Epic Universe Becomes a Classroom for Future Innovators 

Community Relations

College Students from Across the Country Come Together for Inspiring Future Innovators Summit

College students from across the country stepped inside Universal Epic Universe for a rare opportunity: to use Universal Destinations & Experiences’ most technologically advanced theme park as an interactive classroom during the Inspiring Future Innovators Summit, an immersive, multi-day experience hosted by Universal and Comcast at Universal Orlando Resort. 

Convening educators, nonprofit organizations and industry professionals, the summit brought together more than 40 students from the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management, Heights Philadelphia, CodePath and Urban Arts, spanning disciplines from software engineering and game design to hospitality management. 

Uniting students with different backgrounds and areas of study, the summit created space to collaborate, learn directly from industry leaders and explore career pathways across technology, entertainment and hospitality. 

“The best thing about collaborating with different students is the different perspectives. We can look at the same object or maybe the same theme, or the same attraction, but really get something different from it. And the way people interpret the park is so remarkable,” said Denisa Cakoni, CodePath student.  

The summit reinforces Universal’s commitment to developing future industry leaders through its recent $10 million investment in the first-of-its-kind Universal School of Experience Leadership and Innovation at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management.  

The experience also reflects the company's global corporate social responsibility strategy focused on creating unforgettable experiences, serving local community needs and inspiring future innovators. 

It is also part of Project UP, Comcast's $1 billion initiative to advance digital equity and empower the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, storytellers and creators. Throughout the experience, students were encouraged to consider how ingenuity shapes the experiences that connect people and open doors to new possibilities.