Georgia Institute of Technology
ER-15: Sustainability Research Identification

Georgia Tech’s 2010 Strategic Plan outlines a vision for where Georgia Tech aspires to be in the year 2035, the Institute’s 150th anniversary. http://www.gatech.edu/president/

Vision: Georgia Tech will define the technological research university of the 21st century. As a result, we will be leaders in influencing major technological, social, and policy decisions that address critical global challenges.

Mission: Technological change is a fundamental to the advancement of the human condition. The Georgia Tech community – students, staff, faculty, and alumni – will realize our motto of “Progress and Service” through effectiveness and innovation in teaching and learning, our research advances, and entrepreneurship in all sectors of society. We will be leaders in improving the human condition in Georgia, the United States, and around the globe.

• Our students are taught to be collaborative, innovative, interdisciplinary, and global.
• They operate at the intersection of technology, policy, business and sustainability.

Georgia Tech is a leader in research in fields of energy, climate change, nanotechnology, biomedical technology, engineering, management, public policy, transportation and logistics, health information technology, and material science engineering, economic development and tech transfer.

To stimulate cooperation in emerging areas of education and research, Georgia Tech has established a network of more than 100 centers that cut across traditional academic disciplines. Drawing upon human and technical resources throughout the university, the centers provide an interdisciplinary setting for addressing basic and applied problems of interest to government and private enterprise. They also provide a mechanism for interdisciplinary graduate and undergraduate education.

Approximately 45% of tenured/tenure track faculty participated in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program in 2009-2010. Tech is among the nation’s top producers of women and minority engineers. Tech has research centers, educational program partnerships, and business and economic development partnerships and centers globally.

GTRI is the largest research entity at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and has developed a reputation as one of the world's premier university-based applied research and development organizations. GTRI and Georgia Tech are world-class institutions that combine the best of both applied and basic research to solve the innovation equation on behalf of clients. This combination provides unsurpassed expertise, capabilities and know-how in solving some of the toughest problems facing government and industry.

Georgia Tech’s definition of sustainable research spans many subject areas of Service and Progress:

1. Improving the Human Condition, Social and Individual Transformation, Education, Outreach, Lifelong Learning
2. Energy, Materials, Water, and Environment
3. Health, Food, Nutrition, Nanomedicine, Medical Engineering
4. Innovative Technologies, complex systems, sustainable systems
5. Technology Transfer, Economic Development, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Economics, Business
6. Global Technologies, Collaboration, Policies
7. Partnerships between private/public, profit/non-profit, government/non-government organizations
8. Sustainable Systems, Logistics, Sustainable Manufacturing and Design

Georgia Tech Community Designs New Strategic Plan

For nine months, several hundred students, faculty, administrators and staff, researchers, alumni, and supporters joined together to contribute their time and ideas about how to transform Georgia Tech. The process was comprehensive and inclusive.

The list researchers was compiled from existing inventories, campus websites, survey and discussions across campus.

More than 1,200 ideas were submitted. In addition, the Tech community participated in 70 town hall type meetings, focus groups, and “Days of Engagement.”

Opportunities for feedback and interaction:
• Online survey through June 15, 2010
• 70 town hall type meetings with students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends , and advisory boards
• Two special town hall presentations, one in fall 2009, one in spring 2010
• Open solicitation of ideas on the Strategic Vision Web site.
• More than 1,200 ideas have been submitted.
• 2 days of engagement in January where students and faculty devoted class time to provide input
• Numerous focus groups and presentations to student, faculty, staff and community organizations.

Updates on Strategic Plan Implementation are posted online and reported via campus communication. http://www.gatech.edu/vision/implementation

List of research inventory compiled from IRP dataware, department websites, centers lists, funded research lists with dept/individual input.