Fall 2024 TechFest Visits Florida Schools

Published Dec 12, 2024

Fall 2024 TechFest Visits Florida Schools

Full Sail’s fall TechFest brought esports and STEM to Florida high school students.

Two people at TechFest explore a driving simulator next to an ‘Emerging Tech’ display with gadgets and a laptop on the table.

Full Sail’s TechFest returned to Florida high schools for its fall circuit in 2024, bringing STEM-related experiences to students preparing for the next step in their educational journey. With live demonstrations, interactive activities, and an esports competition, Full Sail showcased the wide variety of career opportunities available in emerging technology fields.

Representatives from Full Sail's Admissions, Support, and Student Liaison departments visited 18 Florida high schools, including Jupiter High School, Windermere High, and Avant Garde Academy, giving students insights into careers in game design and development, esports, augmented and virtual reality, and more.

A boy wearing a VR headset interacts with a virtual environment, surrounded by vibrant tech-themed displays and attendees nearby.

A Florida high school student at the VR booth during TechFest.

“STEM and technology-related degree programs are of massive interest in many different industries. Those fields are growing, whether it's in AI, robotics, or computer science, and it seems like they always need someone to code or program something,” shares Outreach Events Manager Eddie Sanchez.

Educational stations at TechFest allowed Florida high schoolers to get hands-on experience in coding, projection mapping, augmented reality, and character creation in Unreal Engine. Meanwhile, esports competitions at each school earned select players invitations to the annual High School Invitational hosted at the Full Sail University Orlando Health Fortress in Winter Park.

A gaming tournament is underway with players seated at monitors, a commentator speaking, and a lively audience in a brightly lit arena.

Students visit the Fortress for the High School Invitational.

A total of 160 students from all 18 schools traveled to the Fortress for the finals event, where family, friends, and educators cheered on competitors in the Fortress as they competed in Super Smash Bros. for the chance at scholarship funds.

For the second time in TechFest history, one school – Westside High School – swept the competition, earning the top three spots. Student Jean Perpillant III was awarded a $15,000 Full Sail scholarship for his first-place finish. Marcos Lima came in second, receiving a $10,000 scholarship, and Sean Velez was awarded $5,000 in scholarship funds after placing third.

Winning high schoolers from Westside High pose on stage with their trophy and medals in the Full Sail University Orlando Health Fortress.

The winning students pose on stage together at the finals event.

For Eddie, students visiting the campus only reactivates the joy that comes with bringing STEM education to Florida high schoolers, saying, “You get that sense of awe from the kids when they come to campus, and they see what you've been saying in the tour, they see that it's true. Then the parents too. The parents come in, and they're like, ‘Wow, this is really cool. I wish this was around when I was going to school.’ So when they make comments like that, you're just like, ‘Wow, this is why we do this.’”

Traveling and visiting schools can be an arduous effort for staff, but the reward is well worth the sacrifice, according to Eddie. “The grind is worth it when you have students who really enjoy what they experience, and they really verbalize it, and they give you a big high five, and they say, ‘Yeah, I'm going here.’ It makes it all worth it.”