The Kennesaw State campus in Marietta hosted an opening event for Jamba Juice on Feb. 15, which featured technological innovations and encouraged student involvement.
The grand opening of Jamba Juice at the Joe Mack Wilson Student Center featured a state-of-the-art, advanced robotic machine that assembles and prepares all smoothie orders.
Jamba Juice by Blendid incorporates robotics and artificial intelligence that manage all orders and operations at the smoothie kiosk. According to Longview News-Journal, KSU and Georgia College are the first two universities in the U.S. to host Jamba Juice by Blendid.
Director of University Dining, Shane Collins, attended the event and highlighted the benefits of the robotic smoothie stand.
“We wanted to implement a healthy, nourishing concept on campus that would interest our students,” Collins said. “We decided to establish this robotic smoothie kiosk on the Marietta campus because we are an engineering-based school.”
The opening of Jamba Juice will not only provide nutrition and recognition for the Marietta campus but will also open doors for students to learn.
Collins said that Blendid, the robotic company partnered with Jamba Juice, is offering internship positions to engineering students of KSU. This opportunity will allow students to tend to the mechanical needs of the robot smoothie machine and get hands-on experience with artificial intelligence.
Former Student and Marketing Manager of KSU, Katherine Ellsworth also attended the grand opening of Jamba Juice and emphasized the uniqueness of the new addition to the student center.
“We really want students to get familiar with the machine, sample some of the smoothie flavors and simply just get everyone excited to come back,” Ellsworth said.
Ellsworth said the major benefit of the robotic machine is that students can use dining dollars to order their smoothies in advance using the Blendid app. Students can also place their smoothie orders through tablets right at the kiosk. Additionally, this contactless alternative will protect students and staff from COVID-19.
At the opening, students were able to interact with the machine, ask any questions, try an assortment of featured smoothie flavors and take pictures with Scrappy the Owl.
Junior Computer Engineering student, Chaz Dooley shared his opinions and insight regarding the new Jamba Juice.
“This new addition fits in perfectly with student interest themes on campus,” Dooley said. “This will be a great learning experience and opportunity for us.”
Dooley also said he appreciated the new addition to the student center because he felt it was long overdue.
Before the opening of Jamba Juice, the Marietta campus had two dining options at the Student Center: Chick-Fil-A and Hissho Sushi.
For more information regarding the Jamba Juice smoothie kiosk, visit KSU’s Dining website.
