In the heart of Orlando, the gaming technology industry has been flourishing, leaving a significant impact on various sectors, including defense, medicine, space, and education. For people like Carol Ann Logue, the impacts of this industry lead to an opportunity to launch the Central Florida Tech Grove.
Carol Ann is the Director of UCF’s Business Incubation Program. She is also the Co-Founder of the Central Florida Tech Grove, an initiative that emerged when she was approached by Captain Tim Hill, who at the time, was the Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division.
The Tech Grove’s initiative is aimed at leveraging innovations to solve problems for military commands and is a collaboration between the UCF Research Foundation and the military. The opportunity has enabled Carol Ann to connect with smaller companies and innovators around Orlando who are developing cutting-edge technology for training and simulation.
Carol Ann also works closely with community organizers such as Kunal Patel, who is the Co-Founder of IndieNomicon and OMG Labs. Since 2012, Kunal has curated a large, diverse community of game developers across the Orlando region with the purpose of supporting the industry while building bridges for the game dev community to other sectors; specifically Space, Defense, Health and Entertainment.
Supporting entrepreneurs daily, Carol Ann’s role involves nurturing and guiding creators and innovators to transform their dreams into successful businesses. Throughout her professional journey, she has found herself surrounded by mentors who saw untapped potential in her abilities and provided her with opportunities to flourish.
"I have found throughout my life that God has put people in my path that have had a greater vision for me than I have, or seen potential in me that I've not seen myself. Where I am now is a result of people that saw me as someone that had the necessary skills and character and abilities and drive to accomplish something that they needed help with."