Message from the President

What's Next?

The excitement and challenge that come with continually exploring this question is the fuel that propels our students and faculty. At Georgia Tech, we call upon each other to imagine “What’s Next” and we collaborate with colleagues and associates on and off campus to “Create the Next.” The last year offers many examples of the Tech community boldly conceiving and forging what’s next.

Last April we joined John Portman & Associates in announcing Coda, a 750,000-square-foot expansion of Technology Square that will house the Institute’s high performance computing center. In 13 short years, Tech Square has become the Southeast’s premier innovation neighborhood. With Georgia Tech as Coda’s anchor tenant, the high performance computing center’s interdisciplinary, collaborative environment will enhance Tech Square’s positive impact in Midtown Atlanta, bringing together people in a mixed-use community of innovation, education, and intelligent exchange. The Tech and Atlanta communities eagerly await the completion of this transformational structure in 2018.

Another compelling aspect of what’s next for our community is the Living Building Challenge 3.0 project, a partnership between The Kendeda Fund and Georgia Tech to build what is expected to become the most environmentally advanced education and research building ever constructed in the Southeast. Advancing the Institute’s master campus plan, the Living Building at Georgia Tech will demonstrate the most advanced measures of sustainability possible in the current built environment — serving as a vital architectural model for the 21st century.

The Living Building project was made possible by a $30 million grant from The Kendeda Fund, a profoundly generous expression of philanthropy that helped our $1.5 billion Campaign Georgia Tech exceed its goal by more than $300 million upon its December 2015 conclusion. Creating the next would only be a collection of dreams without the philanthropic support of alumni, corporations, foundations, and other friends. The impact of their generosity will be felt for decades to come.

“What’s Next?” is a question that the Georgia Tech community will always embrace with energy and passion. The following pages illustrate the many ways in which we are addressing this vital question.
 

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