Georgia Tech’s Economic Impact Increases to Highest Among USG Institutions
In the University System of Georgia (USG)’s annual economic impact report, highlighting the significant economic impact Georgia’s higher education institutions had across the state between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, Georgia Tech was shown to have the highest economic impact of any USG institution, with nearly $4.2 billion. This represents a 4.6% increase from fiscal year 2020.
The data calculated by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business includes a breakdown of Georgia Tech’s benefit to the state and shows that the USG contributed a total of $19.3 billion to Georgia’s economy during the 2021 fiscal year.
Tech Continues Thriving Amidst Enrollment Declines at Other Colleges
The Institute continues to expand access to more students from a variety of backgrounds, as it experiences growth against a backdrop of declining enrollment at other universities. In Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2022, Georgia Tech welcomed 5,131 new first-year and transfer students. Sixteen percent of incoming students came from a household where neither parent graduated from college — an increase of 2.5% over 2021. Nearly 27% of new students (1,400) transferred from another university — the majority through Tech’s strategic pathway programs, including those designed for veterans, first-generation students, Pell-eligible students, and more.
We are particularly proud that while many schools nationally are declining in their underrepresented students on campus, our new class includes a record number of Black, Hispanic, and first-generation students. There is no question companies like Google, Microsoft, and others, are moving to Atlanta and hiring on campus because they value the education, experience, perspective, and diversity our graduates provide.
Rick Clark, Assistant Vice Provost and Executive Director of Undergraduate Admission
Around the State in 3 Days
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A tradition put on hold by the Covid-19 pandemic was revived in 2022 as Georgia Tech leaders embarked on a journey of connection and discovery across the state of Georgia. In three days, a Georgia Tech delegation traveled more than 550 miles visiting with proud Tech alumni, incoming first-year students, and those industry partners the Institute works with to create jobs, advance meaningful technology, and improve operations. From Augusta to Athens and Gainesville to Dalton, Georgia Tech’s Summer Tour allows the chance to explore those areas around the state where Georgia Tech is making a direct impact. Tech's economic impact on the state has now surpassed $4 billion.
Georgia Tech had an immediate statewide impact of nearly $4.2 billion in fiscal year 2021 — the highest in the state — and about 22% of the total impact of all public universities in Georgia.
19 Faculty Members Complete the Inclusive STEM Teaching Fellows Program
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A collaborative effort between the College of Sciences; College of Engineering; College of Computing; the Center for Teaching and Learning; and Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion brought together faculty members looking to advance inclusive teaching practices in their classrooms.
In its inaugural year, 19 faculty members completed the Inclusive STEM Teaching Fellows program. Participants completed the five-week Inclusive STEM Teaching Project massive online open course (MOOC) provided by the National Science Foundation. The Inclusive STEM Teaching Fellows Program then culminated in a two-day institute May 11–12, 2022, where participants and a group of nine facilitators discussed how to put the practices they learned about into action.
Programs such as these, in which faculty come together in community to question, learn, and reflect on how to make their teaching more inclusive and their classrooms more welcoming and equitable for all students, are critical to achieving the cultural transformations we are seeking for teaching, research, and scholarship at Georgia Tech. My hope is that the conversations and experiences shared in this program will continue among faculty as we grow this community and continue to tackle these important issues.
Diley Hernández, Associate Vice President for Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Georgia Tech Police Department Recognized for Community Engagement
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Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) has long recognized that an engaged community often translates to a safer campus. In Fall 2021, the GTPD received national recognition for their community engagement efforts, earning the title of 2021 College Department of the Year from LAW Publications.
As part of its inaugural Community Engagement Awards, LAW Publications recognized several GTPD-led programs, including community coffee gatherings, an adopt-a-cop program with area business and student organizations, and a care package drive for homeless people in neighboring communities.
Our outreach allows us an opportunity to develop and foster positive relations between the community and GTPD through education and engagement. I believe giving people the opportunity to engage with officers in their community will allow them the chance to see beyond the badge.
Sergeant Jessica Howard
Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business Leverages Collective Impact of Business Community to Promote Climate Action in Georgia
The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business has launched the Drawdown Georgia Business Compact, an inclusive and collaborative initiative focused on galvanizing climate action in Georgia.
As part of this initiative, companies commit to supporting Georgia’s transition to net-zero carbon emissions, participating in at least one collaborative effort that advances this goal, reporting annually on activities, and contributing funds to sustain the Compact.
In a world where there are many climate compacts, the Drawdown Georgia Business Compact is distinguished by its relationship to a specific set of research-based climate solutions that have the best potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state over the next decade. The Compact will create a community of practice where cross-sector collaboration, collective learning, peer-to-peer collaboration, and mentoring of smaller companies all combine to accelerate Georgia’s path to Drawdown.
John Lanier, Executive Director of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, Founder of Drawdown Georgia
In Spring 2022, in additional efforts to further the climate conversation, Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera and Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian met to discuss how businesses can make positive changes to address climate change. The conversation, “The Business of Climate Solutions, Local to Global,” was moderated by SaportaReport editor Maria Saporta and CNN national correspondent Nick Valencia.
...we helped transform Midtown Atlanta into a thriving innovation hub that combines industry leaders and startups with attractive residential and commercial options.
ISyE Helps Improve MARTA Transit
Pascal Van Hentenryck is working to make public transportation more efficient in Atlanta. He has already implemented his research in Austraila and Michigan.
Georgia Tech and MARTA are partnering on a 6-month pilot of a new on-demand rideshare service, connecting riders in three zones across the region to MARTA bus and rail service.
This pilot is meant to test how on-demand shuttles can be used to make it easier and faster for riders to get to and from their destinations using MARTA.
MARTA Reach serves riders in three areas of the Atlanta metropolitan region.
K-12 STEAM Gets a Boost
Georgia Tech has received a $304,000 Building Opportunities in Out-of-School Time (BOOST) grant to support its K-12 science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) programming offered by the Institute’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC).
Additionally, BOOST funding will be used to provide scholarships for families from underserved and underrepresented populations to participate in CEISMC’s Saturday, afterschool, and summer programming.
The goal of the BOOST grant program is to provide evidence-based afterschool and summer enrichment programs that target learning acceleration and provide whole child support, removing non-academic barriers to learning for students most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Funding for the BOOST program comes from the American Rescue Plan, and the grant program is administered by the Georgia Department of Education in partnership with the Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network.
Savannah to Become a Filming Hub
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A collaborative effort between the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, Georgia Film Academy, Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA), and Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures Inc. (GATV) to create a major hub for film and TV productions within the Savannah region aims to bolster economic and workforce development in the local area as well as the state of Georgia.
GATV, an affiliate organization of Georgia Tech, in collaboration with other stakeholders, is moving forward with the selection of a qualified development team to develop and advance the creation of this major hub.
Georgia’s film industry has experienced exponential growth for more than 10 years, making the state one of the top filming locations in the industry. In fiscal year 2021, Georgia hosted 366 film productions, resulting in a record $4 billion invested in the state by the film industry.
Savannah has captured a significant amount of production-related activity in Georgia. However, a shortage of purpose-built, scalable soundstages and production facilities has hindered the region’s ability to support this economic growth. Subject to approval from the USG Board of Regents, the redevelopment of the current 52-acre Georgia Tech-Savannah campus and adjacent property owned by SEDA will provide much-needed high-tech soundstages and production facilities to further attract industry and support local workforce development. Furthermore, the project aims to identify programs and initiatives to facilitate diversity, equity, and inclusion in both procurement and staffing — in addition to demonstrating sustainability in design and construction.
Semiconductor Business Venture to Create 400 Jobs in Georgia
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In October 2021, Gov. Brian P. Kemp announced that SKC, and several business partners, will manufacture glass-based substrates for semiconductor chips in Covington, Georgia. This venture will attract more than $473 million and create over 400 new jobs in Newton County.
SKC Director of New Business Development Sung Jin Kim served as a research professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Georgia Tech from 2012 to 2015. Kim helped develop this glass substrate technology through research conducted at the Georgia Tech Packaging Research Center by working with the Center team and global semiconductor supply chain companies.
There is no better way to measure a university’s success than by the impact it has on the people and communities it serves.
Reducing Recidivism and Providing Skills for a Successful Career to Georgia's Youth
After a successful pilot, the Logistics Education And Pathways (LEAP) program, utilized by the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Reentry Program, has been expanded to now include Chatham, Bibb, and Muscogee counties in the state of Georgia.
The program, done in coordination with the Georgia Tech Supply Chain and Logistics Institute and Georgia Tech Professional Education, prepares secondary education students to compete for successful high-growth jobs in the supply chain and logistics field and provides a certificate of completion. Expansion to now include three counties will increase access of those in the DJJ program to tools and training that will help them develop as productive members of society with sustainable employment.
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Tech’s Little Einsteins Organization Helps Keep Atlanta's Youngest Scientists, Engineers Engaged in STEM
In adapting to the pandemic situation, Little Einsteins Organization, a chartered Georgia Tech campus organization that conducts STEM-focused activities with children in Atlanta, shifted how they bring science and engineering to kids in K-5 schools — meeting at Hands on Atlanta for science demonstrations, and sending kits to local libraries for children and their families to take home so they could perform experiments found in do-it-yourself kits assembled by Georgia Tech volunteers.
“This project is unique because it gives Georgia Tech students the opportunity to support the education of young children in Atlanta during a time of isolation and online schooling,” said Pamela Pollet, the group’s academic advisor. She said the ability to show younger students they could eventually pursue science careers is critical — pandemic or no pandemic.
GT Athletics Returns With Jackets Without Borders After 3 Years
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Hurricane rehabilitation continues in Puerto Rico following the devastating storms of 2017 — and Georgia Tech Athletics returned in May 2022 to help advance those efforts.
As part of their award-winning international service program, Jackets Without Borders (JWOB) traveled to Villa del Rio, Puerto Rico for the first trip in three years.
The Puerto Rico trip was the fourth overall for JWOB since its 2017 founding and the first since 2019, as the program was suspended because of Covid-19. It was JWOB’s third trip to Villa del Rio to help with rebuilding after the destruction from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The trip was funded entirely by participating student-athletes, teams, and generous donors.
Prior to the trips to Villa del Rio, an initial JWOB project took place in Cartago, Costa Rica, in 2017, where Tech’s student-athletes and staff assisted in building a multiuse sports court for a K-12 school.
In 2019, JWOB received the ACC's prestigious Game Changers Award for being the top service initiative of the year.
Tech Square and Tech Talent Continue to Drive Economic Opportunity
Growth at Georgia Tech and awareness across the country of the Institute’s success in developing world-class talent has continued to fuel growth in the technology sector in Atlanta and the region. Tech Square continues to be at the heart of that development, with Cisco and semiconductor giant Micron Technology both announcing major projects in Midtown.
Cisco announced the opening of a talent and collaboration center at Coda that will add 700 technology-focused jobs to the area. And Micron set up its new memory design center also in Tech Square, which will add 500 new tech jobs.
“Atlanta is an emerging hub for high-tech innovation, and our Atlanta Design Center will serve as one of Micron’s key memory design and engineering locations,” said Micron Executive Vice President of Technology and Products Scott DeBoer.
These announcements also come on the heels of technology giants Google and Microsoft announcing big expansions in Atlanta.
All of these companies have said the reasons for expanding their presence in Atlanta are tied to the availability of the diverse, well-prepared graduates Georgia Tech is known to produce.
