IO Scholarships summit to link students with AI and space leaders in Miami Beach

IO Scholarships Foundation will host its STEAM Innovation Summit 2026 on Aug. 29 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, bringing students together with leaders in AI, space technology, genomics and entrepreneurship. The event is designed to expand mentorship, scholarships and workforce training access for more than 10,000 students IO Scholarships serves nationwide.

Why it matters: - IO Scholarships is trying to connect students with the people, training and networks that can open doors in AI, space technology and other STEAM fields. - The summit aims to turn interest in emerging technologies into scholarships, mentorship, workforce AI training and career access. - The event also gives recruiters a way to reach STEAM talent, which can speed up hiring and industry-school connections.

What happened: - IO Scholarships Foundation will host the STEAM Innovation Summit 2026 on Saturday, Aug. 29, at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida. - The summit will bring together students, technology leaders, entrepreneurs, recruiters and community leaders around innovation, mentorship and careers. - IO Scholarships serves more than 10,000 high school, university and graduate students nationwide, with multicultural and first-generation representation. - Attendance will be available in person or through free livestream registration. - More information is available on the organization’s website.

The details: - Maria Fernanda Trochimezuk, founder and CEO of IO Scholarships Foundation, said the summit is designed to put emerging innovators in the same room with people building technologies, companies and solutions that can change the world. - The opening session will feature Trochimezuk and Juan Carlos Gutierrez, managing director, technology and innovation, at Amazon Web Services. - Nelson Badillo, a mechanical engineering Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University and visiting operations engineer on NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will present “Exploring the Cosmos, One (Soft) Robot at a Time.” - The panel “Grey Hair and Young Blood: How Two-Way Mentorship Creates Cutting-Edge Innovation” will include Pete Martinez, chairman and CEO of SIVOTEC, and Robert Cancio, director of product development at SIVOTEC. - SIVOTEC’s GENA AI-powered genomic analysis platform is aimed at diagnostics and precision medicine. - GENA 3.0 is being developed as an AI clinical decision-support tool that will create scored, evidence-based differential diagnoses for complex and difficult-to-diagnose cases. - SIVOTEC says GENA has supported more than 1,600 geneticists, 160,000 case analyses and users in 40+ countries. - Other sessions will include Daya Brown, founder of Elom & Co. Productions and author of The Heart of the Matter Poetry Collection, presenting “Funded. Founded. Fearless.” - Another session, “Using Technology to Create Impact,” will feature Ashley Prado, president of the FIU Society of Women Engineers, and Veronica Rojas Mora, an undergraduate computer science student at Florida International University. - The summit will end with the Innovators of the Future Scholarship Awards Presentation and the Fiesta STEAM Cultural Dance Performance. - Event times run from registration at 9:00 a.m. to a 1:30 p.m. conclusion, with an executive breakfast at 9:15 a.m. and opening remarks at 9:30 a.m. - The event is supported by the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority. - Davos Club is a community partner supporting visibility and engagement.

Between the lines: - The program mixes hard-tech sessions with culture and community programming, signaling an effort to make STEAM feel broader and more accessible than a standard industry conference. - The lineup also blends academic, corporate and entrepreneurial voices, which suggests IO Scholarships is positioning the summit as a bridge between education and employment. - SIVOTEC’s presence shows a focus on applied AI in healthcare, not just consumer-facing or general-purpose AI.

What’s next: - Students, recruiters and partners will gather in Miami Beach on Aug. 29 for the one-day summit. - IO Scholarships will use the event to award emerging STEAM and entrepreneurship talent and promote future scholarship and career pathways. - Livestream registration will extend access beyond in-person attendees.