Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Proud of ECE students for tackling a real academic program challenge: helping peers (and future students) better understand ECE Threads — our curriculum pathways.

Through the first-ever "Innovate ECE: Ultimate Thread Challenge" this semester, students created projects that make the threads more tangible and accessible.

🔗 https://b.gatech.edu/4mZc4AR

Article includes videos of project demonstrations and photos from the challenge.

And, of course, congrats to the winners!
🔘 Grand Prize + Best in Thread: Andrew Lemons
🔘 Best Documentation Award: Zachary Evans, Will Sasadu
🔘 People's Choice Award: Kayla Becker
🔘 Best in Threads: Michael Rascher, Jaivardhan Jain, Alex Sareh, Keven Diaz, Aditya Chickmath, Saksham B., Matthew Cargill, Samuel Hauck, Zane Peacock, Zahra Mohseni
🔘 Honorable Mention: Dibéline Wa'aloun, Luke S Wu, Eugene Li

Big thanks to the judges (comprised of staff, faculty, and alumni) and Lakshmi Raju for organizing the challenge.

ECE students delivered a standout performance at the Georgia Tech Spring 2026 Capstone Design Expo last night.

Congrats to the "Fall Detection and Alert" team for Best ECE Project. ECE students also played key roles in the Overall Best Project and Best Interdisciplinary Project.

🔗 https://lnkd.in/eNcR7tnZ

📸 https://lnkd.in/e3ustXqE

cc: College of Engineering at Georgia Tech

DON'T FORGET: ECE Pre-Finals Wellness Drop-In is tomorrow!

Build your own finals care package, grab limited edition ECE SWAG, and pet a dog!

See you at the TI Plaza (green space outside Van Leer) from 11-1 on the last instructional day of the academic year.

The Wellness Empowerment Center, Center for Mental Health, and Belonging & Student Support will be on hand as well.

"I wanted to do one thing growing up — work for NASA so I could launch big rockets that go to the Moon."

Shawn Quinn, EE 1990
Manager, Exploration Ground Systems
NASA

🚨 Judges wanted! 🚨

Innovate ECE is a hands-on student competition showcasing real-world ECE Thread projects. We’re seeking GT ECE alumni and industry pros to help judge the challenge.

Interested in supporting student innovation? Fill out the form: https://bit.ly/485DXkc.

Great conversations at the Spring 2026 ECE Advisory Board meeting, from a new faculty perspective panel to student insights from the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program and Opportunity Research Scholars (ORS), alongside strategic discussions on the future of the School. Grateful to our Advisory Board members for their time, insight, and continued partnership in shaping what’s next for ECE.

ECE student Stephen Fazio is continuing to scale his company, ZipString. After appearing on Shark Tank in 2022 and selling more than two million units worldwide, the toy brand’s newest invention, ZipString Aracna, was nominated for Kidult Toy of the Year at the 2026 Toy of the Year Awards, often considered the “Oscars of the toy industry.”

First created in a Georgia Tech dorm room, ZipString uses gravity, lift, tension, and drag to keep a loop of string airborne. The new wrist-mounted Aracna launches a loop at speeds over 35 mph and retracts instantly. With new products launching and expansion into additional toy categories underway, Fazio plans to lead ZipString full-time after graduation. 🐝

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Georgia Tech Student’s Invention Nominated for Toy of the Year Founded by current electrical engineering student Stephen Fazio, the growing toy brand ZipString earned recognition for its latest invention at the “Oscars of the toy industry.”

As we watch Olympic athletes compete in the snow, ECE researchers are also working in the cold.

Whether in the lab or in Antarctica, they are pushing the boundaries of technology to help sensors work in space missions and advance quantum computing in temperatures near absolute zero.

ECE Professor Omer Inan is working on a wristband that would help calm the stress reaction for patients with PTSD or other stress-related disorders. The wristband senses physiological changes and delivers electrical stimulation to specific nerves to counteract it.

The lab has found that targeting the median nerve in the wrist can begin to blunt the body’s overreaction to stress within 10-15 seconds.

Congrats to Rashad James for being named ECE's director of operations!

After guiding the unit as interim director, Rashad will continue to strengthen ECE’s operational foundation and support its expanding research enterprise. We look forward to his continued impact in this role!

🔗 https://b.gatech.edu/4qaYDgX

ECE needs help telling what makes your Thread special.

Enter Innovate ECE: The Ultimate Thread Challenge and build a Thread‑themed project that helps others see what makes your Thread worth pursuing.

Threads are curated pathways of required and elective courses that shape the kind of electrical or computer engineer you want to become — and your project can help future students see what each Thread offers in a real, tangible way.

Open to all ECE students (teams welcome!)
🟡 Register by Feb 6 • Final submissions Mar 31
🟡 Winners get prizes + features on ECE platforms.

Learn more: https://sewb.ece.gatech.edu/thread-challenge/