Advancing Careers of Interdisciplinary Research Faculty at Georgia Tech

Growing the careers of research faculty at Georgia Tech is an integral part of Research Next, the strategic plan for the Institute’s research enterprise.

Georgia Tech’s research faculty, who conduct vital research in labs, centers, and departments across campus, play a critical role in the research enterprise. To support these essential employees, Georgia Tech launched an initiative to recognize and develop its research faculty.

The Research Next team, now in the implementation phase of the plan, was tasked with finding ways to recognize, support, and retain research faculty. This included developing reference materials and workshops specifically designed to guide research faculty seeking promotions. These resources provide essential information on the advancement process, ensuring researchers are well-prepared to take the next step in their careers.

With this support and guidance, six researchers from the Interdisciplinary Research Institutes and other units reporting to the Vice President of Interdisciplinary Research applied for promotions. All six promotions were approved.

The following interdisciplinary researchers received promotions:

• Devin Brown, principal research engineer, Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology
• Michael Chang, principal research scientist, Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems
• Paramita Chatterjee, research scientist II, Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing
• Evan Goldberg, principal research engineer, Laboratory for Synthetic Immunity and Global Center for Medical Innovation
• Vrinda Nandan, research scientist II, Design Intelligence Lab and the National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education
• Sikka Harshvardhan, research scientist II, National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education

In addition, the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents has granted Leanne West, principal research scientist and the chief engineer of pediatric technologies at Georgia Tech, the prestigious distinction of Regents’ Researcher. As Chief Engineer, West coordinates research activities related to pediatrics across campus and serves as the technical liaison for the partnership with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

West’s research focuses on mobile and wireless health systems and sensor development, user interfaces, system integration, and diagnostic devices. She has seen her invention of a wireless personal captioning system installed at commercial venues through her start-up, Intelligent Access, LLC. She has another wearable system for identifying specific dog behaviors that has also reached the commercial market.