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For a select few institutions, including some who did not sign the NACIE letter, OIE has conducted a more thorough exploration of their strategies and initiatives. The goals of these “deep dives” are to discuss the historical and cultural context for the relevant work being done at leading institutions, highlight innovative practices, and uncover future trends. Through this exploration, OIE will be better equipped to advise on policies and develop future programs.
=Overview – A Focus on Industry and Collaboration=
The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, is part of the University System of Georgia. Established in the 1880s on the heels of the Industrial Revolution, Georgia Tech’s mission has always focused on assisting industry. For example, the university’s basic and applied research efforts have been instrumental for the global aerospace industry, with Georgia Tech scientists playing key roles in the development of radar and other flight technologies. Georgia Tech focuses intently on the basic-to-applied research continuum throughout its comprehensive research programs in engineering, physical and life sciences, computing, and policy. Georgia Tech’s Strategic Vision and Plan () infuses a focus on innovation and entrepreneurism across the spectrum of basic and applied research as well as in its educational programs. Viewed in broad themes, research at Georgia Tech includes work in:
*Sustainable Infrastructure and Energy; and
*Systems.
<br />Georgia Tech’s culture embodies a collaborative approach. It enlists outside partners and contributors including academic, governmental, industry, and nonprofit institutions in an effort to better understand and ensure the benefit of research to the nation. In 1937, Georgia Tech established what is now the Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC), an internal outpost for engineering experimentation and entrepreneurial applications of engineering, science, and technology. Georgia Tech also operates the oldest and largest university-based business incubator in the United States, the Advanced Technology Development Center, which was established in the 1980s to provide a range of services and facilities for entrepreneurs to launch and build new companies. Recognized by Forbes in 2010, the Advanced Technology Development Center has graduated 143 new companies, which have helped create millions of dollars in revenues and which together have attracted nearly $2.5 billion in capital activity. Capital activity includes venture capital funding, other investment, and the value of mergers and acquisitions.
Georgia Tech incorporates several strategies to ensure that it continually improves and expands its services to industry. To ensure it meets its fiduciary responsibilities and maintains public trust and confidence, the university continually strives to reduce bureaucratic barriers and modify underperforming initiatives. For example, the university has launched the Georgia Tech Integrated Program for Startups, GT:IPS™, which combines a streamlined licensing program with organized support for faculty and student inventor-entrepreneurs. The program provides information and education for entrepreneurs to help them form stronger, more successful companies, and the streamlined GT:IPS license agreement helps simplify negotiations and “take the drama off the table.”
The NACIE commitment letter was broadly disseminated to Georgia Tech faculty and administrators and elicited general consensus prior to President Peterson’s endorsement. University stakeholders who were invited to review and comment on the letter were found to be already committed to its expressed ideas and goals. The letter’s real impact was to add “force” and “intentionality” to Georgia Tech’s innovation, entrepreneurship, and tech transfer strategic vision by providing a time scale for faculty and administration efforts, documenting their commitment, and holding them accountable.
Innovation and entrepreneurism are hallmarks of educational programs as well as research and technology transfer. Problem-based learning gives students an opportunity to develop ideas and technologies within their disciplines, and increasingly, activities such as the General Electric Smart Grid Challenge (www.ece.gatech.edu/research/labs/GE_Smartgrid) provide a venue for companies to explore disruptive concepts through student engagement.
Below is an enumeration of several Georgia Tech programs and initiatives that support the five buckets in the NACIE sponsored university commitment letter.