MIT Lands in Miami: Inside the Collaboration Shaping the Mana Tech Innovation Center
The future of Downtown Miami’s skyline took a step forward this month as MIT Sloan MBA students visited Mana Tech to contribute research and strategy during the project’s planning phase.
Jan 27, 2026 · 2 Minute Read 
What began as academic research moved into the city this month, as MBA students from MIT’s Sloan School of Management traveled to Miami to partner with Mana Tech through the MIT Sloan MENA Lab, under the academic guidance of Professor Jacob Cohen, Senior Associate Dean at MIT Sloan, and led by students Paul Guiloff and Michael Ben Aharon.
While innovation hubs are often studied in the classroom through case studies or models, this analysis examined Miami through real-world conditions like geography, culture, access to capital, and the needs of companies entering U.S. markets.
The MIT Sloan Fellows conducted their research by studying leading global innovation hubs like MIT Media Lab, CIC (Cambridge/Boston), Station F (Paris), Plug and Play Tech Center, High Tech Campus Eindhoven, CUBO Itaú (São Paulo), Epicenter (Stockholm), and more. This research focused on why organizations have chosen these hubs, what offerings have the highest value, and what motivates early commitment to a new innovation hub.
The students’ goal was to identify which elements of successful existing models were most relevant to Miami’s evolving innovation ecosystem, and how those insights could be applied to attract scale-up companies, venture capital firms, and corporate innovation teams into Downtown Miami. Rather than replicating existing hubs, the work focused on adapting the best global practices to align with Miami’s position as a gateway for international and local companies.
Furthermore, the visit highlighted the longstanding relationship between Mana Tech and MIT Sloan, as a previous collaboration helped shape the organization’s early development, including the connection with Conrado Morais that led him to join Mana Tech as Chief Operating Officer.
“Full-circle moments like this don’t happen by chance,” Morais said. “It’s incredibly meaningful to see Mana Tech once again partnering with MIT Sloan School of Management and welcoming their students to Miami.”
This ongoing partnership reflects Mana Tech’s commitment to building its platform alongside world-class academic institutions and global leaders. The work conducted by the MIT Sloan Fellows ensures that the Nikola Tesla Innovation Hub is informed by both research and real-world application.
