6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: News from Brightline, Mindspace, FIU, Blockchain.com, FAU, MDC, Jobox, Moonshot Awards & more

1

Brightline on track to finish Boca, Aventura stations this year

Brightline’s new station in Boca Raton will open and passenger service will start before the end of the year, the train company said. Boca will become its fourth South Florida station, after Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach

Brightline says it expects around 1.8 million visitors annually to use its service to visit Boca by 2025. The Brightline Boca station will be 22,000 square feet, with lounges for passengers in Smart and Premium classes. Also to open is a 455-space parking garage, with one floor reserved for the adjacent downtown library.

Brightline also said it plans to finish its new station in Aventura before the end this year, and it expects to open service to Orlando early 2023.

2

Mindspace opening location in Wynwood

Mindspace, a co-working company, has secured more than 30,000 square feet within The Gateway at Wynwood, The Tel Aviv-based company announced. It will be company’s first location, and the facility with 435 workspaces on the sixth floor of the Gateway is expected to open next year. It will be Mindspace’s first location in Miami.

“Flexible offices are on the rise and Mindspace is on a growth trajectory,” Zakai stated, adding that the company doubled its office portfolio over the course of 2022 across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States.

Mindspace is a global premium flex office provider with 40 locations in over 20 cities worldwide, including San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington and Washington DC. Mindspace Gateway will offer an on-site parents’ room, a podcast room, shared access to the outdoor terrace and to the penthouse rooftop terrace.

Inside The Gateway at Wynwood, Mindspace will join the Keith Rabois-led startup, OpenStore, crypto company Ripple, biopharma company Veru, and brokerage Marcus & Millichap.

WeWork counts Miami as its top performing market and is in talks to open two new locations after forgoing a location at 830 Brickell. Another competitor, Industrious, is planning to open locations in West Palm Beach, Aventura and Miami Beach, the Commercial Observer reported.

3

FIU partners with Blockchain.com for Web3 education

 Florida International University  has partnered with cryptocurrency platform Blockchain.com to expand Web3 and cryptocurrency education at the university.
 
Through FIU’s Innovative Education and Student Success initiatives, the partnership will help identify new opportunities for learners interested in tech and Web3 through intentional curricular, co-curricular, and continuing education programming and courses, showcasing Blockchain.com’s commitment to education and accessibility.
 
Within the next two years, Blockchain.com projects a local workforce with hundreds of employees. With FIU enrolling approximately 56,000 students across the university’s 190 programs, the university serves as a key pipeline and significant partner for talent development and student success.
  
Growing demand from students and graduates seeking careers in tech has doubled FIU’s enrollment numbers in computing and information technology majors in the last five years. Nationally, experts predict jobs in computing and information technology will grow to 13% by 2030, resulting in more than 650,000 jobs. Since moving its headquarters to Miami, Blockchain.com alone has doubled its workforce and has hired locals across South Florida’s top universities, including FIU.
 
During the 2022-2023 school year, students, alumni, and community members will have the chance to connect with and explore opportunities including internships, workshops, and guest lectures through this partnership. More details about these opportunities and the partnership between Blockchain.com and FIU will be shared this fall.

4

FAU lands NSF grant for ‘smart’ streetscapes

Florida Atlantic University’s Institute for Sensing and Embedded Network Systems Engineering (I-SENSE) and College of Engineering and Computer Science have landed a major National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center grant with Columbia University, Rutgers University, the University of Central Florida, and Lehman College.

The new Engineering Research Center for Smart Streetscapes (CS3)  will be supported for five years with $26 million; renewable for an additional five years, for a total of up to $52 million. The program is NSF’s flagship engineering program to catalyze convergent research to address large-scale societal challenges. FAU President John Kelly said: “CS3will provide important pathways for universities, government, industry and community stakeholders to collaboratively improve quality of life, enhance social equity, and stimulate economic development through innovative and cutting-edge smart city technologies.”

The nation’s streetscapes – neighborhood streets, sidewalks and public spaces – d are prime sites for deploying engineering research to fortify society. A “smart streetscape” could instantly sense human behavior and guide disabled pedestrians, collect refuse, control pests, amplify emergency services, and protect people against environmental and health threats. At FAU, CS3builds upon a longstanding partnership with the City of West Palm Beach, developed through the West Palm Beach Mobility Intelligence Project, led by FAU’s I-SENSE. Launched in 2019, and supported through the City of West Palm Beach, the Knight Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, the pedestrian mobility sensing project plays a central role in CS3.

5

A double helping of opportunities at MDC Tech for students, alumni

• Miami Dade College’s School of Engineering and Technology has created the Javier Coto Scholarship in honor of late MDC professor Javier Coto. Funded by Miami-Dade County, the scholarship is available to students who enroll in tech courses the fall, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data analytics, internet of things, app development and more. Eligible students must be residents of Miami-Dade County, have applied for financial aid and are enrolled in select tech courses. Recipients will receive tuition reimbursement. EnTec is a component of MDC Tech, a gateway to connect students, community members and employers with tech offerings at MDC. For more information about the scholarship, learn more here or contact entec@mdc.edu.
• Also, Correlation One‘s Data Science for All (DS4A) program is open for applications. This program helps jumpstart, redirect and grow a new data-oriented career. Graduates are connected to the jobs of tomorrow in technology and they receive college credits towards the Bachelor degree in Data Analytics at Miami Dade College. The program is free and is specially looking for students from Hispanic, Black or any other underrepresented ethnicity or background. For MDC students/alumni interested, make sure you include on your application that you study or studied  at MDC. The deadline to apply is Sept 2nd. Learn more here.

READ MORE: MDC, FIU, FAU and PBSC awarded $6.2M in state funds to skill up students for cybersecurity demand

6

More #MiamiTech news to note

• Jobox.ai, a software company that provides home service marketplaces with an AI-based infrastructure to directly connect their customers with skilled trades professionals, announced its partnership with Pop-A-Lock, a locksmithing franchise, to help locksmiths get and manage jobs, send job referrals to other pros, and take control of payments and weekly settlements through Jobox’s automated technology including distribution of referral fees, reports, and more.  Jobox also recently announced partnerships with Stripe to offer business financial accounts to help pros streamline money management, and with NEXT Insurance, to provide Jobox users access to personalized insurance. Jobox powers business for more than 6,000 pros in 39 states across the U.S., and has processed more than $1B of transactions on its platform.
• Twenty-one companies from Florida, Georgia and Alabama have been selected as finalists for the 2022 Cade Prize for Innovation. Among those competing for $64,000 in prize money are Boca Raton-based Neptuna Ocean Power, Miami-based Ambulero, Coral Gables-based Coflow Jet Wind Turbines and Pinecrest-based Portable Solar. Winners will be announced Sept. 29. The  annual competition – which celebrates early-stage inventions – is the capstone initiative of the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, which is named after Dr. James Robert Cade, Gatorade’s lead inventor. Learn more here.
• Fetch is now available in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. Founded in 2017 in Atlanta, Fetch is the first peer-to-peer truck rental company that enables instant contactless truck rentals. Fetch offers box trucks, cargo vans, and pickup trucks on an hourly, daily and weekly basis. Fetch enables customers to skip the counter and unlock their rental truck or van from their mobile device.  “Given the expansive economic growth across Florida, we’re thrilled to bring Fetch’s unique, contactless truck rental to Florida, ” said Adam Steinberg, CEO of Fetch.