Mina Sartipi, director of the Center for Urban Informatics and Progress and UC Foundation professor of urban science.
A UTC-based research center has been recognized for its role in earning Chattanooga the designation as one of the Top 50 “Smart City” projects for 2019.
UTC’s new Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP) has been recognized as a critical partner in Chattanooga’s Smart City effort. CUIP—pronounced “quip”—is the go-to organization for such projects as designing transportation systems—both public and private—that are more efficient and safer, finding new and better methods for energy delivery and usage to the area and improving healthcare for the region.
“We’re working at CUIP to create Smart City solutions that can help improve citizens’ lives,” said Mina Sartipi,director of CUIP and a UC Foundation professor of urban science.
The ranking came from US Ignite, a National Science Foundation project that connects and helps find funding for public and private groups, including universities and cities, to encourage smart city initiatives. The group doesn’t rank the projects in a No. 1-50 order; it selects 50 projects as a whole.
Chattanooga will be recognized in April at the Smart Cities Connect Conference in Denver as one of three cities recognized in the “Horizon” category for demonstrating foundational and inspiring groundwork for the future.
“This award recognizes the robust research program we’re building right here in Chattanooga, taking advantage of our world-class fiber optic network,” Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said in a statement Friday.
The Chattanooga Smart Community Collaborative, which began last fall, is a research partnership between The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the city of Chattanooga, Erlanger Health System, EPB, Hamilton County, the Co.Lab and The Enterprise Center. It is working with researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Texas Dallas and The University of Vermont.
In the Southeast, other Smart City programs being recognized at the Denver conference include two programs in Atlanta and two in Montgomery, Alabama.
