{"341991":{"#nid":"341991","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI Past: Research Institute Celebrates 75 Years of Applying Technology for Government and Industry","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn 1934, the State Engineering Experiment Station (EES) at Georgia Tech started life with a budget of $5,000, 13 part-time faculty researchers and a few graduate assistants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn fiscal year 2009, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(GTRI) \u2013 the modern name for the EES \u2013 listed research awards of more than $200 million, nearly 1,500 full-time employees including about 700 research faculty, and 350 co-op student researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe progress of the Georgia Tech Research Institute over the past 75 years didn\u2019t happen in a vacuum, said GTRI Director\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/director\u0022\u003EStephen E. Cross\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur history is tied to major changes in how government and industry regard university-based research and development,\u201d he said. \u201cIt also reflects steadfast support from Georgia government and industry \u2013 and the hard work of a lot of smart people.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EModest Beginnings\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI, the applied research arm of Georgia Tech, might be celebrating its 90th anniversary if things had gone a bit differently. When W. Harry Vaughan, a Georgia Tech associate professor of ceramics, was preparing a plan in 1929 for the development of an engineering experiment station, he discovered that the General Assembly had authorized \u2013 but not funded \u2013 just such an organization in 1919.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy 1934, however, funding priorities had changed.\u0026nbsp; With the Great Depression wilting the state\u2019s economy, the University System of Georgia\u2019s Board of Regents appropriated $5,000 to establish a State Engineering Experiment Station. Georgia Tech was to furnish personnel and other support to the new unit, which was envisioned as an industry-oriented version of the federally funded agricultural experiment stations that were already operating in many states.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat soon became known as simply \u201cthe research station\u201d opened for business on July 1, 1934, with Vaughan as its first director. The state even came up with an additional budget allocation, with the understanding that it would be augmented by sponsored research funds \u2013 actual contracts \u2013 as new projects came on board.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELegislation authorized the new Engineering Experiment Station to conduct specific research in areas that included \u201ctransportation, road building, drainage, irrigation, flood protection, aeronautics, aerodynamics, fuels, power, lighting, heating, refrigeration, ventilation, sanitation and architecture.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research organization went on to do just about all of that \u2013 and a great deal more.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe first years at EES were modest.\u0026nbsp; The research effort was housed in the basement of Georgia Tech\u2019s Old Shop Building, with much of its equipment rented from the School of Mechanical Engineering. Much of its first work focused on textiles and ceramics \u2013 including a facility where researchers developed the first rayon made from Georgia pine pulp.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEES contracts in the 1930s included work on the autogyro, a short-winged aircraft that foreshadowed the helicopter. It\u2019s not known what contributions the EES may actually have made to the true helicopter, which emerged by 1940.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EValue of the EES research-project portfolio in 1940: $260,000.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWartime Transformation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEES\u2019s workload jumped sharply just before and during World War II, thanks to new funding from the federal government.\u0026nbsp; The research station\u2019s sponsored work expanded to include wind-tunnel testing of airfoil designs and additional helicopter research.\u0026nbsp; The EES also focused on sensitive communications research including a high-selectivity, high-gain audio amplifier; a rugged portable \u201cmini-band\u201d amplifier; and lock-in amplifier circuits used to separate pulse signals from thermal noise.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPerhaps most important \u2013 for the organization\u2019s future \u2013 was an EES study of electromagnetic-wave propagation.\u0026nbsp; That work was followed by a large Navy contract for radar research and development, which set the stage for Georgia Tech\u2019s longtime status as a leading U.S. innovator in radar and defense electronics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGerald Rosselot, a Georgia Tech physics professor, took over as EES director in 1941.\u0026nbsp; He\u2019s often credited with facilitating the research station\u2019s entry into electronics during and after the war.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne wartime EES story indicates just how comfortable researchers were becoming with electromagnetic-wave technology.\u0026nbsp; Several sources agree that one electrical-engineering professor had discovered that certain radio frequencies, transmitted inside a box, would heat food.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe only things the EES would give him to cook were sweet potatoes and peanuts,\u201d said George M. Jeffares, who worked at the station part-time as a Georgia Tech senior. Jeffares was recruited along with other EES personnel to periodically \u201ctaste the sweet potatoes to see if they were done.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWartime research priorities scotched further investigation of the phenomenon. Possible EES claims to discovery of the microwave oven became the stuff of Georgia Tech lore.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy the 1943-44 fiscal year, more than 30 projects were under way at EES, which now employed 17 full-time and nearly 100 part-time researchers.\u0026nbsp; Just over half of the operating budget came from government and industry contracts, as opposed to state support. By the last year of the war, the government-industry figure had climbed to 61 percent.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECold War Tensions\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorld War II\u2019s intensity gave way to Cold War tensions, and it soon became clear that federal government support for university-based research would continue.\u0026nbsp; Georgia Tech President Blake Van Leer and Dean of Engineering Cherry Emerson spearheaded a 1946 move to create an independent, nonprofit corporation to handle contract and patent issues for EES.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe name for the new entity was the Georgia Tech Research Institute. Nearly four decades later, the EES would take that name for itself, and the contracting unit would become the Georgia Tech Research Corporation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnder the new structure, growth continued nicely. By 1947, 56 full-time and 95 part-time EES researchers were performing work worth $441,000 \u2013 87 percent from outside contracts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn the home front, EES was collaborating with the University of Georgia\u2019s College of Agriculture to make Georgia peanut farming more profitable, including production of better harvesting and processing machinery. Experiments with an electric eye, to aid peanut-picking machinery, were a precursor to sophisticated machine-vision work for the poultry industry decades later.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 1948, the Research Building, built in 1939 as EES\u2019s home base, was enlarged and named after a major contributor, Atlanta dentist Thomas Hinman. Soon after, EES\u2019s annual research income passed the $1 million mark.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Korean conflict (1950-53) increased the flow of federal research dollars to universities across the country. EES\u2019s share included many sensitive projects in the areas of radar, microwave propagation, communications, missile-tracking frequency control, antenna design, underwater acoustics and microwave optics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research station\u2019s role in national security research had become permanent.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMillimeter Wave Pioneers\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEES\u2019s wartime work had brought Georgia Tech growing recognition as a top player in radar research and development. Research-station investigators were soon delving into millimeter waves, an area of the electromagnetic spectrum that seemed to offer great opportunities. Millimeter waves \u2013 the band between 30 and 300 gigahertz \u2013 can provide effective image identification even through fog, rain and smoke.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers were soon determining which millimeter-wave frequencies worked best for a given task \u2013 and in doing so they pioneered the basic science of the millimeter-wave environment. The research that began at EES has continued at today\u2019s GTRI, bringing with it international recognition for millimeter-wave expertise.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022wp-caption-text\u0022\u003EScientific Atlanta, one of Atlanta\u0027s oldest technology companies, was purchased recently by Cisco. Engineering Experiment Station personnel helped found the company in 1952.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEES engineers also developed broad expertise in the hardware \u2013 antennas, receivers and transmitters \u2013 needed for millimeter-wave applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday, millimeter-wave technology is used for everything from identifying tanks and warplanes to tracking raindrops and wind patterns as part of severe-weather research and climate modeling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s important role in helping to create new Georgia companies began during this period as well.\u0026nbsp; It was an auspicious start.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 1952, several EES personnel \u2013 including Director Rosselot, Associate Director James E. Boyd and former EES researcher Glen P. Robinson, Jr. \u2013 formed Scientific Atlanta. The venture\u2019s basic business model was to commercialize some of the technology developed at Georgia Tech, especially for antennas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientific Atlanta eventually became a large company, renowned for developing satellite Earth stations and cable television equipment. In 2006, it was acquired by Cisco Systems Inc., a major network-technology corporation.\u003Cbr \/\u003EDawn of the Computer Age\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 1947, EES installed an \u201celectro-mechanical brain\u201d \u2013 an analog computer \u2013 the first in the Southeast.\u0026nbsp; It was so large that the Research Building needed an annex to house it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThen, in 1955, Georgia Tech opened the Rich Electronic Computer Center, with a mission of \u201ceducation, service to industry and research.\u201d The Rich Center, too, was the first facility of its kind in the Southeast.\u0026nbsp; Its first resident was a UNIVAC 1101, built by Remington Rand, an analog computer that measured 38 feet by 20 feet and featured rotating-drum memory equal to 48 kilobytes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe had to program it by counting drum revolutions and putting ones and zeros on it,\u201d recalls Fred Dyer, who joined EES as a Georgia Tech student in 1957 (and stayed on some 40 years). \u201cThere wasn\u2019t even a compiler. I said that computers would never be practical.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYet the computer center had opened at a critical time. Analog-computer experience during the 1950s prepared Tech\u2019s engineers and scientists for the revolutionary transition from analog to digital computing that took place in the 1960s.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn and out of the computer center, the research station\u2019s work during this period was nearly as diverse as GTRI\u2019s work is today.\u0026nbsp; In addition to the core defense work, EES engineers of the 1960s tackled an electro-mechanical system for organizing and aligning plastic bottles, spectrographic analysis of diesel truck components, a study of butane lighters, improvements to peanut-brittle manufacturing \u2013 even a project involving bra design for the Loveable Brassiere Co.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the 1960s, Georgia Tech became well-known for its innovative experimental systems in atomic collisions, initiated by Earl W. McDaniel of EES. Among notable EES projects in atomic collisions was development of the first drift-tube mass spectrometer to study certain low-energy chemical reactions. Another highlight was the first experiments in the U.S. to study collisions between beams of electrons and ions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe station kept up its Georgia connections as well. During the five-year period from 1966 to 1970, EES\u2019s industrial extension division performed 16 major feasibility studies of manufacturing opportunities in Georgia, 24 studies of industrial sites and 14 special reports on manufacturing, plant financing and other issues.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd thanks to an EES study begun in 1969 on how to shield heart-regulating pacemakers from microwave interference, the once-familiar \u201cWARNING: Microwave Oven in Use\u201d sign is rarely seen today. Analogous safety work continues today at GTRI\u2019s Medical Device Test Center.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEnergy \u2013 Nuclear and Otherwise\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter several relatively short-term directors \u2013 including Paul Calaway, James E. Boyd, Robert Stiemke and Wyatt E. Whitley \u2013 EES veteran radar researcher Maurice Long became EES director in 1968.\u0026nbsp; He was one of the first directors chosen from within the EES ranks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy fiscal year 1970-1971, new contracts and grants at EES totaled a record $5.2 million.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientific interest in nuclear technology was peaking in the 1960s.\u0026nbsp; At the EES, a Radioisotopes and Bioengineering Laboratory had opened in 1959; it was utilized for both academic and research activities.\u0026nbsp; Elsewhere on campus, a low-power nuclear reactor was also built.\u0026nbsp; (It has since been dismantled.)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe oil embargo of 1973 made energy a national priority. EES started work on an array of alternative fuel technologies, particularly solar \u2013 an important research focus to this day. EES staff conducted a detailed proof-of-concept study of a large solar-energy power-generation plant, while a 325 kilowatt, 500-mirror Solar Thermal Test Facility \u2013 second largest of its type in the U.S.\u0026nbsp; \u2013 was constructed on campus in 1977 where the Manufacturing Research Center now stands.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne National Science Foundation project examined power-system options for the Southeast. It identified potential opportunities for increasing efficiency and lowering the cost of electrical power and transmission. And EES staff created energy monitoring and conversion proposals for such energy-intensive industries as petroleum refining, meat packing, steel production, papermaking and others.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEES defense activity remained strong during the 1960s. The compact range was invented by Richard C. Johnson in 1966 to measure antenna performance. Today, building-size compact ranges are used to simulate radiation patterns of antennas as they would occur naturally over much longer distances in real-world applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022wp-caption-text\u0022\u003EEES\u0027s high-temperature ceramic expertise led to a fused-silica technique for forming complex shapes such as missile radomes. (Click image for high-resolution version)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 1970, researchers discovered that by manipulating the temperature and the rate and duration of heating, they could strengthen certain ceramics via a phenomenon called sintering. These improved ceramics were used to produce radomes \u2013 structures that shield a missile\u2019s sensors \u2013 for such missile systems as the Patriot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong his accomplishments, Director Long successfully resisted an attempt by the university\u2019s administration to drastically change EES\u2019s status by absorbing it into Georgia Tech\u2019s academic programs. Long believed that Georgia Tech needed a separate applied research arm; his viewpoint prevailed when Georgia Tech President Arthur G. Hansen resigned in 1971 and was replaced by Joseph M. Pettit, dean of engineering at Stanford and a strong advocate of applied research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Grace Years\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector Long stepped down in 1976, and the choice of his replacement came straight from the top. President Pettit had worked at Stanford with a man named Donald J. Grace, whose positions there had included director of the Systems Techniques Laboratory and associate dean of engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGrace\u2019s arrival at Georgia Tech was greeted with much anticipation, according to Hugh Denny, a retired principal research engineer and former director of the Electromagnetic and Environmental Division.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere was a feeling that we were out in the woodpile someplace and nobody paid much attention to us,\u201d Denny recalled. \u201cBecause he had worked with Joe Pettit earlier out at Stanford, the sense we had with Don was that now we had somebody who at least had the ear of the president.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnder Grace, EES acquired the Cobb County research complex in 1978, and much of its most sensitive research is still done there. The Cobb facility was expanded in the 1980s with a multi million-dollar electromagnetic radiation measurement range.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother early Grace-era accomplishment was establishment of the Huntsville Research Laboratory. The idea for a permanent Georgia Tech presence in Huntsville was first proposed by William McCorkle, executive director of the U.S. Army\u2019s Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center.\u0026nbsp; McCorkle and his staff worked with EES\u2019s Electro-Magnetics Laboratory to make the proposal a reality, and by early 1979, six Georgia Tech research faculty and co-op students had settled into government offices at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe move \u201cgave Tech instant accessibility to the government sponsors who were in need of expertise,\u201d said Richard Stanley, who began a 14-year career as Huntsville\u2019s director in 1984.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInquiring minds at the EES were always delving into the latest technology. Fred Dyer recently recalled reading about something called Ethernet in 1974 and then teaming with other research-station personnel to run test cable between buildings \u2013 long before most people had even heard of the technology. By 1976, serious networking had begun at Georgia Tech on a building-by-building basis, he said, although it wasn\u2019t until the 1980s that the campus became fully networked.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENew Name, New Home\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn October 1984, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Engineering Experiment Station officially became the Georgia Tech Research Institute.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022wp-caption-text\u0022\u003EEES\/GTRI research on millimeter wave radar culminated in the development of what was at the time the world\u0027s highest frequency radar operating at 225 GHz. (Click image for high-resolution version)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI had nothing against engineering experiment stations \u2013 they\u2019re all over the country \u2013 but that wasn\u2019t what we were,\u201d Grace said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrom the GTRI perspective, the 1980s were especially productive. Its core competencies fit in well with the dramatic upswing in military spending under the Reagan administration. The Strategic Defense Initiative missile-defense system, known as \u201cStar Wars,\u201d brought Georgia Tech its largest research contract to date \u2013 $21.3 million divided between the School of Electrical Engineering and GTRI.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI landed a 1986 solo contract \u2013 its largest ever at the time \u2013 with a $14.7 million job to design and build technology that would simulate a Soviet surface-to-air missile system. The huge simulator was housed in a 40-foot trailer and three 20-foot transportable shelters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe same year, coinciding with Georgia Tech\u2019s 100th birthday, GTRI\u2019s new home, the Centennial Research Building, was dedicated at 10th and Dalney streets. The $12.5 million, six-story structure provided desperately needed lab and office space for GTRI\u2019s growing research activities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENational Recognition, Active Growth\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBetween 1980 and 1985, electronics \u2013 including defense electronics, electronic systems, electronic techniques and components, antennas, electromagnetics and optics \u2013 comprised two-thirds of the organization\u2019s research volume. Energy accounted for 15 percent; domestic and international economic development projects 9 percent; computer technology 7 percent, and the balance involved the physical, chemical and material sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch accomplishments at Georgia Tech and GTRI were becoming noticed at a national level. The volume of Georgia Tech\u2019s engineering research placed it third among all U.S. universities, and GTRI contributed substantially to that success.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGrowth was extensive throughout GTRI. The Research Institute expanded its defense work, developing new expertise in such areas as computer software technology, electronic warfare technology, multispectral sensors, electro-optic materials and applications, space power and strategic materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt also expanded into newer areas, including autonomous aerial vehicles, artificial intelligence and robotics, and lead paint and asbestos abatement, among many others. Sponsored programs ranged from basic neutrino experiments to the development of economically viable solar-heated chicken houses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat I remember most is how much it grew and how fast it grew,\u201d recalled Janice Rogers, a GTRI veteran who retired in 2006 after a 30-year career that included assisting four directors and rising to senior management. \u201cWhen I worked for the Systems Engineering Lab, it was not unusual for us to hire two or three researchers a week.\u0026nbsp; I think we probably doubled in size during the 10 or so years I worked in that lab.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI became involved in antenna-design work for the International Space Station. GTRI also tackled other projects for the space station, such as design of an Earth-controllable robot to perform experiments onboard the station.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 1987, GTRI unveiled its first LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) system \u2013 a technology that is similar to radar but uses light waves instead of radio waves. To encourage more women to consider a science career, GTRI established a LIDAR observatory at private Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlso in the 1980s, GTRI and Georgia Tech founded the Materials Handling Research Center for improving the movement of products through factories and distribution systems. It quickly became a successful National Science Foundation Industry\/University Cooperative Research Center, with more than 20 major companies and federal agencies supporting its research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy the late 1980s, GTRI was becoming noted for its expertise in a highly important area: retrofitting existing military aircraft with new technology. The work, which continues today, keeps existing systems operating and saves the cost of building new ones. Among GTRI\u2019s successful early projects was an upgrade of the Air Force\u2019s H-53 helicopter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the same period, researcher Nile Hartman developed an integrated optic interferometric sensor that would quickly detect even small amounts of contaminants in air, soil, groundwater and food.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI was also becoming involved in electronic warfare (EW) research and development, which protects U.S. aircraft from enemy radar and missile systems. EW continues to be a major area of expertise for the Research Institute.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIntegrated Defensive Avionics Software (IDAS) is a component of GTRI-developed EW technology that rapidly displays and responds to threats and gives accurate, useful information to the aircrew.\u0026nbsp; IDAS incorporates the Virtual Electronic Combat Training System function, which allows aircrews to train in-flight using simulated threats.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFusion Failure, Olympic Victory\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of GTRI\u2019s most embarrassing moments was, arguably, also one of its finest.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the spring of 1989, a University of Utah research team announced that it had achieved cold fusion in the laboratory. A GTRI team led by James Mahaffey sought to confirm the astonishing report.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMahaffey and team soon believed they had succeeded.\u0026nbsp; Reporters flocked to hear the news, and the name of Georgia Tech echoed round the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt turned out that the original Utah experiment was fatally skewed due to unsuspected instrumentation errors. The Georgia Tech team, following the Utah team\u2019s flawed procedure to try to duplicate the results, had arrived at the same flawed positive conclusion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt turned out that what we had was a problem with the neutron detectors,\u201d which had not been designed to count very low numbers of neutrons accurately, Mahaffey recalled recently. \u201cAnd I said, well, we made a big splash with a press conference to announce it, so we\u2019ve got to de-announce it.\u0026nbsp; At Georgia Tech, data integrity and the integrity of research were so ground into us \u2013 if we were wrong, we were going to say that we were wrong and why we were wrong.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA few days after the first announcement, GTRI called the press back in. Standing side by side with Don Grace in front of dozens of cameras, Mahaffey reported the error.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was the right thing to do,\u201d Grace later recalled.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAny lingering Georgia Tech chagrin gave away to euphoria when, in September 1990, the International Olympic Committee announced that Atlanta would be the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat win was the work of thousands of people.\u0026nbsp; Yet it was widely acknowledged that a computer-generated virtual tour \u2013 developed by a GTRI-led team \u2013 of Atlanta\u2019s proposed Olympic venues was a key to Georgia\u2019s underdog win.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESwords and Plowshares\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter a record 16 years as director of GTRI, Grace retired in late 1992 and was replaced by Richard H. Truly, a former NASA administrator, retired vice admiral, space-shuttle astronaut and Georgia Tech alumnus. Truly took over at a sensitive time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen I arrived in 1992, the Soviet Union had recently collapsed,\u201d Truly recalled. \u201cAnd frankly, there was fear on the campus that GTRI would become a lot smaller because there would be much less defense work.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChanges were soon made. Truly helped GTRI put together a new plan \u2013 \u201ca very simple strategic plan,\u201d he calls it. Management also adjusted the makeup of the GTRI national advisory committee, a move that Truly remembers as being very helpful.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong other things, the new plan stressed becoming involved in a number of non-defense areas, as well as a growing emphasis on industry customers in general. It also sought to sharpen the focus of GTRI\u2019s defense-related research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJanice Rogers, assistant to the director at the time, recalled some of the non-defense transitions. These included, for example, utilizing GTRI\u2019s extensive radar expertise to improve breast-cancer imaging and other medical applications, and the use of imaging and geographical information systems for such applications as weather mapping, cloud mapping and predictability analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETruly\u2019s shakeup included a transition for Rogers. He asked her to fill a new position: director of administration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI got to branch out, which I really enjoyed,\u201d Rogers remembered recently. \u201cOne of the first things I had to do was revamp the GTRI policies and procedures manual. Up until then everything was kind of unspoken \u2013 this person does this and that person does that. But under Richard Truly we codified a lot.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt was an important move for an organization dependent on contract research, she added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGrowth wasn\u2019t meteoric during the early to mid-1990s, Truly recalled, but the feared contraction never took place. \u201cGTRI did grow, and we got into some new areas.\u0026nbsp; But I think fundamentally it was pretty much the same core organization when I left as when I got there.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EConnecting with Industry\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI\u2019s efforts to decrease reliance on military contracts and diversify its customers began to show results quickly. By 1994, while defense support remained the heart of the budget, it decreased from about 76 percent to just over 70 percent. Other categories increased \u2013 industry to 16.6 percent; state and local to 1.5 percent, and federal non-defense, 9.6 percent.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EManagement renewed emphasis on industry partnerships, including a project between GTRI and Shaw Industries to reduce carpet waste. Additional research initiatives were successfully begun in transportation, education and medical technology, as well as modeling, simulation and testing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs costs and community opposition shut down urban-road expansion across the country during the \u201990s, a number of GTRI transportation projects addressed ways to manage traffic flow. Meanwhile, Foundations for the Future, funded by a major AT\u0026amp;T grant, utilized GTRI expertise to integrate technology into Georgia\u2019s K-12 classrooms. The University of Georgia and Morris Brown Research Institute also participated in that program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 1997, Edward K. Reedy, a Georgia Tech research engineer since 1970, took over as director when Truly resigned to head the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. Though Reedy came from the research side, he was no stranger to leadership \u2013 he had been director of a large GTRI lab for 10 years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI felt we had to get back into a stronger growth mode,\u201d Reedy said recently. \u201cIt was obvious our DoD funding profile was not going to increase significantly at that time.\u0026nbsp; So, without de-emphasizing our defense-related work, we re-emphasized working for the state of Georgia, as well as with industry.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI re-emphasized a number of state initiatives, including research conducted for Georgia\u2019s large and economically important poultry industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think probably the thing I was most pleased about during my directorship was construction of the Food Processing Technology Building, which gave GTRI\u2019s poultry-related research effort a permanent home,\u201d Reedy said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe added that he\u2019s also proud of helping create the Glen P. Robinson Jr. endowed research chair in electro-optics at GTRI \u2013 the Research Institute\u2019s first such research chair.\u0026nbsp; Robinson also endowed a chair in non-linear science at Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn April 1997, GTRI began a $17 million contract with mPhase Technologies Inc. to develop a system that incorporated Digital Subscriber Line communications with digital signal processing and filtering. The research focused on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) precursor technologies that enabled telephone companies to deliver TV to subscribers over existing copper lines.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI of the 1990s continued to be active and creative in its core areas of expertise.\u0026nbsp; One particular success was FalconView\u2122, a software package that lets military planners use laptops to analyze and display geographical data crucial to planning aircraft missions.\u0026nbsp; Developed through GTRI\u2019s Air National Guard Electronic Warfare Program, FalconView has been improved many times and now has more than 45,000 users.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn recent years, GTRI and Georgia Tech\u2019s Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory produced an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) powered by fuel cells running on compressed hydrogen. Fuel cells don\u2019t presently produce enough power to propel passenger aircraft, but they can power smaller vehicles such as UAVs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI researchers also provided engineering and technical guidance for the Global Justice XML Data Model initiative, which is used by the AMBER Alert system. This voluntary partnership among law enforcement agencies and the news media quickly provides information to the public when a child is declared missing or abducted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd, as baby boomers reach retirement age, GTRI has been following the marketplace potential for a range of medical and health-related technologies, including assistive technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGTRI has always been an organization that\u2019s flexible and quick on its feet and able to adapt to a changing market,\u201d Reedy said. \u201cWe took advantage of that to get GTRI back in a strong growth direction.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt worked, assisted by growth in GTRI\u2019s core areas as well. Research awards in the millennial year of 2000 topped $100 million.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EToday\u2019s Explosive Growth\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen Stephen E. Cross took over as GTRI director in September 2003, he was also was named a professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.\u0026nbsp; He soon set a course that emphasized growth in both traditional and new areas, as well as a closer relationship with Georgia Tech\u2019s academic side.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022wp-caption-text\u0022\u003EStephen E. Cross became director of GTRI in 2003, beginning another period of rapid growth and new collaboration with Georgia Tech\u0027s academic units. (Click image for high-resolution version)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe results of that decision were soon obvious \u2013 GTRI\u2019s research awards for fiscal 2009 topped $200 million, up 63 percent over a three-year period.\u0026nbsp; GTRI now has nearly 1,500 employees, including some 700 research faculty.\u0026nbsp; It has added 120 research faculty members over the past year, and expects to add at least 100 more in the near term.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJust as important, both GTRI and Georgia Tech management are on the same page about the role of the Research Institute within the university.\u0026nbsp; GTRI is the applied research arm of Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp; It works closely and collaboratively with the academic colleges, but it is a business embedded in a university.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI believe new ideas occur at the boundaries of technical and scientific fields,\u201d Cross said.\u0026nbsp; \u201cThat is one reason why the university\u2019s interdisciplinary focus is so right for our future.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI\u2019s future promises to be as accomplished as its past. Few at Georgia Tech doubt that GTRI scientists and engineers will be enjoying the opportunity, as well as the challenge, of solving real-world problems for a long time to come.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI can\u2019t imagine having a more ideal place to work,\u201d said Fred Dyer, the 40-year GTRI veteran. \u201cI could recommend it to anybody, because of the great people and the great opportunity to do a variety of things that serve a very useful purpose.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E(Atlanta writer Gary Goettling also contributed to this article.)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In 1934, the State Engineering Experiment Station (EES) at Georgia Tech started life with a budget of $5,000, 13 part-time faculty researchers and a few graduate assistants."}],"uid":"28152","created_gmt":"2014-11-05 17:28:05","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:26","author":"Claire Labanz","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-04-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-04-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"341851":{"id":"341851","type":"image","title":"Research Horizons - GTRI Past - scientific atl","body":null,"created":"1449245616","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:13:36","changed":"1475895060","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:00","alt":"Research Horizons - GTRI Past - scientific atl","file":{"fid":"200772","name":"gtri_75_5_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gtri_75_5_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gtri_75_5_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":88358,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gtri_75_5_0_0.jpg?itok=40gnKWv-"}},"341861":{"id":"341861","type":"image","title":"research Horizons - GTRI Past - Radioisotopes and Bioengineering Laboratory","body":null,"created":"1449245616","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:13:36","changed":"1475895060","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:00","alt":"research Horizons - GTRI Past - Radioisotopes and Bioengineering Laboratory","file":{"fid":"200773","name":"gtri_past_4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gtri_past_4_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gtri_past_4_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1052366,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gtri_past_4_0.jpg?itok=1wiPIN83"}},"341871":{"id":"341871","type":"image","title":"research Horizons - GTRI Past - Solar energy research","body":null,"created":"1449245616","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:13:36","changed":"1475895060","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:00","alt":"research Horizons - GTRI Past - Solar energy research","file":{"fid":"200774","name":"gtri_past_5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gtri_past_5_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gtri_past_5_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2528677,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gtri_past_5_0.jpg?itok=1-K8cvxn"}},"341881":{"id":"341881","type":"image","title":"research Horizons - GTRI Past - forming complex shapes such as missile radomes","body":null,"created":"1449245616","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:13:36","changed":"1475895060","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:00","alt":"research Horizons - GTRI Past - forming complex shapes such as missile radomes","file":{"fid":"200775","name":"gtri_past_6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gtri_past_6_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gtri_past_6_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3008952,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gtri_past_6_0.jpg?itok=fCmH16ZN"}},"341891":{"id":"341891","type":"image","title":"research Horizons - GTRI Past -Donald J. 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