¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ

From robotics to AI to makerspaces, George Mason's summer camps let students build with emerging tech and learn to use it responsibly.

At first glance, it might seem unusual for a graphic design major to intern at a car dealership. But for ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ rising senior Rayna Roades, her role as a marketing operations intern at Pohanka Automotive has revealed a strong connection between the creative skills she’s learned in the classroom and the work she’s doing in the professional world.

Zachary Suh, a marketing major in the Costello College of Business and member of the Honors College at ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ, founded HomePlate,a meal service for seniors, in his sophomore year.

When students step into AVT 496 Intro to VR for the Artist, they’re not just walking into another studio course—they’re entering entirely new worlds of their own making. ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ’s School of Art launched the course this spring, marking its first-ever deep dive into virtual reality (VR) as an artistic medium. 

At ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ, innovation isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a culture. One of the campus spaces championing this culture is the Mason Innovation Exchange (MIX), a hub where creativity and entrepreneurship intersect.

The Mason Innovation Exchange (MIX) at ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ is more than a makerspace—it’s a resource for transforming how faculty teach, explore, and conduct research.

Fatima Majid was not just the only one-person team in the top 10 award winners at a recent National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) cyber competition, she was the only student team. Yet she placed ninth out of 51 teams, most of them comprising working professionals.

With the opening of the new Visualization and Virtual Reality Lab in Research Hall, George Mason has the opportunity to be part of this global movement and to be a leader in transdisciplinary research.

From the fabrication floor to the incubator’s loft, the MIX demonstrates how principles of entrepreneurship and innovation aren’t so easily siloed with two new courses: BLIMP and Student Innovator Mastermind.

As Virginia’s largest research university, Mason is an economic driver in the region and the state. Read how the Mason Nation is making a difference in the workforce.