Warren L. Batts, who earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at Tech in 1961, made the donation. Retired as chairman of Premark International and Tupperware Corp., Batts was drawn to TI:GER by his interest in technology transfer.
Housed in the College of Management , TI:GER is a collaboration between various Georgia Tech colleges and Emory Law School that brings together management, economics, law, science, and engineering graduate students in the classroom and research lab to learn how to move technologies into the marketplace.
"In a very short time, TI:GER has amassed an extremely impressive track record for commercializing important new technologies," Batts says. "Our commitment to the program is designed to expand the number of graduate students participating in TI:GER, thereby expanding the number of new products coming to the marketplace, products that vastly improve the quality of human life. I can't think of a better use for these funds."
Acceptance into the two-year TI:GER program, which now includes fourteen student teams, is highly competitive. "There are currently four times as many Ph.D. students interested in the program than we have funded slots for," says Thursby, who created a similar program at Purdue University before coming to Tech
"This wonderful gift from Warren Batts will allow us to bring in more talented students to work on these critical issues," she says. "We are very grateful for his support and his confidence in our work."
Since its creation in 2002, TI:GER has been funded mostly by a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation, along with support from the Alan and Mildred Peterson Foundation, Georgia Tech Presidential Fellowships, the Hal and John Smith Chair, and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance.
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