The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Announces Launch of the UTC Research Institute

I am pleased to announce that UTC is launching the UTC Research Institute, effective May 1, 2023.  The new Institute will help realize the research goals put forth in our 2021-2025 campus strategic plan by building cross-disciplinary research teams and catalyzing partnerships to establish enduring programs of excellence in R&D areas that cannot be solved using a single-discipline approach.  Two of the initial focus areas will be transportation (intelligent transportation systems, electric vehicle and battery technologies, social factors, automation, multimodal systems, policy and planning, cyber security, privacy, infrastructure, etc.) and quantum technologies (quantum computing, quantum sensing, and quantum networks).  These areas are aligned with strong community engagement and with recognized or emerging R&D capabilities and facilities. They also provide attractive educational opportunities for students across disciplines and for professionals already in the workforce.  By building partnerships and engaging researchers, the Institute will leverage collective resources to develop innovative, multidisciplinary solutions to complex problems of high priority at the local, state and national levels.  The new institute will be the home for our current Center of Excellence in Applied Computational Science and Engineering and the UTC Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP).

Dr. Mina Sartipi, founding director of CUIP and Guerry Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, will be the Executive Director of the UTC Research Institute. Dr. Sartipi also holds a joint appointment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The new UTC Research Institute will be charged with:

• Engaging all UTC colleges and departments in defining ambitious outcomes that cannot be achieved by individual departments
• Managing relationships with funding agencies and mentoring faculty to assume these roles
• Developing and/or ensuring access to cross-cutting capabilities such as HPC, AI, Data Engineering, Economic Analyses
• Developing research facilities, testbeds, and core research infrastructure
• Developing strategic partnerships and incubating promising areas of inquiry for new R&D initiatives
• Facilitating community engagement with R&D and educational initiatives

More information will be forthcoming in the coming days.