Introduction
Throughout this report, you will read about our technical achievements and their impact on various sectors. The technical achievements represent what we do, but the root of GTRI’s success is our incredible research faculty and staff who displayed adaptability in the midst of crisis.
As GTRI navigated Covid-19, taking health precautions to safeguard our community, we continued to perform sponsored research. Additionally, GTRI invested $13 million into our independent research and development (IRAD) portfolio, funding over 230 projects. It is from these internal and sponsored projects that GTRI has been able to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through expert data analysis for their Covid-19 information dashboards, test our intelligent cutting system at a local poultry plant to assist the line workers, serve our military sponsors with open architecture devices, and much more.
This report is intended to give you a glimpse into our accomplishments, research investments, and outreach programs, and hopefully encourages you to engage with us on future endeavors.
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ANNUAL REPORT FEATURED STORIES
Lunar Flashlight
When thirsty residents of a permanent community on the Moon take a swig of fresh water brought in from the lunar south pole, they’ll be enjoying the benefits of a 30-pound spacecraft known as the Lunar Flashlight that was assembled and tested at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). FULL STORY
DARPA SenSARS
Research Seeks to Detect SARS-CoV-2 Virus in Building Air
Tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans have become more widely available as the Covid-19 pandemic approaches the end of its second year. But rapidly monitoring for and detecting infectious virus aerosols within indoor environments is currently not possible. FULL STORY
VIP Program
An education program supported by GTRI and Georgia Tech that allows undergraduate and graduate students to work with faculty on projects they don't typically encounter in a classroom setting. FULL STORY
Data DNA
Researchers have made significant advances toward the goal of a new microchip able to grow DNA strands that could provide high-density 3D archival data storage at ultra-low cost – and be able to hold that information for hundreds of years. To enable the technology, researchers have also developed a correction system able to compensate for errors in reading data stored in the DNA. FULL STORY
Peach Robot
A glimpse into the peach orchard of the future.
GTRI is developing a robot that utilizes deep learning to automate certain aspects of the peach cultivation process, which could be a boon for many Georgia peach farms grappling with a shortage of workers. The self-navigating robot uses an embedded 3D camera to determine which peach trees need to be thinned, and removes the fruit using a claw-like device attached to its arm. FULL STORY
TRAFFIC
Transversal Radio Frequency Filter Integrated Circuit
Researchers have developed a new general-purpose, high-performance monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) for the direct filtering and processing of radio frequency (RF) signals in the microwave and millimeter-wave spectrum. FULL STORY
Infrasound
Phenomena that generate a type of low-frequency sound known as infrasound could become easier to detect and measure thanks to a new technique under development at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). Infrasound, which cannot be heard by humans, is produced by tornados, earthquakes, explosions, wind turbines, the motion of large vehicles, aircraft and many other natural and human-created sources. FULL STORY
VSTAR
Virtual Sensing Technologies for Accelerometer Reconstruction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and data analytics procedures are being used jointly to help improve the availability of a critical U.S. Air Force helicopter while reducing maintenance costs and extending how long the aircraft can remain in service. FULL STORY
Bullet Time
GTRI uses LIDAR to Improve Tracking of Aerial Systems
Bullet Time is a new optical tracking technology that uses a LIDAR system to track small, airborne targets in cluttered environments. The technology offers an alternative to fire control radar (FCR) that are susceptible to advanced countermeasures. FULL STORY
ANNUAL REPORT NEWS ARTICLES
Managing the Complex Electromagnetic Battlefield Environment
The electromagnetic spectrum is becoming more and more crowded as technological advancements have facilitated increasingly complex usage of radio frequencies across all technology sectors.
Developing 5G Solutions for the State of Georgia, Nation
Researchers are exploring ways to use 5G – a mobile technology that promises download speeds many times faster than current 4G LTE wireless networks.
Claims Database Will Provide New Information on Healthcare in Georgia
A new database of healthcare claims will help identify disease trends, provide information for making public policy decisions, facilitate new research – and offer a way for consumers to determine the average cost of common procedures.
GTRI Uses Photonic Integrated Circuits to Improve RF Operations
GTRI has executed investments and won programs to enter the research field of radio frequency (RF) photonic integrated circuits (PIC).
Modular Open Architecture Enables Low-Cost Adaptive Radar Applications
Digitally-reconfigurable modular hardware and software building blocks designed to work together are key components of GTRI’s Software-Defined Configurable RF Array (COBRA) initiative.
The Quest to Narrow the Digital Divide in Georgia
This year, as part of the Georgia Smart Communities Challenge (Georgia Smart), GTRI and Georgia Tech are exploring ways to enhance rural connectivity in Georgia – a mission that is seen as vitally important amid the pandemic-driven shift to remote work and distance learning.
Collaborative Weapons Work Together to Respond to Changing Conditions
Researchers are helping develop smarter weapons that are able to work together to identify, target and update target selections after launch in response to changing conditions such as the last-minute identification of new targets.
New Approach Transports Trapped Ions to Create Entangling Gates
Trapped ions excited with a laser beam can be used to create entangled qubits in quantum information systems, but addressing several stationary pairs of ions in a trap requires multiple optical switches and complex controls.
GTRI Hosts 63 High Schoolers for Second Virtual Internship Program
The virtual, five-week program hosted 63 students from across Georgia that were selected from an application pool of 364, and 30 professionals at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) who represented six of the eight GTRI labs and one support unit.
Applying Commercial Airline Maintenance Best Practices to Military Aircraft
A collaboration between GTRI, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and the U.S. Air Force Logistics Directorate’s (HAF/A4L) Tesseract Office of Innovation is helping evaluate the applicability of commercial airline maintenance practices to military aircraft fleets.
ANNUAL REPORT SHORT STORIES
CDC Modernization
GTRI Helps CDC Update and Modernize Information Systems
Coop Education
Developing Future Technology Leaders
High Altitude
Camera Systems Capture Images from High Altitude
LRDR Support
Supporting the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR)
Nuclear Powerplant
Powering Tomorrow’s Battlefield
Tactical Nuclear
Nuclear Wargaming
Tucker Middle School
Combating Human Trafficking at Hartsfield-Jackson and Beyond
DOWNLOAD THE GTRI 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.
