Georgia Tech has selected Troy Hilley as the recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Achievement in Research Enterprise Enhancement Award. Hilley is the Academic and Research IT Support Engineer Lead for the School of Biological Sciences (SoBiosci). The award recognizes staff members who consistently improve Georgia Tech’s research programs but are not traditional researchers themselves.

Hilley is responsible for the day-to-day operations and maintenance of faculty, research group, and administrative computing infrastructure in SoBiosci. He also acts as a critical liaison between SoBiosci, the College of Sciences, and Georgia Tech computing teams. Yet in practice, Hilley does much more. As SoBiosci grows, he has established himself as a leader in thinking creatively and acting proactively to prepare SoBiosci for the rapidly changing environment for integrative computing.

“Troy is the reason we’ve managed to scale up so seamlessly,” a colleague says.

According to colleagues, Hilley has been instrumental in advancing SoBiosci’s research. Relentlessly pursuing institutional effectiveness, he has gone beyond his scope of duties to help faculty build infrastructure for effective research, assist with strategic planning of computational needs, and provide timely and expert assistance to advance computation-based discoveries in the life sciences.

Hilley’s advice and collaboration has enabled critical research publications, catalyzed translation of discoveries form lab to industry, and helped secure extramural funding for sustained work in SoBiosci.

“I love being able to assist people. I listen to the needs of faculty. My goal is for them to leave the office knowing that their needs will be met,” Hilley says. “It is an honor to be recognized by such an esteemed group and to be a small part of their research.”