TLDR: Miami Dade College (MDC) students recently showcased their innovative solutions to real-world business challenges, collaborating with local startups through the Miami Tech Works and U.S. Chamber Foundation’s Employer-Provided Innovation Challenges (EPIC) program. Over five weeks, 20 students from various tech disciplines, including AI and machine learning, worked with four startups – Spark Founders, Syneurgy, Hakim AI, and AllPeeP – to develop practical solutions, bridging the gap between academic learning and industry application. The program, part of the broader Miami Tech Works initiative funded by a $10 million grant, aims to cultivate a skilled tech talent pipeline in South Florida.
Miami Dade College (MDC) students recently demonstrated their ingenuity and collaborative spirit at the inaugural EPIC Challenge Student Showcase, a culmination of their participation in the Employer-Provided Innovation Challenges (EPIC) program. This initiative, a cornerstone of Miami Tech Works and a creation of the U.S. Chamber Foundation, connects college students with local employers to tackle authentic business problems, fostering practical skills and real-world experience.
Over a five-week period, 20 MDC students, enrolled in associate or bachelor’s degree programs spanning data science, software engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning engineering, partnered with four dynamic startups: Spark Founders, Syneurgy, Hakim AI (formerly CoCreator), and AllPeeP. These collaborations aimed to solve specific business challenges while simultaneously enhancing the students’ technical and professional competencies through project-based learning.
On July 29, the students presented their impactful projects to an audience comprising faculty, employers, technology ecosystem leaders, and community members. Terri-Ann Brown, Director for Miami Tech Works, emphasized the program’s core mission in her opening remarks, stating, “Connecting students with employers to gain real-world experience is at the heart of what Miami Tech Works is all about. EPIC is doing real work for real companies, and we’re seeing the application of what is learned in the classroom in action.”
The projects undertaken by the students varied, ranging from infrastructure development to user experience (UX) and AI enhancements. For instance, Hakim AI tasked students with redesigning its website to improve storytelling, usability, and overall user flow. Michael Mannino, co-founder of Syneurgy, an AI platform designed to improve team collaboration, praised the students’ dedication: “As an entrepreneur, you have to have different qualities such as flexibility, creativity, self-discipline, and curiosity. Our student team embraced those qualities, doing meaningful work that produced impactful results.” D’Angelo Senat, founder of AllPeeP, a software development/SaaS company, also shared positive feedback, noting, “The past five weeks has been a great experience for our company.”
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The EPIC program’s overarching goal is to bridge the critical gap between theoretical classroom learning and practical industry application. This aligns perfectly with the broader objectives of Miami Tech Works, an initiative launched in early 2023 with a substantial $10 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Good Jobs Challenge. The success of these student-startup collaborations underscores the program’s effectiveness in cultivating a skilled and adaptable tech workforce for South Florida’s burgeoning innovation economy.
