MARIETTA, Ga. — Kennesaw State University announced what it called a major milestone with the opening of the Hornet Hub, a dedicated 12,000-square-foot facility for student competition teams.
The facility opened on the university’s Marietta campus. The building provides those teams, which design and build projects for regional and national competitions, with dedicated space, equipment, and resources so they can bring ambitious ideas from concept to completion.
The Hornet Hub features six competition team bays, six team rooms, a conference room, a 1,280-square-foot machine shop, a 725-square-foot digital fabrication lab, and 1,300 square feet of community space.
Teams now housed in the building include KSU Motorsports, Night Owl Racing, the Aerial Robotics Competition Team, and the Hydraulic Bike Team, among others.
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University leaders and community members gathered outside the facility for the official ribbon cutting on Sept. 18. The celebration included guided tours of the new team spaces and a drone performance.
KSU President Kathy S. Schwaig said the facility would play a role in preparing students for professional life after graduation, saying KSU students were “fierce competitors.”
“Behind every competition is a team of students working together to meet deadlines and solve problems,” Schwaig said. “That is experiential learning at its best, preparing Owls to contribute as industries and the Georgia economy evolve.
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Lawrence Whitman, Dean of the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology said the Hornet Hub is the future of KSU’s engineering competitions.
Reflecting on the history of the Marietta campus, which was originally a separate college, Whitman said the Hornet Hub calls back to more than 50 years of traditional competition at the campus.
“The Hornet Hub creates an environment where students can collaborate across disciplines, apply what they learn in the classroom, and develop the professional skills they will carry into their careers,” Whitman said. “It builds on our long tradition of hands-on learning while creating new opportunities for students and faculty to explore ideas, advance research and innovation, and strengthen connections across our colleges.”
Modern home for modern teams
Previously, KSU’s student competition teams were housed in structures built in the 1970s and 1980s that no longer provided the infrastructure or capacity needed to support their growing technology and equipment needs. The new facility brings many of those resources under one roof, allowing students to move freely between team workspaces, fabrication areas, and shared spaces without crossing campus.
By creating a more collaborative and efficient environment for design, testing, and fabrication, the Hornet Hub is positioning student teams for continued success on the national stage. Earlier in 2026, Kennesaw Motorsports earned a top-five finish in the Cost Event with its electric vehicle, while the Hydraulic Bike Team placed third overall at the National Fluid Power Association’s Vehicle Challenge and first in the Sprint Race.
Students skills at the center
For Nicholas Montana, a senior mechatronics major and president of KSU’s Electric Vehicle Team, the shared environment opens new doors for cross-team learning.
KSU said Montana’s experience has helped him build skills in troubleshooting, communication, documentation, leadership, and teamwork, all while applying classroom concepts to real-world engineering systems.
“We now have a shared space where teams can collaborate, exchange ideas, learn from one another, and access manufacturing capabilities and equipment that many of us have not had before,” Montana said. “This building will allow every competition team here to thrive.”
Whitman echoed that sentiment, describing the Hornet Hub as a foundation for expanding experiential learning at Kennesaw State for years to come.
“This facility gives us a foundation to continue expanding experiential learning at Kennesaw State for years to come,” Whitman said.
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