From aerospace and national defense to agriculture, critical minerals, and medical innovation, Georgia’s industries benefit from the research, talent, and partnerships of the state’s leading universities. Across these sectors, Georgia Tech is making meaningful contributions through research and partnerships with industry leaders and small businesses in aerospace, agriculture, advanced manufacturing, and biomedical engineering. And the Institute’s reach extends far beyond its Midtown campus.
“All across the state you can see Georgia Tech’s work in action,” said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. “Yellow Jackets are strengthening Georgia’s leading industries and small businesses, protecting our troops, addressing critical national challenges, creating jobs, and advancing technologies that fuel our state’s economy and global competitiveness.”
The tour was Cabrera’s fifth, and he traveled 730 miles throughout the state, with stops along the way that highlighted Georgia Tech’s role in supporting and shaping the future of Georgia’s industries.
Fueling Innovation
Georgia’s largest export is not peanuts and not peaches, but aerospace. Thousands of Georgia Tech alumni are employed by the state’s over 800 aerospace-related companies, including Delta Air Lines, Gulfstream, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon, and Rolls-Royce, and contribute to the industry’s $57.5 billion in annual economic impact. Tech’s Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering (AE) is the nation’s largest aerospace program, producing more AE Ph.D. students than any other university.
In Middle Georgia, the first stop on the president’s summer tour, hundreds of Yellow Jackets support Robins Air Force Base in Macon — the heart of the state’s aerospace corridor. The base is an industrial partner and one of the top sponsors of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), creating collaborative opportunities for education, research, training, and shared resources in support of the U.S. military.
Partnerships at Robins extend beyond aerospace, to workforce development and manufacturing. Projects through the Tech-led Georgia Artificial Intelligence Manufacturing (GA-AIM) coalition are revolutionizing the state’s industrial economy with an expansive portfolio of projects dedicated to developing AI talent and innovation. GA-AIM helped create a new AI Robotics Manufacturing program at Robins’ Veterans Education Career Transition Resource Center, which assists veterans with work, life, and education after military service.
From the Skies to Beneath the Soil
The president’s summer tour included a preview of another important state industry: mining. Beneath the soil in Sandersville lies a kaolin mine operated by the Thiele Kaolin Company. Kaolin represents one of Georgia’s most promising — and most abundant — natural resources. A key ingredient in ceramics, cosmetics, and other manufactured goods, it is also increasingly recognized as a potential source of critical minerals needed for advanced manufacturing, energy, electronics, and national security applications. Tech researchers, including those in the Center for Critical Mineral Solutions, are working with Georgia’s mining industry to explore new approaches to traditional mining and processing that can help meet the nation’s growing need for critical minerals and strategic materials.
The tour also included a stop in Dacula, where UCB is building a $2 billion biologics manufacturing facility at Rowen. The project reflects Georgia’s growing position in life sciences and medical innovation, as well as the value companies place on access to university research, technical talent, and cross-sector partnerships. Partnering with Emory School of Medicine to operate the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tech provides employers in this expanding industry with a strong talent pool.
In North Georgia, the summer tour stopped by Jaemor Farms in Alto, a sixth-generation family farm and example of the importance of the agriculture industry to the state. Georgia Tech offers research and resources to support and strengthen the state’s agriculture industry through GTRI’s Agricultural Technology Research Program, which leverages artificial intelligence, automation, nanotechnology, and robotics to advance avian disease detection, egg and row crop harvesting, food safety, poultry processing, and wastewater treatment on the state’s farms. This technology is used to detect harmful chemicals known as PFAS, inspect and grade peanuts for quality and defects, maximize efficiency, safeguard the health of livestock and farmworkers, and reduce the environmental impact of agricultural operations.
As Georgia’s industries evolve, the Institute remains committed to its mission of developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. Across the state’s leading industries — aerospace, agriculture, national defense, mining, and manufacturing — Georgia Tech supplies the skilled workforce, advanced research, and partnerships that are driving the regional economy and strengthening the entire state.
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