Eric Spiegel, President and CEO, Siemens USA and Jilda Garton, Vice President for Research & General Manager announce expanded research relationship between Siemens and
Georgia Tech at Bold Bets: Commercializing the Cosmos, an event focused on public-private partnerships and technology transfer opportunities.

Georgia Tech is named a Center of Knowledge Interchange (CKI) partner by Siemens, a global technology company with a more than 165-year history of engineering excellence and innovation. The CKI relationship is the highest level of strategic collaboration between Siemens and university partners. The agreement expands a long-time research relationship between Georgia Tech and Siemens and focuses on developing the next generation of scientists and engineers, and accelerating the deployment of advanced technologies in a range of industries, including power generation, advanced manufacturing, industrial automation, and health care. Initial technical focus areas for the agreement aim to also include programs in system design, combustion, advanced manufacturing, and materials science.

As a CKI partner, Georgia Tech joins a distinguished research alliance with eight of world’s top universities and research institutions including, the University of California-Berkeley;  Technische Universidad – Munich, Germany; Technische Universität-Berlin, Germany; Rheinisch-Westfälisch Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen, Germany; FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany; DTU Kopenhagen, Denmark; Technical University of Denmark, Denmark; and Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Vice President of Research and General Manager Jilda Garton finalized the agreement with Siemens U.S.A. President and CEO Eric Spiegel at a public event in Atlanta sponsored by Siemens and The Atlantic Magazine that focused on public-private partnerships and technology transfer opportunities.

Strategic Energy Institute Executive Director Tim Lieuwen said the CKI agreement aligns the research priorities of the two organizations in energy and manufacturing.

 “Research is essential in positioning Georgia as a leader in the knowledge-driven economy of the 21st century,” said Lieuwen. “The CKI partnership builds on Georgia Tech’s and Siemens’ shared cross-disciplinary approach to problem-solving and presents an opportunity to share knowledge and best practices with leading institutions around the world in an innovation environment focused not only the development and actualization of individual, transformative technologies but system-level challenges that have the potential to improve energy and manufacturing on a global scale.”

The CKI agreement is the progression of a collaborative relationship between Siemens and Georgia Tech that spans nearly two decades and a wide range of domains from energy and advanced manufacturing to health care and joint government contracting. In the last three years, Georgia Tech has partnered with Siemens on more than 20 projects.

Georgia Tech’s Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory has worked with Siemens’ power generation division for more than eight years on projects relating to the assessment and optimization of gas turbine components and systems. The lab is also a pilot site for Siemens' new Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software. The software creates a virtual prototype of a modern gas turbine that will aid engineers in designing the next generation of cost-effective low carbon, high-efficiency gas turbines.

Siemens also supports a capstone design project in the School of Mechanical Engineering and several oxy-combustion and low-NOx combustion projects in the Ben T. Zinn Combustion Laboratory.

Arturo Pizano, program manager for university collaborations at Siemens, said the CKI partnership with Tech is a reflection of a common commitment to technical and educational excellence.

"The energy challenges facing our world today and in the future must be addressed on multiple fronts,” said Pizano. “Siemens’ network of CKI partners are focused not only on developing and applying new technologies and processes to more rapidly and effectively address these challenges but on inspiring and preparing the industry leaders of tomorrow to meaningfully contribute in a complex and continuously evolving global energy environment.”