity to explore previously,” said Colby Jacobs, current president of Seminole Innovators.

Those interested in attending should RSVP, though it is not required. For more information and event details, visit innovation.fsu.edu/showcase.

Media interested in covering this event should RSVP to Jacob Javor jacob@innovation.fsu.edu.

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Florida State University recently held a Lunch and Learn graduate workshop on artificial intelligence (AI), bringing together graduate students from various disciplines to explore the impact of AI on teaching and research.

Students from across campus participated in the 90-minute event, which was held in collaboration between FSU’s Innovation Hub, Graduate School and the Office of the Provost.

“Artificial intelligence in both teaching and research are two areas that are extremely important for our graduate students, especially those that are looking at careers in academia,” said Paul Marty, associate vice provost for academic innovation and sponsor of the event. “We have graduate students from all different programs on campus here talking together, and it shows how topics like artificial intelligence bring people together from all disciplines to learn and share ideas together.”

The workshop featured lectures from Michael Neal, associate professor in the Department of English; Joshua Morgan, academic affairs administrator at the Office of Faculty Development and Advancement; Kyung Kim, social sciences librarian; and Liz Dunne, instruction and reference librarian.

“It’s very important for Florida State University to embrace all new academic innovations. I feel really strongly that we are a university that is embracing innovation across academia, and one of the things we have to do is work with our students so they understand how those tools can be used and what their limitations are.”

— Paul Marty, associate vice provost for academic innovation

The workshop also included discussions on the ethical and effective use of AI tools. The speakers emphasized the university’s commitment to embracing innovation through artificial intelligence and highlighted how they deal with AI in their own professional lives and in the classroom setting.

“It’s very important for Florida State University to embrace all new academic innovations,” Marty said. “I feel really strongly that we are a university that is embracing innovation across academia, and one of the things we have to do is work with our students so they understand how those tools can be used and what their limitations are.”

Graduate students were also encouraged to utilize resources like the Innovation Hub and the Graduate Student Resource Center to further their academic and professional growth.

“I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about AI use in both classrooms and research and to discuss with fellow graduate teaching assistants from various departments their experiences with either combating or introducing it in the classroom,” said Emily Lu, Department of History doctoral student. “I teach Japanese history. I have an anti-generative AI policy in my course, but this workshop made me consider educating students on the ethical use of generative AI and the possibility of incorporating it into the classroom as an educational tool.”

The workshop resonated with many participants who appreciated the university’s efforts to stay at the forefront of technological advancements.

“It was very encouraging to see FSU’s proactive approach to innovative technologies by offering clear guidelines for effectively using generative AI in teaching and research,” said international and multicultural education student Amber Noor Mustafa. “I believe that AI is only as effective as the user’s query, and FSU’s guidance can empower researchers and educators to harness AI’s potential, keeping pace with cutting-edge global research. AI is here to stay, and as researchers, staying informed about the latest advancements is essential, while as educators, we must strive to stay a step ahead of our students to enrich their learning experiences.”

For more information, visit ai.fsu.edu.

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