UTC LAUNCHES RESEARCH INSTITUTE

On May 1, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga announced the creation of the UTC Research Institute as a strategic initiative aimed at increased research funding, interdisciplinary collaboration across campus, and support for community and local industry priorities.

The UTC Research Institute will be led by Dr. Mina Sartipi as its executive director. Sartipi is founding director of the UTC Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP); Guerry Professor of computer science and engineering; and holds a joint appointment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“This new institute will help UTC move forward and realize our research goals,” says Chancellor Steven R. Angle. “The heart of the UTC Research Institute is impactful and broad cross-disciplinary research that will help fast track Chattanooga’s place as a hub for mobility electrifications, connectivity and automation.

“Dr. Mina Sartipi will shine in her new role. Dr. Sartipi and the CUIP team’s history of innovative, cutting-edge research and cooperative teamwork illustrates how UTC is preparing our community for the future.”

The UTC Research Institute will narrow and intensify the University’s focus on strategic areas of research funding. Two initial focus areas are transportation (intelligent transportation systems, electric vehicle and battery technologies, human factor, automation, multimodal systems, policy and planning, cyber security, privacy and infrastructure) and quantum technologies (computing, sensing and networks).

The Institute’s approach to pursuing community- and funding-driven research areas is intended to expand resources and opportunities across campus and disciplines, engaging scholars whose expertise can bring needed interdisciplinary depth to fully exploring solutions to complex problems.

“Having teams from across campus involved in problem-solving positions UTC to be more competitive when pursuing research funding and will create a more substantial and broader impact from our research,” Sartipi says.