Q: In terms of technology transfer, what are the benefits to society of university research and expertise?
The first thing we bring is educated people. The most important product of this university is high-quality graduates who contribute to the community and the nation. This is our most important form of technology transfer.
We also provide technology transfer in the form of a knowledge base and research findings that can lead to opportunities for corporations to develop new products or new ideas.... And we're directly involved in the commercialization of new ideas by forming new companies and licensing technologies. This has a direct effect on the local economy when that takes place.
Q: What is the value of involving undergraduate students in research at Georgia Tech?
There are many reasons. First, if students come to what's called a research university, we should make sure they can take advantage of it. It's important for undergraduate students to have the opportunity to work with leading-edge researchers.
We've had some of this in the past 10 to 15 years. A significant number of our undergraduates have been involved in research, but it's not as many as we would like. There is a desire here to have a majority of our undergraduate students have the opportunity to interact with researchers. It should be a part of the experience of attending a research university.
Another reason is that research develops creativity skills that might not be developed otherwise. These skills can be useful in the future whether the students work in a technical or non-technical field.
Also, we get high-quality students here, and we need to challenge them. Otherwise, they get bored. Research can challenge them.
At Georgia Tech, we have a number of ongoing initiatives. It has been a priority in a number of the units on campus to get undergraduate students more involved in research.... Many schools require senior projects that are often research-oriented.... Also, faculty members are getting support through their grants for undergraduate involvement in research. The National Science Foundation has had such an initiative for a number of years. And now, the president of Georgia Tech has reinforced these activities by providing some seed funding to various research projects to allow undergraduate involvement.
Q: How do you view Georgia Tech relative to other universities in terms of its collaborations with other institutions?
One area where we do well in comparison to other universities is in collaboration, both internally and externally. There is an unusual amount of collaboration between different programs and disciplines on this campus. When we hire new faculty, they appreciate that.
In addition, we have a large amount of external collaboration, especially with our industrial partners. Georgia Tech is clearly one of the universities that works closely with industrial and corporate partners, and those relationships tend to be fairly deep and broad. They include collaboration in research, education, consortia, research centers, advisory boards and so on.
We also have strong collaborations with other universities. That includes the classical interaction between two faculty members who know each other and have similar interests and decide to collaborate. We have many such collaborations.
But we also have some unusual relationships. The best example is the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. There are joint faculty members and students. This type of collaboration is rarely seen elsewhere.... This works well because Georgia Tech and Emory are two high-quality organizations, and they complement each other well.
Q: How would you describe Georgia Tech's relationship with industry? Is it primarily defined by sponsored research?
We have developed fairly comprehensive relationships with industry. There are many facets to these relationships.
We want corporations to recruit many students here. In fact, corporations often get involved with Georgia Tech and other universities because they want an advantage in recruiting our students. We also try to get opportunities for our students in the co-op program (alternating semesters of class and work) to work for some of these corporations.
photo by Stanley Leary
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Georgia Tech ranks number one in the United States in graduating ethnic minorities in engineering disciplines. Chameau is proud of that ranking, but wants to do more to promote diversity at the institution.
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And we try to get these corporation involved in research activities on our campus, some of which are fairly limited all the way to some major research initiatives or research centers. For large corporations like Georgia Power, GE, Ford, Intel and others, we try to provide interaction with researchers in many different areas. And we want to give our faculty and staff the opportunities to work within these corporations and vice versa.
So we emphasize lots of interaction with industry.... The motivation is to be a research university that has strong connections to the corporate world such that our education and research programs are strong, and that they have applications to industry and the real world.
Q: What future do you anticipate for faculty innovations that have commercial potential?
It is our goal to do this, though it is also happening in some sense by itself because faculty are interested in commercialization and there are more opportunities for it. Ten years ago, we had one or two new companies a year created by faculty members. Five years ago, it was five or six new companies a year. Now, we see about 15 new companies a year. And I expect to see more and more of that. I think we will also see more of faculty wanting to and finding ways to be involved in both the corporate world and the university.
Georgia Tech is trying to make this process easier, but in some ways, this is still a work in progress. We have improved the policies and procedures in the steps faculty must take to create a new company through business incubators like ATDC (the Advanced Technology Development Center).
We've worked positively with faculty when they want to take a leave of absence to get involved in the creation of a company.... We've also developed guidelines to give flexibility, but still provide an appropriate framework to avoid conflicts of interest, especially when it comes to involving students in those businesses.
Q: One of Georgia Tech's strengths is in the interdisciplinary study of sustainable technology – largely because of your vision and support of that work. What motivates your interest in environmental sustainability and stewardship?
To me, it's just being very practical. A number of times in my career, I've had to deal with major environmental issues and problems. Clearly, it was common sense that it was easier to avoid a problem instead of trying to fix it.... In technological areas, being environmentally responsible is just good business sense. So putting all this together with my engineering background, I've felt it was important to develop research and education programs to deal with these issues.
Q: You also have a strong commitment to achieving diversity at Georgia Tech. What plans are being made to increase diversity here, and why is it a priority?
We have a good record in this area. We have taken some positive steps to achieve diversity, not only recently, but over the past 30 years. We also try to provide an environment that supports diversity.
I view diversity in a broad way. We want individuals on our campus who represent different viewpoints and bring different approaches and skills to solving problems.
Diversity is an important goal for Georgia Tech, and we are making progress in promoting an environment that is supportive of students and faculty. There's still lots of work to be done.... But we rank number one in graduating ethnic minorities in engineering disciplines. We're proud of that, but we want to do more.
I also want to increase international awareness. We have a significant number of foreign students here, and we are giving opportunities to our U.S. students to go overseas to study abroad.
Q: How has your experience working in the private sector affected your perspective on university research, particularly that done for industry?
I have learned that you don't know what management means, what administration means, how to meet a budget and the bottom line unless you do it yourself. So my experience in the private sector has been extremely useful to me in my work in academia. It taught me to be effective with the resources we have and to optimize those resources. It was good for me in terms of learning to manage and administer major parts of a large organization such as a university.
Q: How has your French heritage influenced your perspective on the job now in academia in the United States?
I have had a chance in my career to interact with people from many different backgrounds and countries. I was raised to know two or three different cultures. Nowadays, we live in a global environment. Whatever occupation you are in, there are issues that go beyond your little world. If you work for a corporation, you may be working for someone overseas and vice versa. Given this environment, it is an advantage to people now to have a good understanding of different cultures – how we work differently, but achieve the same goals.... So it's an advantage if you are a young person entering into real life to appreciate different cultures and take advantage of their strengths.
In fact, we have a goal here at Georgia Tech. We would like to have the majority of our students have some sort of international experience. In the long term, it will serve them well.
Q: You have expressed "love" for and "dedication" to Georgia Tech. Why do you feel this way about this institution?
It is very strange. It has to do mostly with people, and it happened very rapidly for me. I came to this campus for the first time 10 years ago for an interview. I met a number of individuals on campus and related to them very well, and vice versa. There was a sense of entrepreneurship, a sense of dynamism among them, and I shared that. It was an environment where if you had ideas and were willing to work hard to promote them, there were not many barriers in front of you. So I fell in love with that kind of environment right away.... It has become even more of a reality over time.
Q: What impression do you want the general public to have when they think of Georgia Tech?
I'd like for the general public to feel proud that Georgia Tech is here and part of the state of Georgia. Even if they or their children didn't go to school here, I want them to be proud of Georgia Tech's successes and international reputation because they recognize that Georgia Tech contributes to the state and is a major reason for the state's success and a key asset for its future.
For more information,
contact Jean-Lou Chameau, Office of the Provost, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 30332-0325. (Telephone: 404-385-2700)
(E-mail: jeanlou.chameau@carnegie.gatech.edu)
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Last updated: Nov. 12, 2001
