MARTA announced plans for a pilot of on-demand rideshare services, in collaboration with Georgia Tech researchers. Beginning March 1, the 6-month MARTA Reach program will test how shuttles can better connect riders to bus and rail services across the West Atlanta, Belvedere, and Gillem Logistics Center service zones.

The Institute will also join MARTA to host a virtual rider workshop Feb. 8, offering the community additional information about MARTA Reach.

Two teams of researchers from the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering received $5.3M Department of Energy funding to collaborate with Georgia manufacturers to reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of paper, tissue, board, nonwovens and gypsum board production.

Georgia Tech launched the Georgia Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium to help Georgia businesses in defense and related industries to become more resilient and less susceptible to supply chain disruptions. The Consortium, which will begin accepting members in April 2022, will work with Georgia defense manufacturers to incorporate cybersecurity protocols, smart technologies such as sensor packs, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other best practices under Industry 4.0 technology standards.

Undergraduate enrollment at Georgia increased almost 2,000 students over the past five years, expanding access to students from all backgrounds. This includes rural Georgia, as well as students in the Black and Hispanic communities. Incoming first-generation students (those who come from families where neither parent graduated from college) also increased by 80%. And for the first time in Institute history, women comprise 40% of the total undergraduate population. 

Biomedical engineering student Mario Lopez of East Dublin, Georgia is among the first-generation students who joined Tech this fall. Read Mario's story.

The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business (“Center”) at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business is launching the Drawdown Georgia Business Compact, an inclusive and collaborative initiative focused on galvanizing climate action in Georgia. With commitments from founding member companies Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Atlanta Gas Light, Better Earth, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, Eversheds Sutherland, Goodr, Google, Interface, Norfolk Southern, Southwire, The Coca-Cola Company, TKE, UPS, and YKK, the Compact’s mission is to leverage the collective impact of Georgia’s business community to achieve net zero carbon emissions in the state by 2050 through a just, competitive, and sustainable transition.

Thinning and pruning peach trees is a time- and labor-intensive process. Engineers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute have built a robot designed to intelligently remove branches and small, undergrown peaches to promote a healthy and fruitful orchard, which could result in significant cost savings for Georgia peach farms.

The robot uses a 3D camera to determine peaches that need to be removed and a claw-like device to grab each peach.