{"189571":{"#nid":"189571","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cross Discusses Resources that Support Researchers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEvery day, researchers at Tech are hard at work discovering new information and creating new devices. But what happens after the research is completed \u2014 and what impact does it have on the world around us? \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech has always had a focus on industry and economic development,\u201d said Steve Cross, executive vice president for research. \u201cWe seek to grow our impact in ways that directly support the research enterprise and maximize the benefit Georgia Tech brings to our region, state, nation and the world.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn part two of this Q\u0026amp;A, Cross elaborates on the resources that Tech has in place to help faculty, staff and students ensure that their research has an impact once the lab work is completed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is an Interdisciplinary Research Institute supposed to be, and how does it contribute? \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAn \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/research\/institutes\u0022\u003EInterdisciplinary Research Institute (IRI)\u003C\/a\u003E is a research organization that includes representation from across Tech and that administratively reports to me. Each IRI is led by a research-active faculty member who is a thought leader in a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/research\/areas\u0022\u003Ecore research area\u003C\/a\u003E and is committed to supporting those doing research in that area. Additionally, IRIs provide laboratory and shared administrative support, as well as new collaborative research opportunities, to faculty-led research centers and groups that elect to be affiliated with the IRI.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat has Tech done so far to advance the commercialization\/startup process?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAfter the strategic plan was published, we created strategic initiatives to look at what we could do to move us closer to our vision. One of the efforts was to experiment with accelerated startup formations, and that resulted in the Georgia Tech Integrated Program for Startups (GT:IPS), where faculty members can license their intellectual property much more quickly to create a startup company. Another example is Flashpoint, a startup accelerator for our region. Tech also won a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to be among a select group of universities to host the Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program. I-Corps is an accelerator for NSF grantees at universities around the country.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the past, 16 or 17 companies were created annually with help from Tech. Just last year, Tech participated in projects that supported the formation of more than 100 new companies. They are not all based on Institute research, but with a combination of Flashpoint, I-Corps, GT:IPS and other activities already in place, we have increased the number of startup companies being formed in our region. We have also attracted venture capital from parts of the country that have never before invested in the Southeast.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy is economic development so woven into the research strategy? Are we talking about that more than we used to?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Institute was created to support economic development in the state of Georgia, and, today, research universities are recognized as key elements in regional innovation ecosystems, which are vital to economic development. In this regard, we have several competitive advantages at Tech, including our state-sponsored economic development functions in the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2). Additionally, the Advanced Technology Development Center \u2014 incidentally the first and largest university-based incubator in the country \u2014 is consistently rated as one of the top 10 facilitators of startup companies. We now seek to link each core research area to economic development opportunities, while increasing our industry sponsorship and opening new facilities like the Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions Building to directly support industry work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt is also significant that our students are seeking more opportunities to engage in entrepreneurial activities. The InVenture Prize and Georgia Tech Research and Innovation Conference, in part, address this.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPeople are starting to use the term \u201cinnovation ecosystem.\u201d How do you define that?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAn ecosystem consists of many different organizations (companies, government entities, nonprofits, universities, etc.) each with different goals that are aligned to do something for the greater good. In this case, the greater good is to provide an environment in which innovation can thrive, while leading to successful commercialization activity and societal benefit in this region and beyond.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat progress has been made with regard to the innovation ecosystem?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECompanies such as NCR, Panasonic, General Motors, Coca-Cola and AT\u0026amp;T are increasing their work with Tech as a direct result of our role in helping lead our regional innovation ecosystem. Other countries have taken note. The Republic of Korea has entered into an agreement with Tech to help incubate companies in Technology Square. Our Georgia Tech-Lorraine campus and its regional partners recently dedicated the Lafayette Institute to pursue the same kind of opportunities in Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gra.org\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Research Alliance (GRA)\u003C\/a\u003E also plays a key role in our innovation ecosystem. GRA co-funds chairs through its Eminent Scholar Program. There are more than 75 Eminent Scholars across five universities in Georgia; more than half of them are at Georgia Tech. GRA also funds infrastructure for equipment and laboratories, supports our Georgia Tech-focused incubator (Venture Lab), and provides funding (via a competitive selection process) for startups from Georgia Tech research. GRA is a very important partner in our research strategy, and we are grateful for its ongoing support.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFive years from now, what successes are you hoping this initiative will produce?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETech should have a more diversified sponsorship base and have doubled its level of industry-sponsored research. We should also have more facilities around the perimeter of campus where industry can work with us and engage with students. We will have an integrated industry relations team providing unparalleled service to our industry partners, and we\u2019ll be regarded as one of the country\u2019s most industry-friendly research universities. We will be recognized as the best in the world for use-inspired and translational research in our core research areas.\u003Cbr \/\u003EI\u2019m confident that the strategic vision will become reality as long as we continue to develop a professional support structure to help faculty develop large proposals, access state-of-the-art facilities, complete the administrative requirements associated with many research contracts and move their research from the lab to the real-world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESubmit questions and comments regarding research at Tech at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/research\/contact\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003Ewww.gatech.edu\/research\/contact\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;To read the Q\u0026amp;A, in its entirety, click \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/a89ndkx\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn part two of this Q\u0026amp;A, Steve Cross,\u0026nbsp;executive vice president for research, elaborates on the resources that Tech has in place to help faculty, staff and students ensure that their research has an impact once the lab work is completed.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In part two of this Q\u0026A, Steve Cross, executive vice president for research, elaborates on the resources that Tech has in place to help faculty, staff and students ensure that their research has an impact once the lab work is completed."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2013-02-04 16:14:21","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:33","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-02-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-02-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"189471":{"id":"189471","type":"image","title":"General Motors Announcement","body":null,"created":"1449179848","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:57:28","changed":"1475894838","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:18","alt":"General Motors Announcement","file":{"fid":"196231","name":"gm_announcement.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gm_announcement_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gm_announcement_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3392936,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gm_announcement_0.jpg?itok=r6b4xknu"}}},"media_ids":["189471"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/research\/evpr\/crosstalk\/documents\/research-strategy-interview","title":"Full Version of Q\u0026A"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"57681","name":"excutive vice president for research"},{"id":"57671","name":"interdisciplinary research institute"},{"id":"57441","name":"IRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"167317","name":"Steve Cross"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirkeng@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKirk Englehardt\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}