Tennessee Tech pursuing a Carnegie R1 classification following a record-breaking year that saw the university surpass $50 million in externally funded research.
Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development Michael Aikens said the university is currently classified as a Carnegie R2 institution, which denotes high research and doctoral activity.
“Professionally, this really sets a new era for Tennessee Tech University,” Aikens said. “This sends a message, it sends a very clear message internally to our faculty, showing that, you know, research and our abilities to bring research dollars in, is unmatched.”
Aikens said the university currently manages approximately 177 funded projects across various disciplines, including engineering, education, and the arts and sciences. Aikens said the university has set its sights on reaching R1 status, the highest level of research classification, over the coming years.
“R2 is a classification, that says that we do have high research activity, we have high doctoral activity, but the next goal that we have in our sights over the next five, 10, 20 years is that we want to become an R1.”
Aikens said the research is applied, meaning faculty and students focus on solving real-world problems for the state and the community rather than keeping work confined to a laboratory.
“One of the great unique things about Tennessee Tech University in our research is it’s applied, and what that means is that we are looking at the state’s problems, the world’s problems, and looking at how we can solve those, how we can address them, and our research doesn’t just stay within the labs, we want to bring that research out and apply that into the community so that we can create better lives and a better world for people,” Michael Aikens said.
Aikens said the research enterprise plays a critical role in student retention by keeping students involved in clubs and hands-on activities. Aikens said students who participate in research graduate with a better understanding of scientific methodologies and are more prepared to enter the workforce.
“They are workforce-ready,” Michael Aikens said. “Not only have they learned the theoretical background, they have been able to apply it. They have worked with actual people in the field. They have learned the concepts. They have developed new concepts. So when we say that Tennessee Tech graduates are workforce-ready, we truly mean it.”
Aikens said the university is also leveraging new technology, such as the Genesis high-performance supercomputer in Crossville, to advance research in artificial intelligence. Aikens said the system allows the university to attract high-quality faculty and provides students with the tools to create the next generation of AI applications and inventions.
“We will be able to do real-world development and research on artificial intelligence,” Michael Aikens said. “This gives us capabilities that we’ve never had before in modeling. And then ultimately this also, speaking of the students, students know that they can get on that computer. It also allows us to send a message to prospective faculty that says Tennessee Tech is a home for you, and we want you here.”
Aikens said the university’s Center for Rural Innovation uses research to drive economic development across 78 rural counties in Tennessee. Aikens said these efforts include tourism development research and a rural fellowship program that places recent graduates in distressed communities to improve local prosperity.
“I just want to reiterate the message that research at Tennessee Tech is alive, it’s vibrant, it’s robust,” Michael Aikens said. “It prepares our students, it it crates better faculty, it attracts better faculty, and ultimately it makes the community do better. It makes Putnam County, the Upper Cumberland, our state, and our nation better all because of it.”
This year marks the sixth consecutive year the university has set a research funding record.
