First there were cheers, a buzzing mascot, and a 53-foot trailer packed with new technology. Five days later, the celebration capped about 60 miles away with a robot dog, manufacturer meet-and-greets, and even more technology tours.
Along the way, the team from Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing (Georgia AIM) logged hundreds of miles and guided hundreds of visitors through new technology and project success stories as part of the first-ever Georgia AIM Week. The week of events across the state coincided with National Manufacturing Day on Friday, Oct. 4, celebrated the work done by Georgia AIM projects, and launched the Georgia AIM Mobile Studio.
“We developed Georgia AIM Week to highlight National Manufacturing Day and the work our projects are doing across Georgia to connect manufacturers and our workforce with new technology,” said Donna Ennis, co-director of Georgia AIM. “We’re working to revolutionize the industrial economy of Georgia and the nation through the equitable development and deployment of talent and innovation in artificial intelligence for all manufacturing sectors. Our events throughout Georgia AIM Week showed the range and depth of our programs working toward this goal.”
Georgia AIM is funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. It’s administered through the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Enterprise Innovation Institute.
Monday: It’s ‘go’ time
The week kicked off Monday, Sept. 30, in Atlanta on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Here, presentations by key project leaders began with a pep rally that included cheerleaders, music, and Buzz the Georgia Tech mascot. Special guest Cristina Killingsworth, acting assistant secretary of commerce and economic development for the U.S. Economic Development Administration, provided remarks on the significance of the Georgia AIM program to the state and the nation’s manufacturing future.
Project co-director Aaron Stebner, a professor of mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech, also alluded to this significance. Now entering its third year, Georgia AIM projects are seeing results from their efforts in K-12 education, workforce development, and manufacturing innovations.
“Georgia AIM is a collection of projects across the state that can change the economy of Georgia and create better jobs for Georgians. It can also impact our nation and as we see manufacturing reshore and onshore, it is the infusion of artificial intelligence that will make U.S. manufacturing competitive and a leader for decades to come,” said Stebner. “So, we are all about developing and deploying both the technology and the workforce that is going to enable that AI manufacturing economy.”
A highlight of the Atlanta kick-off event was the debut of the Georgia AIM Mobile Studio, a 53-foot trailer loaded with interactive smart technology such as virtual reality, robots, drones, and electronic systems. The studio will travel across the state to introduce communities to these technologies, showing residents and manufacturers what’s possible with these tools.
In addition to the kick off, the Georgia Minority Business Development Agency Business Center, a Georgia AIM partner, hosted an installment of its Manufacturing Advancement and Knowledge for Executives (M.A.K.E.) series nearby, which featured Stebner and Ennis speaking on manufacturing innovations.
Tuesday: Middle Georgia highlights
On Tuesday, Georgia AIM Week continued in Warner Robins and McDonough for events connected with the Technical College System of Georgia, one of Georgia AIM’s partners.
At the Veterans Education Career Transition Resource (VECTR) Center in Warner Robins, the Mobile Studio parked for tours alongside Fort Valley State University’s Mobile STEM Lab and Mobile Precision Agriculture Lab. Guests at the Middle Georgia Innovation Corridor Manufacturing Expo also toured the AI-Enhanced Robotic Manufacturing Studio and saw demonstrations by Houston County High School’s Flying Legion Robotics Team.
All of the projects on display, which included K-12 robotics, workforce development, and the mobile labs, were funded through Georgia AIM as part of the Middle Georgia Innovation Corridor and the 21st Century Partnership.
Meanwhile, Southern Crescent Technical College’s Henry County Center hosted a Georgia AIM Week event with the school’s mobile industrial lab and special presentations from students in the industrial technology program. The morning event was an opportunity to highlight the advanced skills the students are learning, and for others to hear about job opportunities available in this growing field.
Wednesday: Middle School drop-in
As Georgia AIM Week made its way across the state, some last-minute adjustments needed to be made following Hurricane Helene, which tore through central and eastern parts of the state the previous week. While Wednesday, Oct. 2, events in Augusta (hosted by the Georgia Cyber Innovation & Training Center) and Savannah (hosted by the Georgia Supply Chain and Logistics Institute and Fort Valley State University) had to be postponed, the team pivoted and scheduled a stop at the Herman J. Russell West End Academy in Atlanta. Here, middle school students toured the Georgia AIM Mobile Studio and got hands-on experience with virtual reality, drones, and robots.
The visit was made possible thanks to Georgia Tech’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), which coordinates the K-12 InVenture Prize and STEM education supports throughout the year. CEISMC, also a Georgia AIM partner project, hosted virtual coding classes for sixth- through 12th-graders throughout Georgia AIM Week.
Thursday: High school and beyond
On Thursday, several events highlighted the range of communities touched by Georgia AIM. The Georgia AIM Mobile Studio stopped at Colquitt County High School in Moultrie for tours throughout the day. Elsewhere, Georgia AIM Week was observed as part of West Georgia Manufacturing Day hosted by West Georgia Technical College in LaGrange, where more than 1,000 students from middle school to post-graduation learned about careers in manufacturing. In Atlanta, the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Consortium held its quarterly meeting to coincide with Georgia AIM Week, and a special medtech event took place at Georgia Tech’s Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility hosted by Georgia AIM partners Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) and the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP).
At Colquitt County, more than 100 juniors and seniors toured the Georgia AIM Mobile Studio. Many students already had ideas about AI but hadn’t fully considered how it could connect to their future careers — or, if AI careers were even possible in their rural part of the state.
Morgan Powell, a senior at Colquitt County High School, said she thought AI could come in handy for quick calculations or information searches. But she was skeptical that AI had a place in her rural hometown.
“That’s what they do in cities,” she said as she waited to tour the Georgia AIM Mobile Studio. Tech-based careers happened in tall buildings, she and her friends noted, not in their quiet corner of Georgia.
But then they paused, considering the technology now in their school’s parking lot. “I guess we can do these things here,” added Powell, noting the 3-D printers and other tools they could now access through the mobile studio and their own high school. Colquitt County and the larger Southwest Georgia region is served by Georgia AIM’s partnership with the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission, which has funded new technology in school career academies and is developing a regional disaster management plan using AI.
Friday: Wrapping up at UGA
The final day of Georgia AIM Week was also National Manufacturing Day and took place at the University of Georgia in Athens. Hosted by the College of Engineering’s Innovation Factory lab, the day featured visits from local manufacturers, guest speakers, tours of the Innovation Factory space and the Georgia AIM Mobile Studio.
Beshoy Morkos, an associate professor in the UGA College of Engineering whose lab is developing technology vignettes for the Georgia AIM Mobile Studio, told the crowd that it was an exciting day when he and his lab learned about the Georgia AIM grant because it helped connect the entire state to these emerging technologies.
“We might know what AI is because we’re here on a college campus, but if you go to other places in Georgia, people might not feel as connected,” he said. “We want to provide exposure and access to this technology.”
The Georgia AIM Mobile Studio is a collaboration between the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), UGA College of Engineering, Technologists of Color, and KITT Labs.
Overall, Georgia AIM Week connected hundreds of students, local officials, educators, and Georgia residents to the opportunities presented with smart technologies. By connecting these technologies with manufacturing sectors across the state, it allows more opportunities for the state’s economy to grow and become more resilient.
“We’ve done a lot in two years, working in our schools, our technical colleges, our four-year institutions, our workforce development programs, and alongside our manufacturers,” said Ennis. “Georgia AIM Week celebrated these strides. Now we’re hitting the next level, connecting with more communities and helping more Georgians understand the value that AI brings. Georgia AIM Week in 2025 will be even better.”