Tampa Bay's Newest University is Ready to 'LAUNCH'

With completion of the Innovation, Science and Technology Building behind them and a lineup of 500 inaugural students waiting for the first day of classes Aug. 25, leaders at Tampa Bay’s newest university are ready to celebrate.

That’s why they’re hosting a two days of events Aug. 15-16. The celebration begins with a gala, dubbed PIVOT, on Aug. 15 in the new IST building at 7 p.m. Tickets for the event, which will help fund scholarships, are $360 and are available online.

A public LAUNCH gets under way Saturday at 9:45 a.m. and includes a “vivid pyrotechnics display (that) will shower the campus lake adjacent to the state-of-the-art IST Building,” said Crystal Lauderdale, university spokeswoman.

Saturday’s celebration includes an open house from 10:30 to 11:30 that is open to the public at no charge.

All incoming students to the new Lakeland university are receiving an Inaugural Class scholarship automatically, Lauderdale said. The university’s board of trustees has also approved a scholarship program for the 2015-16 academic year, which will be funded in part by Friday’s gala.

As for Saturday’s public open house, Lauderdale said it is a great chance for Bay area residents to come and check out the new university.

“We’ll have several special guest speakers, pyrotechnics, light refreshments, and we will be opening the Innovation, Science and Technology Building, designed by world-renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, for the first time for everyone to see and explore,” she said. “The building is truly stunning and unique.”

Based in Lakeland, Florida Polytechnic offers programs in science, technology, engineering and computers.

For more information about the school, visit its website.

Photo Credit: Florida Polytechnic University’s Innovation, Science and Technology Building. Courtesy of Florida Polytechnic University.