Day 1 brought Ortus Solutions, BoxLang, career guidance, and real-world software experience directly to Florida International University students
Yesterday, Ortus Solutions joined the FIU Tech Talent Academy for the first day of an experience designed to connect emerging developers with modern technology, industry knowledge, and the people building the tools they may use next.
FIU students joined us to learn about the company behind BoxLang, explore the realities of working in software development, ask questions about the industry, and receive personalized feedback on their résumés.
But this initiative is about more than introducing a company or a programming language.
With BoxLang and BoxLang AI, we want students to see what is possible when technology, creativity, and community come together.
Revisit the Day 1 Experience
The opening session brought together personal experience, practical career guidance, and a look at how modern open-source technology is created. Students heard the story behind Ortus Solutions and BoxLang directly from Luis, met members of the team, and had the opportunity to ask questions about the paths that can lead from the classroom into the software industry.
Watch the Day 1 recap below for a closer look at the conversations, connections, and energy that shaped the experience.
From FIU Student to Technology Builder
The session was led by Luis Majano, a Computer Engineering graduate from FIU’s Class of 2000, Founder and CEO of Ortus Solutions, and lead developer of BoxLang and BoxLang AI.
Luis shared his journey from FIU student to open-source creator and technology leader. He introduced students to the history of Ortus Solutions, the products and services the company has developed, and the role its team has played in helping developers and businesses build, modernize, and improve real-world applications.
Since 2006, Ortus Solutions has focused on creating professional open-source tools, maintaining hundreds of open-source libraries, supporting software communities, and giving development teams better ways to work.
Students also learned how that experience led to BoxLang.
BoxLang was not created simply to add another language to the technology landscape. It grew from years of understanding what developers need, where existing tools create limitations, and how a modern language could offer greater flexibility, productivity, and freedom.
Luis shared how a focused internal team of four people developed and launched BoxLang in only 21 months, without the resources of a large technology company or external investment.
For the students in the room, that story demonstrated something important: meaningful innovation can begin with a small team, a real problem, and the determination to build a better path forward.
Explore the Session Slides
The introduction slides provide a closer look at the story shared with students, including the evolution of Ortus Solutions, the creation of BoxLang, the wider software ecosystem, and the possibilities available to developers who are willing to keep learning and building.
Explore the presentation below to revisit the session at your own pace.
Together, the video and slides capture the foundation established during Day 1. The next stage of the experience will take students beyond learning about the technology and into building with it.
Understanding the Modern Software Industry
The conversation extended beyond BoxLang.
Students received an inside look at the different people and disciplines required to deliver modern software, including developers, designers, architects, project managers, business analysts, quality specialists, security professionals, DevOps engineers, and data experts.
The session also explored what employers look for in emerging talent.
Technical knowledge matters, but companies also need developers who can:
- Solve problems thoughtfully
- Explain their decisions clearly
- Collaborate with different types of professionals
- Learn unfamiliar technologies
- Adapt as requirements change
- Translate an idea into something functional
- Take ownership of their work
Modern development is not about knowing every tool before getting started. It is about building strong foundations, remaining curious, and learning how to apply technology to real needs.
Helping Students Communicate Their Potential
Following the presentation, the Ortus team worked directly with students to review their résumés and provide practical feedback.
For many students, the challenge is not a lack of skills or potential. It is knowing how to communicate what they have learned and built in a way that employers can quickly understand.
The résumé conversations helped students think about:
- How to make their most relevant skills easier to identify
- How to explain academic and personal projects
- How to describe their individual contributions
- How to connect coursework with professional opportunities
- How to show problem-solving, collaboration, and initiative
- How to align their résumé with the roles they want to pursue
This support was not only about improving a document. It was about helping emerging developers recognize the value of their own experience and communicate it with greater confidence.
Breaking Down Barriers to Modern Development
New technologies can feel inaccessible when developers are expected to learn alone, navigate scattered information, or understand an entire ecosystem before creating anything useful.
We want to help change that.
BoxLang is designed around developer productivity, modularity, interoperability, and the freedom to build across different environments. BoxLang AI extends that experience by helping developers bring models, agents, tools, memory, RAG, and application logic together through one integrated platform.
However, technology alone is not enough.
Developers also need clear learning paths, practical examples, documentation, mentorship, responsive support, and a community where they can ask questions without feeling that they should already know every answer.
That is what makes initiatives like this meaningful. We are not only spreading the word about BoxLang. We are creating opportunities for new developers to explore it, question it, build with it, and help shape what it becomes.
We want people to make ambitious things with approachable tools and better support.
Why This Matters to the BoxLang Community
A strong technology ecosystem depends on people.
It needs experienced developers who contribute their knowledge, companies that trust and adopt the technology, organizations that help expand its reach, and new generations willing to bring fresh ideas into the community.
By working with institutions such as FIU, we are helping BoxLang reach beyond the circles that already know us. Students are discovering the language at an important moment in their professional development, while universities and organizations are recognizing the value of giving emerging talent access to modern, open-source tools.
Every new developer who explores BoxLang brings a different background, industry interest, problem, and perspective.
Some may build web applications. Others may create automation tools, APIs, AI agents, data solutions, embedded applications, or something we have not yet imagined.
That is how an ecosystem remains active and relevant: people do not simply use the technology; they expand what is possible with it.
This Is Just the Beginning
Yesterday’s introduction session established the foundation. Students learned about Ortus Solutions, the story behind BoxLang, the realities of the software industry, and how to better present themselves as emerging professionals.
Now, we are almost ready for the BoxLang and BoxLang AI workshops and hackathon.
Students will move from learning about the technology to using it. They will form teams, select real-world challenges, develop working solutions, receive support from experienced mentors, and present what they create.
We cannot wait to see what they build.
This is the impact we want to continue creating: removing barriers, opening new paths into modern development, and giving the next generation the tools and support to turn their ideas into real software.
BoxLang Around the World. Building the next generation of developers.
Keep Building With Us
Day 1 was an introduction. The next step is to build.
Whether you are an FIU student, an experienced developer, or simply curious about what is possible with modern open-source technology, there is a place for you in the BoxLang community.
- Discover BoxLang
- Explore BoxLang AI
- Try BoxLang online
- Start learning with the BoxLang documentation
- Build with us on GitHub
- Join the BoxTeam Slack community
- Continue the conversation in the Ortus Community
- Watch more sessions and tutorials on YouTube
Follow the journey as FIU students move from introduction to implementation—and discover what they build next.
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