On Monday, May 26, 2014, the leadership of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Mr. E.G. Reade, consul General, dignitaries from the Lorraine region of France, and a host of research and corporate partners will gather at Georgia Tech-Lorraine in Metz, France for the official inauguration of the new building that will house the Institut Lafayette.

Georgia Tech entered into a partnership with French governmental entities in 1990 to establish its first international campus in Metz, France. After two decades of innovative educational achievements, a world-class research presence was added in 2006 with the creation of the Georgia Tech-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité Mixte Internationale laboratory. 

Georgia Tech is now moving to the next critical stage of expansion of its global influence with the creation of an innovation platform, the Institut Lafayette. By providing access to a state-of-the-art technology infrastructure; by sharing world-class expertise in science and technology; and by offering business model validation and commercialization tools, the Institut Lafayette will showcase and underscore Georgia Tech’s capacity to help create a full regional ecosystem which can generate innovations of economic and social value for its international partners.

This expansion of Georgia Tech’s global footprint will increase its impact around the globe, and serve to bring the world to Georgia Tech and to the State of Georgia. The Institut Lafayette will create opportunities to establish alliances with universities, companies, and governmental and non-governmental entities whose goals and activities align with Georgia Tech’s strategic mission. This expansion will also significantly augment the teaching, research and entrepreneurial activities of Georgia Tech’s faculty, staff, alumni and students both in Atlanta and in Lorraine. The new facilities also expand the European activities of the Georgia Tech Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (Georgia Tech-COPE). The Institut Lafayette is expected to serve as a catalyst for economic development in the region of Lorraine and to increase trade exchange opportunities with metropolitan Atlanta, and the State of Georgia.

Located adjacent to the existing Georgia Tech-Lorraine building, the brand new 25,000 square foot facility is comprised of offices, laboratories and a 5,000 square foot clean room, fully equipped with state-of-the-art nanofabrication tools to support innovations in optoelectronics and advanced semiconductor materials research. This facility will be managed by Georgia Tech faculty members who are world-renown experts in organic materials and semiconductors.

This innovation platform will provide a unique combination of research expertise, an advanced technology infrastructure, and an array of technology transfer services which will increase efficiency and accelerate technology transfer.  Its impact and effectiveness will be further enabled by leveraging the resources of Georgia Tech – The Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) will provide expertise in technology transfer and commercialization, and the Institute of Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) will provide expertise in managing and operating high-technology infrastructures.

The Institut Lafayette was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat and military officer who served as a major-general in the Continental Army under George Washington in the American Revolution.   It was in Metz in 1775 that the Marquis de Lafayette made the decision to commit himself to the cause of American independence.