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Atlanta, GA | Posted: April 24, 2022
Dan Watson
dwatson@ece.gatech.edu
Summary Sentence:
The GRA has been a significant factor in bringing outstanding faculty to Georgia’s research institutions, especially ECE.
Full Summary:
No summary paragraph submitted.
GRA Lightbulb ECE Connection Spring 2022
John A. Copeland
Rao Tummala
Russell Dupuis
Deepak Divan
Larry HeckBy Roger Webb and David Hertling
In 1990, the shared vision of a group of Georgia business leaders led to the creation of a public-private partnership called the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA). The vision that strategic investment in the state’s research universities would help enable economic growth was implemented with three major elements: recruitment of outstanding researchers to join university faculties, development of first-class research laboratories and facilities, and later, the provision of venture development resources to support formation of commercial enterprises based on intellectual capital resulting from university research.
The GRA Eminent Scholars Program facilitates recruitment of world-class scientists and technologists by providing funds to help establish endowed faculty chairs in fields of strategic importance to the state and to the host university. GRA provides half the chair endowment and the host university the other half, usually from individual gifts by donors. The university foundation manages the endowment assets.
GRA also invests in laboratory outfitting for its Eminent Scholars and their colleagues. GRA has made substantial investments at Georgia Tech to develop facilities including the Pettit Microelectronics Building and the Marcus Nanotechnology Building.
In 2003, GRA created a venture development program to propel the launch and growth of new companies built around university discoveries. The program offers grants, loans, and advisory services to achieve company formation and growth. A few years later, the GRA Venture Fund LLC was formed to provide early-stage capital to the most promising university startups in GRA’s pipeline.
Since 1990, the GRA has invested $668 million and, by independent audit, generated a 12:1 return of $7.8 billion on the state’s investment in GRA. The Ventures Program has 195 companies in its portfolio which have attracted $1.75 billion in equity investment and created more than 1,500 jobs. Currently 88% of the startups receiving GRA investment and guidance are in business after four years (significantly higher than the national average of 44% of startups).
Georgia Tech in general and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineer (ECE) have benefited immensely by partnering with GRA. According to GRA President Susan Shows, ECE has recruited more GRA Eminent Scholars than any school/department at GRA’s members institutions and GRA has supported more start-up ventures emanating from ECE than from any other unit.
ECE has recruited 15 GRA Eminent Scholars, six of whom have retired or otherwise left Georgia Tech. The endowed chairs of these six were used to recruit additional Scholars so that nine members of the current ECE faculty hold GRA Eminent Scholar positions. GRA has invested $28 million to establish the Eminent Scholar positions and fit out their laboratories. It has invested another $21 million in core facilities. The GRA has supported 61 ECE originated startup ventures. While GRA does not track return on investment (ROI) in individual units, it is reasonable to assume that the ROI ratio for ECE investments is at least commensurate with the overall GRA investment return ratio.
The following brief sketches of a few of the outstanding individuals who joined the ECE faculty as GRA Eminent Scholars are illustrative of the impact of GRA on the School and on the economic development of the state:
The GRA has more than satisfied the vision and goals of the leaders who conceived and founded it. It has been a significant factor in bringing outstanding faculty to Georgia’s research universities with attendant development of education and research programs. An often overlooked factor in the resultant economic development contributions is the fact that outstanding faculty attract outstanding students. The intellectual property represented by those students joining the workforce upon graduation rivals the importance of the intellectual property leading to commercial enterprises. ECE is proud of its affiliation with GRA and of the resultant program and intellectual property development.
