Experiential Learning Leadership Summit Connects Student Leaders, Alumni, and Faculty
November 3, 2026
By Tracie Troha
Student leaders, alumni, faculty, and staff from the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering gathered Oct. 16 for the second annual Experiential Learning Leadership Summit, an event focused on strengthening the hands-on learning opportunities that help students design, build, compete, connect, and lead.
Held in the GTMI Atrium, the summit brought together approximately 50 participants representing organizations and programs including the Flowers Invention Studio, the Student Competition Center, the Georgia Tech chapters of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Nuclear Society, the Medical Robotics Club, and the ME 2110 course.
The summit was created by Amit Jariwala, director of design, innovation and experiential learning, to give student organizations an opportunity to share best practices, discuss common challenges, and identify ways the School can better support experiential learning.
“Student-led organizations are among Georgia Tech's most powerful experiential learning environments. But sustaining these opportunities requires more than facilities and funding. It requires developing future leaders, preserving institutional knowledge, and learning from the students about what we as a School can do to help them,” Jariwala said.
Participants took part in workshops and breakout discussions covering outreach and recruitment; motivation, morale, and burnout; documentation and institutional memory; and safety culture. In addition, they received safety kits, part of an initiative to support students working in makerspaces, machine shops, laboratories, and other experiential learning environments.
Attendees also heard from alumni during a panel discussion featuring Danielle Newman, ME 2022; Thomas Spencer, B.S. ME 2015, M.S. ME 2017, Ph.D. ME 2020; Lawson Sumner, ME 2020; and Naim Vasaya, B.S. ME 2018, M.S. ME 2019.
For students, the conversations provided an opportunity to learn from peers facing similar challenges.
“I really enjoyed the breakout sessions since it let me discuss a topic I care about (documentation) with others who have similar interests, including professionals,” said Aditya Bose-Bandyopadhyay, a third-year mechanical engineering student and president of the Invention Studio at Georgia Tech, the student organization that runs the Flowers Invention Studio. “The sessions let me actively participate in the discussions with other students, letting me learn from other Georgia Tech and professional organizations.”
Bose-Bandyopadhyay said his most valuable takeaway from the summit was that “everyone is just trying to make a better space for their organization and its future members.”
“The fact that everyone is open to communicating and working together to provide a better environment for the future students at this School is a feature that became deeply ingrained at this event,” he said.
Valentina Diaz Romero, a third-year mechanical engineering student and president of Georgia Tech Solar Racing, said hearing from other organizations helped participants find shared challenges and consider solutions from different perspectives.
“I definitely left with a better understanding of the resources that the Woodruff School has for student organizations to reach out to for alumni and corporate interactions,” she said.
This year, the summit offered mini-grants of up to $2,000 to turn discussion into action. Student organizations could propose projects that address long-standing challenges while showing how their ideas could improve experiential learning, create measurable impact, and remain sustainable.
Jariwala said the grants are intended to encourage students to think beyond immediate needs and invest in improvements that can benefit their organizations over the long term.
By bringing students, alumni, faculty, and staff together, Jariwala said, the summit aimed to build a stronger network of support for experiential learning and the students who lead it.
