Sarah Eby-Ebersole
Institute Communications and Public Affairs
President G. Wayne Clough used the occasion of his
2004 State of the Institute Address, entitled “Innovation
in a Changing World,” to discuss Georgia Tech’s
opportunity to emerge as a leader in driving the innovation
needed to solve society’s problems and produce
economic prosperity.
Clough began by describing the larger world in which
Georgia Tech functions. He noted rapid technological
changes and powerful worldwide trends that have developed
during the past twenty years, including expanding opportunities
for trade accelerated by the proliferation of telecommunications
technology.
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To
maintain the United States’ position in
the global marketplace, Clough said, we must continue
to invest in the kinds of research and partnerships
that will lead to innovation. |
Drawing on his experience as the chair of the National
Academy of Engineering’s Engineer of 2020 initiative,
he outlined some of the characteristics of the world
of the future, such as strong population growth in urban
areas of underdeveloped nations and an increasing focus
on education and technology in China, India and the
European Union. The investments these nations are making
in science and technology education will enable them
to compete increasingly with the United States, he said,
and the pressures of a growing world population will
exacerbate environmental problems like global warming
and freshwater shortages.
The answer to both the environmental problems and the
economic challenges is innovation, which “requires
not only that we discover new knowledge and technology,
but also that we anticipate ways to put it to work within
a complex legal, political, social and economic landscape,”
he said.
Clough cited the telegraph and telephone as examples,
noting that while Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham
Bell were the stereotypical inventors, working away
in their labs on a piece of technology, their inventions
became innovations that spawned today’s enormous
telecommunications industry and changed the very character
of our lives and our work.
“What will be the equivalent inventions for our
century?” he asked. “What inventions in
biotechnology or nanotechnology will become the key
transformational innovations that spin off dozens of
products and change life as we know it through the coming
decades? And, more to the point, who will be in a position
to drive that change?”
Clough said that Georgia Tech’s goal of defining
the technological research university of the 21st century
is an expression of the Institute’s intent to
help drive the innovation of the future. “In the
process, we will help our nation to compete and shape
a healthier, more sustainable and more prosperous future
for all of the inhabitants of this world.”
He also pointed out that Tech’s enduring traditions
of entrepreneurism and creative problem-solving are
enabling the Institute to transform itself into the
innovative, nimble, international enterprise required
to succeed in today’s rapidly changing world.
However, Tech has challenges to overcome. The Institute
is a relative newcomer to the top tier of the nation’s
universities, all of which also want to be the best.
In addition, it has experienced a series of reductions
in its state allocations over the past several years.
The portion of Tech’s budget that is funded by
the state of Georgia has decreased from 34 percent to
25 percent over the past decade. The Institute has funded
more than 80 percent of its capital construction over
the same time and now pays the salaries of more than
half of its academic and research faculty from non-state
resources.
Noting that the recent series of cuts is beginning
to cause a policy shift, Clough said, “I believe
it is time for a statewide policy discussion about how
public higher education will be funded in Georgia.”
He emphasized his commitment to maintaining the academic
excellence for which Georgia Tech is known. “When
it comes to using innovation to turn challenges into
opportunities, we rely on the people equation,”
he said, noting that this fall’s freshman class
is the largest, smartest and most diverse in Institute
history and that upper-level students are winning some
of the world’s most prestigious scholarships.
The faculty is equally outstanding, he said, pointing
out that Georgia Tech ranks second in the nation in
the cumulative total of National Science Foundation
CAREER Awards.
“Our outstanding students and faculty are the
primary reason Georgia Tech has been ranked among the
nation’s top ten public universities every year
since 1999,” he said.
The Institute’s campuses in France and Singapore
reflect its increasingly global character. Study Abroad
programs have grown rapidly, with a 14 percent increase
in students participating last year. One-third of Tech
students now participate in an international education
program at some point in their undergraduate career,
he said.
Innovation is also interdisciplinary in nature, another
central trait of Georgia Tech. “As technology
becomes increasingly ubiquitous, demand is growing for
scientists and engineers who understand the broader
social and cultural ramifications of their work and
for practitioners in a wide range of other disciplines
who understand technology,” Clough said.
He cited cross-disciplinary programs such as the McEver
Program for Engineering and the Liberal Arts and Technological
Innovation: Generating Economic Results (TI:GER), which
is not only interdisciplinary but also involves students
from Emory University as well as Georgia Tech.
He noted Georgia Tech’s interdisciplinary degrees,
including two based in the School of Modern Languages
and four professional master’s degrees based in
the College of Sciences. Each of the professional master’s
degrees is a collaborative effort of three different
schools or colleges, and they are models for other universities
around the nation.
Clough also pointed to the interdisciplinary nature
of the Institute’s major research thrusts. “We
are not just talking about technological mixes,”
he added, “but also mixes that add public policy,
international affairs, entrepreneurship, marketing and
transportation systems — all of which are required
to bring new ideas and inventions to fruition.”
Tech’s interdisciplinary collaboration is especially
advantageous in nanotechnology, he said, because it
will touch every aspect of technology in the future.
Georgia Tech’s lifelong focus on economic development
is another advantage, Clough said, pointing to VentureLab,
which supports the commercialization of discoveries
from Georgia Tech’s labs, and the Advanced Technology
Development Center, which incubates fledgling companies.
Innovation is a social activity that both requires
and fosters openness and interaction, which is why Georgia
Tech is pursuing a wide range of partnerships with other
universities. The most fully developed is the Coulter
Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint academic
program between Georgia Tech and Emory University that
is ranked second in the nation by U.S. News & World
Report.
Tech is also developing other partnerships with universities
in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and using distance
learning technology to serve educational needs around
the world.
Clough concluded by noting that Tech’s campus
has become as innovative as its people and programs.
The Biotechnology Complex, the Information Technology
Complex, and Technology Square are innovative academic
and research facilities, while the Campus Recreation
Center and the Stamps Student Center Commons improve
campus life.
“Even the old and tired can be renewed and made
more innovative,” he said, referring to the project
now under way to widen the Fifth Street bridge, creating
a small park on each side of the street. These projects
are part of the Institute’s newly revised Campus
Master Plan to create a sustainable, walkable campus
that provides the facilities the Institute needs to
define the technological research university of the
21st century.
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