With laptops ready and ideas buzzing, a fast-growing group of Florida Polytechnic University students meets each week to unwind, trade stories, and work on bringing their most ambitious and imaginative software projects to life.
The Phoenix Programming club formally formed at the start of the fall semester and became an official student organization in November, though Daniel Freer, the club’s president, said a small group of students had been gathering informally throughout 2025. Since then, that handful of students has grown to dozens of active members and more than 80 who supported the club’s formation.
“We want to work on real projects that are innovative or useful,” said Freer, a senior majoring in computer science. “Phoenix Programming brings students together, and we work collaboratively on our own projects.”
With every gathering, Phoenix Programming members find new ways to build and sharpen their high-tech skills.
“We are learning about tools that are actually used in the industry, like GitHub, Kanban boards and CI/CD pipelines,” said senior computer science major Joseph Elibri, the club’s vice president and a graduate of Lecanto High School in Lecanto, Florida.
Several club members are channeling this energy into an academic concentration in artificial intelligence, a field that enables computers to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.
“It’s kind of the future of everything,” said Freer, a graduate of West Broward High School in Pembroke Pines, Florida. “You have to learn how to use the AI tools because if you can use them to your advantage, then you have the advantage.”
The computer science-focused club is currently working on six high-level student-driven projects, including a chess variant website to allow rules-enforced online gameplay, and a QR code generator and scanner – a process Elibri described as “a lot harder than you think.”
The burgeoning coding pros’ flagship project is to make exploring campus even more convenient for students with an innovative navigation tool.
These cutting-edge pursuits fuel the club’s hands-on learning.
“We learn some of it from class, some from internships, and we’re learning some as we go,” Freer said. “We spend a lot of time doing research on how to do what we want to do.”
In addition, the club hosts workshops to make computer science topics and tools like the TypeScript and JavaScript programming languages more accessible to all Florida Poly students.
Those interested in learning more about Phoenix Programming can visit the club’s Phoenix Link webpage.
Contact:
Lydia Guzmán
Director of Communications
863-874-8557
