Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Chris Downing, vice president and director of Enterprise Innovation Institute, announces retirement

By

Chris Downing, VP of EI2

Chris Downing, who has led the Georgia Institute of Technology’s economic development efforts as vice president and director of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), is retiring after 31 years of service.

Downing, who has led EI2 since 2016, leaves behind a decades-long legacy of leadership experience at Georgia Tech in technology-based economic development, university outreach and technical assistance, entrepreneurship and start-up support, and program management.

His retirement is effective June 1, 2019.

“I feel very fortunate for such a diverse and challenging career and to have shared so many good years with the Georgia Tech family, and I am very appreciative of the many faculty, staff, and students who have made my time at Georgia Tech so interesting and inspiring,” Downing said. “Although I am leaving my full-time duties, I look forward to staying connected to Georgia Tech and supporting its mission of progress and service.”

After leaving IBM where he was a mechanical facilities engineer, Downing joined Georgia Tech in 1988 as a senior research engineer with the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

In 1996, he joined EI2 — then called the Economic Development Institute (EDI) — as the Griffin regional office manager and provided industrial extension and economic development services to the south metro Atlanta region.

Two years later, he was named group manager of technology services for the Economic Development Institute, where he was charged with overall management of technology deployment and information technology services to more than 200 EDI staff and associates located both on campus and in 12 regional offices across the state. In addition, this group provided technical research services for EDI clients in industry, business, and community economic development organizations.

In 2005, he was tapped to lead EI2’s Industry Services group, which included several key outreach programs: the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), the Energy and Environmental Management Center, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC), the Southeast Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (SETAAC), and the Georgia Tech Regional Office Network.

Downing was named EI2’s associate vice president in 2013 and vice president in 2016.

In that time, he spearheaded the three-fold expansion of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) and created the Venture Center space that has helped to attract several Fortune 100 corporate innovation centers to Technology Square.

His technology-based economic development efforts helped Georgia Tech and the EI2 win the prestigious “2014 Innovation Award” from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the “2014 Outstanding Research Park Award” from the Association of Research Parks.

Most recently, Downing led the feasibility study for the expansion of Georgia Tech’s second research park, Technology Enterprise Park, into a broader life sciences and technology innovation district.

“Chris has been a tireless champion and supporter of our economic development initiatives, working to maintain strong partnerships across the state while creating new collaborations,” said Georgia Tech President G. P. “Bud” Peterson. “We appreciate his leadership role as Georgia Tech partners with the state to strengthen Georgia’s economy.”

Downing is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering.

Tech Square to host 2019 Association of University Research Parks international conference

By

Georgia Tech’s Technology Square – one of the nation’s premier innovation districts and a leader in research and economic development – will host the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) 2019 International Conference.

AURP’s mission is to foster innovation, commercialization and economic growth through university, industry and government partnerships. Each year, AURP’s international conference attracts a diverse group, including science and research park directors, economic developers, and intellectual property and venture capital firms.

“Georgia Tech is proud to host AURP’s 2019 International Conference,” said Chaouki Abdallah, executive vice president for research. “Tech Square is a testament to what is possible when higher education, government, business and the community work together. As the Southeast’s premier innovation district, Tech Square promotes a community of innovation, education and intelligent exchange.”

In 2014, the group named Tech Square its “Outstanding Research Park Award” winner.

Tech Square opened in 2003 in Midtown Atlanta with the goal of strengthening the connection between the Institute and the business community. Today the area is a thriving innovation ecosystem thanks to a network of students, faculty, researchers, startup entrepreneurs and global corporations.

“Tech Square is a globally recognized destination for innovation,” said AURP President Mason Ailstock. “Through Georgia Tech’s leadership, Tech Square creates intentional collisions between industry partners, entrepreneurs and the university. AURP is thrilled to showcase the breadth and depth of Atlanta and Georgia Tech to the 2019 conference attendees.”

Tech Square is comprised of more than 2 million square feet of office, research, retail, residential and hotel space, including the Technology Square Research Building, the Biltmore, Global Learning Center, the Scheller College of Business and the new Coda building, which will open in 2019.

More than 100 companies, employing 15,000, people are located in the 10-block area of Midtown Atlanta. Nearly 30 major companies run corporate design, innovation, technology development and research centers in or near the area, including Anthem, AT&T, Delta Air Lines, Home Depot, NCR, Southern Company and UCB.

While these corporate operations represent a wide range of industries, they all seek to tap into the area’s culture of collaboration — and its talent pool.

Tech Square is one reason why Atlanta is among the top cities for corporate innovation, said Greg King, associate vice president for economic development at Georgia Tech and an AURP board member.

“With a density that helps to accelerate innovation and development, Tech Square brings together education, research and corporate partnerships,” King said. “Georgia Tech has also fostered an environment where corporate innovators can learn from each other and experienced entrepreneurs mentor younger startups. We’re excited to be able to showcase Tech Square, Georgia Tech and the community of innovation represented here.”

Source: https://www.news.gatech.edu/2018/11/02/tech-square-host-2019-association-university-research-parks-international-conference

Tech Square Innovation Week starts May 7th

By

Technology Square on the Georgia Tech campus in Midtown Atlanta.

Technology Square is abuzz with the activity of startups, corporate innovation, and disruptive research, as well as outstanding student talent from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

For one week in spring 2018 — May 7-10 — the Tech Square neighborhood and the components that make it one of the nation’s most successful ecosystems of ideation and disruption will be on display as part of Tech Square Innovation Week.

The Georgia Institute of Technology’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) and its Enterprise Innovation Institute are the hosts of Tech Square Innovation Week.

“With this week, we and our partners really wanted to show all the various components that make Tech Square the vibrant innovation ecosystem that it is,” said Jen Bonnett, ATDC general manager.

“Tech Square is a national model of economic development, ideation, and technology disruption. With Tech Square Innovation Week, this is the opportunity for visitors and event attendees to see how and why we’re succeeding and possibly join to continue that momentum.”

The week’s events include a “portfolio night” at Engage, the private startup accelerator and venture fund owned and operated by its 10 founding companies, the Georgia Tech Innovation Showcase of up-and-coming research ideas Georgia Tech students and faculty have developed, and the Atlanta Startup Battle at Tech Square Labs, with $100,000 at stake.

Tech Square Innovation Week also includes the Technology Association of Georgia’s FinTech South 2018, a two-day summit focused on the latest trends in the financial technology sector, and the ATDC RetailTech Summit, which will explore technological disruptions and opportunities in that sector.

Tech Square Innovation Week will culminate with the 2018 ATDC Startup Showcase on May 10 at the Georgia Tech Academy of Medicine and the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel.

Now in its 32nd year, the ATDC Startup Showcase is Georgia’s largest spring startup confab. The event, which draws nearly 1,000 attendees,features more than 80of disruptive technology companies from the state of Georgia.

About Tech Square Innovation Week:

Tech Square Innovation Week — May 7 through May 10, 2018 — is a weeklong celebration that highlights and celebrates different components that combined, make Technology Square in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood, a national economic development model that entrepreneurship, disruption, research, corporate partnerships and investment. For more information, please visit techsquareinnovates.com.

 

About the Advanced Technology Development Center:

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become one of the longest running and most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Here’s the rundown of Tech Square Innovation Week events:

  • MAY 5: Day One Innovation Summit (All Day) at The Garage at Tech Square – The Day One Challenge is open to students in accredited Georgia high schools and this year’s contest will focus on artificial intelligence.
  • MAY 6: Creative Hack (4 p.m.- 5 p.m.) at The Garage at Tech Square – High school students from Frederick Douglass High School and Forrest Hill Academy will pitch their ideas integrating technology for financial management to help their peers in Southwest Atlanta. Students apply the design innovation model to present their creative ideas.
  • MAY 7: Tech Square Innovation Week Kick-Off Party (5 p.m.) – in the ATDC Lobby.
  • MAY 7 & 8: FinTech South 2018 (All Day) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium – FinTech South 2018 is a global exchange of insights, innovations and trends fueling tomorrow’s financial tech industry.
  • MAY 8: Atlanta Startup Battle (6 p.m.) at Tech Square Labs – Atlanta Startup Battle is the freshest and most unique pitch competition in Atlanta. With 100+ ideas and 2 days of competition, the top participants develop their ideas with seasoned mentors and present to investor judges, real VCs from Atlanta and Silicon Valley, all in an effort to help Atlanta build, scale, and fund the next generation of outstanding tech companies.
  • MAY 9: Georgia Tech Innovation Showcase (1 p.m.-3 p.m.) at Tech Square Research Building – See Georgia Tech’s best student teams, student startups, and research projects currently being commercialized at the Georgia Tech Innovation Showcase. Hosted by ATDC and its partners, VentureLab, and CREATE-X.
  • MAY 9: ATDC Retail Summit (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.) at the Hodges Room in Centergy – A gathering of retail executives and innovators gather to discuss the future of retail and the technologies impacting it.
  • MAY 9: Engage Spring Portfolio Night (4 p.m. – 7 p.m.) Engage will present its new portfolio of startups to investors and corporate executives at Invesco Global Headquarters, Two Peachtree Pointe, 1555 Peachtree St. NE.
  • MAY 9: ATDC Investor Dinner (7 p.m.) at Community Smith – A gathering of local and out-of-town investors.
  • MAY 10: ATDC Startup Showcase (11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.) at Renaissance Hotel – The ATDC Startup Showcase is the premier Atlanta technology event where more than 800 investors, corporate partners, entrepreneurs, and researchers converge to discover the most promising and emerging technologies, network with each other, and forge new relationships and partnerships.
  • MAY 10: Tech Square Block Party (5:30 p.m.) at Centergy Courtyard – Food, games, drinks, & a live performance from a Georgia-based Grammy Award Winning Act.

RELATED LINKS

CONTACT INFORMATION

Péralte C. Paul

404.894.8727

peralte.paul@gatech.comm.edu

Companies selected for new Tech Square-based venture firm

By

Eight companies will be part of the inaugural class of Engage Ventures, a new early-stage venture firm created by Georgia Tech and 10 leading global companies.

The selected startups are from across the country and the companies’ leaders include first-time founders and serial entrepreneurs. The startups are:

  • Bee Downtown is working to build healthy, sustainable, honey bee communities around the world.
  • Cyrano is a leadership communications platform using video messaging to help businesses better connect and engage with employees.
  • EmployUs helps companies hire more referrals by automating the employee referral process.
  • Fast Radius enables companies to manage the design, engineering, prototyping and production of end-use parts with digital manufacturing
  • Gauge Insights is a platform for companies to obtain feedback from customers in minutes.
  • Sudu is a technology-based logistics company that offers an end-to-end platform to match shippers and carriers based upon route organization.
  • The Mom Project is a marketplace and community that connects enterprises with diverse female talent.
  • TransRisk creates products and solutions that help transportation industry participants efficiently manage price risk in the North American freight transportation market.

Cyrano and Sudu are part of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), which was established at Georgia Tech by Georgia lawmakers in 1980 to launch and build technology companies. Engage Ventures will offer programming and other services through a contract with ATDC.

Engage Ventures is the largest strategic grouping of major corporations in an independent venture firm. The focus is helping startups develop and execute go-to-market strategies.

“What makes Engage unique is the level of access and interaction with our founding corporate partners at the executive and C-suite level to help streamline partnerships and strategic relationships with these startups and growth companies,” said Thiago Olson, managing director at Engage Ventures.

The 10 founding companies contributing capital, expertise, time and resources in support of Engage include AT&T, Chick-fil-A, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power Foundation Inc., Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Invesco Ltd., The Home Depot and UPS. Executives from these firms will serve as mentors to the companies receiving financial support from the venture fund.

Engage is headquartered in Georgia Tech’s Technology Square.

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2017/08/15/companies-selected-new-tech-square-based-venture-firm

Delta officially opens new advanced manufacturing facility at Georgia Tech

By

Nearly three months after opening its Global Innovation Center in Tech Square, Delta Air Lines cut the ribbon on its new Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility on 14th Street in a special ceremony on July 19, 2017.

From left, Don McConnell, Georgia Tech vice president of Industry Collaboration; Steve Cross, Georgia Tech executive vice president for Research, Gil West, Delta’s senior executive vice president and chief operating officer, David Garrison, senior vice president for Engineering, Quality, Planning and Logistics for Delta; Tad Hutcheson, senior vice president of the Delta Air Lines Foundation; and Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson cut the ribbon on the new Delta Air Lines Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility at Georgia Tech.

“We’re really excited about the partnership with Delta,” said Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “This facility is a little different. Our students, faculty, staff and researchers will be able to develop products, and it provides Delta an opportunity to collaborate with its partners.”

Made possible by a $3 million gift from the Delta Air Lines Foundation, the facility was designed to be an integrated physical and cyber manufacturing technology testbed as well as a demonstration and teaching facility. The Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF) will be a flagship component of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute as a location where early-stage concepts can go from idea to reality.

“Over the last two years, inspired by insights gained from our close collaboration in manufacturing research with industry partners, faculty members from the schools of Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Interactive Computing came together to define the requirements for a learning and research facility that will provide the foundation for future innovations in digital manufacturing,” said Don McConnell, Georgia Tech’s vice president of Industry Collaboration.

Peterson said the building had been part of the Atlantic Steel plant and before it was converted to house Delta’s AMPF and Boeing’s Manufacturing Development Center, the building had served as a warehouse for Georgia Tech’s Housing department to store and repair furniture for residence halls and on-campus apartments.

“Georgia Tech is a world-class institute, and we’re really blessed to have you in our hometown,” said Gil West, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer for Delta.

Back on May 2, Delta and Georgia Tech held a ribbon cutting for an innovation center called “The Hangar” in Tech Square, which is now home to 20 such innovation centers. The AMPF establishes Georgia Tech as a national leader in advanced manufacturing.

Siemens opens innovation center in Tech Square

By

Representatives from Siemens opened its Data Analytics and Applications Center in Georgia Tech’s Technology Square last week, making it the latest global corporation to open an innovation center on or near campus.

The center will help transportation providers use big data to improve operations and safety. For example, the Siemens team will work with the City of Atlanta to collect information from the Atlanta Streetcar and analyze data points to make the best use of the fleet.

Siemens is the 16th company to open an innovation center in Tech Square. These centers represent a diverse range of industries with a common goal of tapping into the innovation neighborhood’s vibrant network of students, faculty, researchers and startup entrepreneurs.

The Data Analytics and Applications Center represents an exciting next step in the longstanding relationship between Georgia Tech and Siemens, said Stephen E. Cross, the Institute’s executive vice president for research.

“Siemens has been a longtime partner of the Institute, and we are proud that they are now a part of the vision for Tech Square and the strategy that drives Georgia Tech as an institution,” Cross said. “Georgia Tech plays a strategic role in growing Georgia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and continues to forge paths to new research and innovation that have impact on our city, state, and region. Nowhere is that more evident than in Tech Square and nowhere is it is better realized than in centers like the Siemens Data Analytics and Applications Center.”

Here are some examples of the extensive collaboration between the Institute and Siemens:

  • Georgia Tech has partnered on more than 20 projects with Siemens over the past four years in manufacturing, health care and energy.
  • For more than 15 years, the Siemens Foundation has collaborated with the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC). Activities include improving K-12 science and math education in underserved communities; hosting the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology; and preparing students for the future of manufacturing.
  • Siemens also recruits about 30 Georgia Tech students each year, primarily through 15 technical training programs that lead to direct hire upon completion.

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2017/04/20/siemens-opens-innovation-center-tech-square

Georgia Tech announces new way to ‘engage’ technology startups

By

A new mentorship-driven accelerator and venture fund targeting high-tech startups is coming to Atlanta.

The national program, called Engage, launched Jan. 12th through a joint announcement from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, and the CEOs of 10 leading global corporations.

Georgia Tech's Tech Square will be home to a new accelerator and venture fund called Engage.
Georgia Tech’s Tech Square will be home to a new accelerator and venture fund called Engage.

The Engage accelerator is open to startups across the country, with a focus placed on mentoring and market access strategies. Applications will be available in early 2017, with programming scheduled to begin in the spring. Up to 48 startups could go through the program in the first three years.

The program will be supported through a venture fund, and 10 corporations have committed $15 million to date. In addition, the corporations will actively support the accelerator through mentoring, education, and collaboration.

Engage will offer programming and other services through a contract with the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), which was established at Georgia Tech by Georgia lawmakers in 1980 to launch and build technology companies.

The primary objective of the mentoring is to help startups with their go-to-market strategy. Engage will also help the startups connect with the resources and right people in the large companies.

G.P. "Bud" Peterson is the eleventh president of Georgia Tech.
G.P. “Bud” Peterson is the eleventh president of Georgia Tech.

“Georgia Tech is committed to continue working with both large corporations and startups to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast,” said Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “By engaging the business community to maximize our collective strengths, we can attract and grow new companies, foster economic development, and retain talent in Georgia.”

Georgia Tech is recognized as a national leader in promoting entrepreneurial opportunities and economic development. Tech Square, for example, is home to more than a dozen corporate innovation centers. Engage will provide additional commercialization opportunities for Georgia Tech students, faculty, and research.

Engage is a key initiative of the Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP), a coalition that includes the mayor of Atlanta, leading CEOs, and university presidents. The ACP focuses on critical issues facing the city; one of its key priorities is furthering Atlanta’s development as a leading technology hub with increased access to funding for startups. In addition to getting direct support from the founding companies, Engage entrepreneurs will be connected to more than 30 companies that are ACP members.

“Atlanta is the Southeast’s technology, innovation and entrepreneurship capital, with the third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the country,” Reed said.  “We must take advantage of these unique assets to further stimulate our growing ecosystem of start-ups and growth-stage companies, connecting them to capital, talent and mentorship. This new venture fund and accelerator program will offer an unmatched opportunity for entrepreneurs in Atlanta and the region, and I am confident its success will lead to greater interest and investment in our emerging technology companies.”

The 10 founding companies contributing capital, expertise, time, and resources in support of Engage include AT&T, Chick-fil-A, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power Foundation Inc., Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Invesco Ltd., The Home Depot, and UPS. Executives from these firms – many of which are Fortune 500 companies – will serve as mentors to the companies receiving financial support from Engage.

What makes Engage unique is the interaction of these global companies with the startup ecosystem to help entrepreneurs build companies that will transform their markets. Rather than filling the specific needs of a single large company, Engage startups will benefit from the combined perspective of the founding companies.

“The robust level of participation from the city’s leading corporations will help ensure Engage’s success by providing a world-class incubation program for high-potential start-ups,” said Martin L. Flanagan, president and CEO of Invesco and a member of the Atlanta Committee for Progress.

Each of the founding companies committed $1.5 million to a venture fund that has been formed to make equity and equity-related investments into companies admitted to Engage. The fund will be managed by Tech Square Ventures.

“By combining mentoring from executives of Atlanta’s top companies and experienced entrepreneurs with programming from ATDC, Engage will give entrepreneurs unparalleled market access and connectivity to help them bring their ideas to market,” said Blake Patton, managing partner of Tech Square Ventures.

Innovation thrives in Tech Square

By

When Georgia Tech opened Technology Square in 2003, one of the guiding principles was to foster a better connection with the business community. Fast forward to today and evidence of those successful connections can be found in the more than one dozen corporate innovation centers clustered in the area.

While these centers represent a diverse range of industries, they all have the common goal of tapping into the area’s culture of collaboration thanks to the vibrant network of students, faculty, researchers and startup entrepreneurs.

Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson hosted a roundtable discussion Tuesday morning, September 20, 2016, with a handful of corporate executives from companies that opened innovation centers in Tech Square.

Leaders from Georgia Tech, Anthem, Panasonic and UCB gathered in Georgia Tech's Tech Square to discuss the advantages of establishing innovation centers on university campuses. Their conversation examined the ways higher education can work with established companies, startups, and government to spur innovation, develop new technologies, and foster development.
Leaders from Georgia Tech, Anthem, Panasonic and UCB gathered in Georgia Tech’s Tech Square to discuss the advantages of establishing innovation centers on university campuses. Their conversation examined the ways higher education can work with established companies, startups, and government to spur innovation, develop new technologies, and foster development. (Click photo to play video.)

“This is a very exciting time for the innovation ecosystem that exists here in Atlanta, and in particular in Tech Square,” Peterson said during the event held in Tech Square. “The strategy is to try to provide an opportunity for large corporations to create an innovation space and access the talent and the technologies that exist here at Georgia Tech.”

The panelists included Tom Gebhardt, chief operating officer of Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America, whose innovation center opened in 2012, making the company an early adaptor. The program has grown tenfold over the past four years, he said.

Gebhardt explained the benefits of working outside a traditional corporate environment.

“The ideas that are generated in this center versus what we’d get in our corporate environment are unmatched,” he said. “The mix, the demographic, the diversity, it’s not possible.”

UCB, the global biopharmaceutical company, is one of the newest innovation centers, having just opened the UCB Solution Accelerator this week. Its goal is to drive collaboration between the company and Georgia Tech to develop solutions to help those living with severe diseases.

Jeff Wren, head of UCB’s Neurology Patient Value Unit, explained how the centers demonstrate that problems cannot be solved just by the research and development units typically found at a company’s corporate headquarters.

“We have to go beyond our own walls,” Wren said. “We need to see transformation, but no single entity can create that transformation on their own. So if we want to see this transformation take place we have to be networked, and that is one of the reasons we are here.”

The centers do more than just help the companies. They engage with startups, providing them with access to markets and fostering relationships through mentorships, said Blake Patton, a technology entrepreneur and investor who is a managing partner with Tech Square Ventures, a seed and early-stage venture capital fund located in Tech Square.

The innovation centers are investors for the startups by becoming customers and partners, and providing platforms to help them to succeed, said Patton, a past general manager of Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center, a statewide startup technology business incubator.

ATDC’s current general manager, Jennifer Bonnett, moderated the discussion, which included questions from reporters who attended in person and those who watched the event through a live web stream.

One reporter asked for examples of products or solutions that came out of the innovation centers.

The first innovation created by the Anthem center allowed for what officials call a dynamic video, said Tom Miller, the chief information officer for the Fortune 50 health benefits company.

The company previously used a generic video to welcome new members who signed up for health care. Now a personalized video is dynamically generated that brings together attributes of a new client’s family, their situation and their health plan. The video is generated as soon as the client registers. While this information is currently incorporated in a welcome video, it will have additional uses as well, Miller said.

Miller said the innovation center has bred a new hope across the whole company, especially as the health care industry undergoes a major transformation.

“As a large company, you wonder if you’re going to be a part of it or if it’s going to happen to you,” he said. “For the first time in years, if you have a great idea you have somewhere to take it.”

More companies may soon have the same experience.

Peterson said the Institute is seeing more growth around Tech Square and is constantly talking with companies about different ways to engage in the area.

“We’re very excited about what’s going on and we’re very excited to see how it continues to grow and evolve,” Peterson said. “Five years from now it will look different than it does today, but I hope it retains this vibrancy, this energy and this innovative sprit.”

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2016/09/21/innovation-thrives-tech-square

Emerson opens The Helix Innovation Center at Georgia Tech

By

Emerson on September 8th celebrated the opening of The Helix Innovation Center at Georgia Tech, a new collaboration and innovation space located in Technology Square. The site expands Emerson’s global network of innovation facilities focused on climate solutions, including The Helix Innovation Center at the University of Dayton in Ohio, The Europe Solution Center in Aachen, Germany, and The Emerson Innovation Centre in Pune, India.

Emerson executives joined by Georgia Institute of Technology President G.P. "Bud" Peterson officially open The Helix Innovation Center at Georgia Tech in Technology Square. The new site expands Emerson’s global network of innovation facilities focused on climate solutions and will serve as the focal point of Emerson’s development and collaboration on big data and Internet of Things concepts. Emerson is among the more than a dozen corporations that have either opened or announced innovation centers in and around Tech Square.
Emerson executives joined by Georgia Institute of Technology President G.P. “Bud” Peterson officially open The Helix Innovation Center at Georgia Tech in Technology Square. The new site expands Emerson’s global network of innovation facilities focused on climate solutions and will serve as the focal point of Emerson’s development and collaboration on big data and Internet of Things concepts.
Emerson is among the more than a dozen corporations that have either opened or announced innovation centers in and around Tech Square.

The Tech Square location will serve as the focal point of Emerson’s development and collaboration on big data and Internet of Things concepts.

“Our investment in this collaboration and innovation space is a key part of our strategy to build relationships with academics, students, technology leaders and entrepreneurs. We want to create the right environment and culture for innovation to address industry challenges and better serve our customers,” said Mark Dunson, group vice president of electronics & solutions for Emerson.

The Helix Innovation Center at Georgia Tech is a nearly 1,600 square-foot facility, featuring the latest technology for effective in-person and virtual collaboration.

Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson welcomed Emerson to the Tech Square community and recognized the company as one of the world’s powerhouses in the electronics industry.

“We’re impressed by Emerson’s innovation speed,” Peterson said. “While we’re at the grand opening event today, the Emerson team has been active in the Tech Square community for more than a year, and is already deeply engaged with our students, faculty, and our innovation and entrepreneur community.”

Over the past couple of years more than a dozen corporations have opened or announced plans for innovation centers in Tech Square to access the talent and technologies that exist at Georgia Tech.

Emerson will leverage a variety of projects to explore solutions to customer problems through The Helix Innovation Center at Georgia Tech. Early projects already completed include multiple industry and product ideation sessions, reviews of new technology and entrepreneurial concepts, early development of advanced components for Emerson building management systems, and student engagements in research projects and prototyping product concepts.

Emerson will employ approximately a dozen people in The Helix Innovation Center at Georgia Tech; roughly half will be employees who rotate through from other Emerson locations.

Emerson employs more than 200 management, engineering, technical support, sales and manufacturing associates at its Kennesaw location, which focuses on serving the retail supermarket, convenience store, refrigerated transport and foodservice industries.

At The Helix, Emerson focuses on HVACR industry markets (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning and Refrigeration), including: supermarket refrigeration, food service operations, residential connected homes, data center cooling, industrial refrigeration and light commercial buildings.

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2016/09/08/emerson-opens-helix-innovation-center-georgia-tech

Georgia Tech, Portman announce Coda in Tech Square

By

The new Coda building in Georgia Tech's Technology Square is a nearly 750,000-square-foot mixed-use project. John Portman & Associates is designing the facility. Georgia Tech will occupy about half the office space and the building will house Tech's high performance computing center. The retail space includes the adaptive reuse of the historic Crum &; Forster building.
The new Coda building in Georgia Tech’s Technology Square is a nearly 750,000-square-foot mixed-use project. John Portman & Associates is designing the facility. Georgia Tech will occupy about half the office space and the building will house Tech’s high performance computing center. The retail space includes the adaptive reuse of the historic Crum & Forster building.

The Georgia Institute of Technology and Portman gathered Atlanta’s civic and business leaders on April 20th to announce Coda, an unprecedented collaborative building including Georgia Tech’s high performance computing center located in Tech Square. The approximately 750,000-square-foot mixed-use project represents a $375 million investment into the budding innovation district.

Within the development, 620,000 square feet will be office space designed to enable unparalleled collaboration between research and industry. Georgia Tech will occupy about half the office space. Nearly 40,000 square feet of retail space, including the adaptive reuse of the historic Crum & Forster building, will be accessed by a plaza, which will become a local gathering place and outdoor living room for Tech Square and Midtown Atlanta. The development also includes an approximately 80,000-square-foot data center, which Next Tier HD has been selected to operate.

“With Georgia Tech as the anchor tenant, the high performance computing center’s interdisciplinary, collaborative environment will enhance Tech Square’s positive impact in Midtown Atlanta, bringing together people in a mixed-use community of innovation, education and intelligent exchange,” said Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “In 12 short years, Tech Square has become the Southeast’s premier innovation neighborhood.”

“The Portman team is honored to bring to life the vision for this mixed-use property at Tech Square, unlike anything else in the southeastern United States,” said Ambrish Baisiwala, CEO of Portman Holdings. “We’re excited to develop Coda – encompassing collaborative office space, co-working and research facilities, a high performance computing center and interactive community space, collectively enhancing the innovation ecosystem created by Georgia Tech and Midtown.”

Coda represents the next phase of Georgia Tech’s Technology Square – Atlanta’s most sought after neighborhood for technology- and science-based companies. The new complex will be programmed around high performance computing modeling, simulation and a sustainable innovation ecosystem that integrates the existing assets of Tech Square with new opportunities in interdisciplinary research, commercialization and sustainability.

John Portman & Associates is designing the facility in order to achieve the primary goal of bringing research and commercialization together.  The design includes the creation of an outdoor urban plaza bordered by retail and a giant interactive media wall, a high performance data center, and two office towers connected by a central collaborative core. This collaborative core will be a gathering nexus uniquely connecting every floor from top to bottom. The design truly represents the next generation of office space and will be a unique landmark for the city of Atlanta.

“We believe innovation is generated by looking at things in a different way,” explains Pierluca Maffey, vice president of design for John Portman & Associates. “So we are creating spaces that allow brilliant thinkers, creative minds and smart business people to come together, share their points of view and start a process that leads to the next big idea.”

Tech Square connects the intellectual capital of Georgia Tech with the thriving business community in Midtown Atlanta.  It is a magnet for tech startups and university spinoffs. The area has attracted industry innovation centers that include AT&T Mobility, Panasonic Automotive, Southern Company, Delta Air Lines, The Home Depot, Coca-Cola Enterprises, NCR and ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas. Along with the new NCR world headquarters under development and Tech Square Labs, the eight-block Tech Square campus will soon total 3 million square feet of commercial space and more than $1 billion invested. The mixed-use development will serve as an urban “main street” for the campus and community. Leasable office and retail space will be represented by Portman Holdings’ Travis Garland, assisted by JLL.

Invest Atlanta has been very supportive of the project, which is anticipated to have an economic impact of $813.8 million as well as significant economic benefits – not only through the creation of 2,100 construction jobs and 2,400 jobs onsite after completion, but also through its impact on innovation in the region.

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2016/04/20/georgia-tech-portman-announce-coda-tech-square

Contracting News

Read More

Contracting Tips

Read More

GTPAC News

Read More

Georgia Tech News

Read More