Message from the President

A Culture of Collaboration

“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.”
– Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn)

This quote from Hoffman succinctly illustrates the essence of Georgia Tech’s education and research enterprises. Our students and faculty in Atlanta and on our international campuses, and our alumni working around the world, know from experience how partnering with others can dramatically improve the outcome of their work. Whether it’s undergraduates working with industry partners in one of our many Tech Square innovation centers, Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI²) staff working with Georgia manufacturers to streamline their processes, or alumni and friends transforming lives by establishing endowed scholarships and fellowships — collaboration is the key to Georgia Tech’s ongoing success.

One powerful example of this culture is the Georgia Smart Communities Challenge, a project focused on smart mobility and smart resilience. Four local Georgia governments are leading teams that are supported by a Tech researcher who assists and advises each team and conducts research in support of the community’s needs and goals. The Institute is providing seed funding for the initiative, which aims to create models for smart development that can be shared and applied across the state and beyond.

Other critical projects and initiatives where Georgia Tech is working with key partners include the following:

• A new Engineering Research Center (ERC), made possible by a $20 million National Science Foundation grant awarded to a consortium of universities, is working closely with industry and clinical partners to develop transformative tools and technologies for the production of therapeutic cells that have the potential to be used in a broad range of lifesaving medical therapies.
• Engage Ventures, the largest strategic grouping of major corporations in an independent venture firm, was launched from Tech Square with a focus on helping startups develop and execute go-to-market strategies.
• Delta Air Lines opened its new Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility on 14^th Street, a flagship component of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute that provides an integrated physical and cyber-manufacturing technology testbed, as well as a demonstration and teaching facility.
• Generous alumni from the Caribbean and around the world opened their hearts and their wallets to support a new emergency scholarship fund for Tech students affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The effort was spearheaded by alumnus Humberto Ortega, a 1964 industrial engineering graduate and native of Cuba.

Students must learn to collaborate effectively with a variety of partners, not only to be successful in their careers but also to have maximum impact in improving their world. At Georgia Tech, we are working hard every day to provide more and better avenues for students and everyone in our community to develop and sustain meaningful collaborative relationships. We hope that you will do what you can to support these vital efforts aimed at improving the human condition.

Sincerely,

G.P. “Bud” Peterson
President, Georgia Institute of Technology