How is the public university that you chair in terms of ranking?
According to the 2014 edition of the US News & World Report ranking, Georgia Tech is the 7th best public university in the United States and 36th globally. We are too the only technological university to appear in the top 10 of American public universities.
Georgia Tech has a total of 21,500 students in six “colleges”: arts, business, science, architecture, computing and engineering. The latter alone brings together 13,000 students and constitutes the largest engineering school in the country, which is ranked 5th nationally in the rankings. 60% of our students are from Georgia, 30% are from other states in the United States, while 10% are from abroad.
As for our annual budget, it amounts to more than $ 1.21 billion (880 million euros), of which 650 million dollars (476 million euros) come from research contracts signed with industry or governments.
What were your objectives when you set up in France in 1990, and why did you choose Lorraine?
We encourage our students to have international experience. 43% of them currently benefit from a stay abroad before obtaining their diploma, ie four times more than the national average. In Europe, countries are smaller and students move abroad more easily. Opening a campus abroad allows facilitate this mobility.
On the other hand, we did not choose Lorraine. It was Jean-Marie Rausch, the former senator-mayor of Metz, who sought to revitalize the region after the steel crisis. He created the Metz technopole, which has become the second in France after that of Sophia-Antipolis, and he crisscrossed the United States to find the right university partner.
This is how Georgia Tech opened its first international campus in Lorraine, in 1990. At the time, American technological universities did not open campuses in Europe but rather in the Middle East, in Abu Dhabi for example. Since then, we have opened campus in Shanghai and Singapore.
Georgia Tech’s Lorraine campus was created to revitalize the region after the steel crisis
What is your assessment of Georgia Tech Lorraine, almost twenty-five years after its opening?
We started with training. The programs lead to bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees in the fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer sciences. GTL accommodates approximately 500 students per year, including 300 Americans from the Atlanta campus. The campus also has French students who are completing their engineering studies or starting a master of science which they will pursue in Atlanta. All classes are in English and taught by teachers from our university.
We have also tied strong partnerships with other engineering schools in Europe allowing a double degree program to be offered: this is the case with SUPELEC, Arts et Métiers, Mines de Paris or TU-Munich.
And what about the research side? In 2006, you opened a joint laboratory with the CNRS.
At the origin of this UMI (international joint unit), there is Abdallah Ougazzaden, specialist in semiconductors in the optoelectronic field and director of Georgia Tech Lorraine. Today, these are 50 French and American researchers who work together on projects in cryptography, innovative materials or robotics, to create technological solutions in the fields of energy, health, the environment or national security.
On May 26, 2014, you inaugurate the Lafayette Institute. Why did you choose to call your institute after this French soldier and what activities will it be dedicated to?
It is the fruit of a long Franco-American friendship between university, economic and political actors. The Marquis de Lafayette was based in Metz in 1775 when he decided to join the liberation forces during the American Revolution! And Metz was liberated by the Americans in 1944.
The Lafayette Institute will provide the state of the art in optoelectronic research and will a platform for technology transfer and commercialization of innovative concepts. The 2,500 m2 building will house 500 m2 of clean rooms. It will be a toolbox where manufacturers can come and develop technologies.
The objective of the UMI was to generate research publications. That of the Lafayette Institute is create technological innovations for economic development. We have the same two tools on our American campus, making it possible to strengthen know-how in both research and economic development. Our Atlanta team works closely with the Metz team. This will provide a transatlantic opportunity for small innovation-driven start-ups.
The Lafayette Institute is a large project, with a budget of around 27 million euros. Where does the money come from?
Mainly local authorities (agglomeration community, department, Lorraine region), the French State and Europe. But the idea is that, five years after its launch, the Institute is self-financing thanks to the research contracts it will have entered into with industry, for example.
MOOCs have been blooming in France for some time. What do you think of this trend?
Being able to attend an online course anytime from anywhere is a tremendously attractive concept. But I won’t be using the word MOOC for very long. He has had his day. I think the future is for “technology-assisted learning”, education assisted by technologies. It is an exciting time. Higher education changes very, very quickly.
The future lies in “technology-assisted learning”, education assisted by technologies, which can constitute a new source of income
In France, the government wants to promote regroupings and bring out 30 major university centers. What is your view on developments in French higher education?
We have experienced this same movement of concentration in the United States. We have seen small universities in Texas coalescing into a single university system. In Georgia we have 34 public universities, eight of them merged into one.
Our public universities were originally funded by individual state governments. But currently only about 15% of their resources come from states. Our budget at Georgia Tech is $ 1.2 billion. Six years ago we received $ 300 million from the government, this year only $ 108 million. Consequently, the cost of education is increasing and the cost of studies for families too. I think the same is happening in Europe – not just in France.
In the United States, there is a very strong and long-standing tradition of philanthropy in universities. We are very often contacted by European institutions to talk about our experience, how we go about convincing individuals to financially support the university.
In my opinion, Europe is moving towards the American model. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a good thing. But states can no longer finance education as much, we must find alternative resources : increase donations, but also the contribution of students and their families. We also believe that teaching assisted by new technologies (“technology-assisted learning”) could well constitute a new source of income. There is potential, which requires a change in mentality. Because, in general, universities do not know how to make a lot of money, they rather know how to spend it!
Chronology: major dates for Georgia Tech in Lorraine1990 : opening on the Metz technopole of
Georgia Tech Lorraine, the first international campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech of Atlanta). Georgia Tech Lorraine still only welcomed 140 American students in 2000. They were 600 in 2013. The objective is to
reach 1,000 students per year by 2020.
2006 : creation with the CNRS of a international joint unit (UMI 2958 GT-CNRS) also associating Arts and Crafts, SUPELEC, as well as the universities of Franche-Comté and Metz. The research teams work in the fields of secure communication networks, intelligent materials and robotics.
2009 : a mirror laboratory is created on the Georgia Tech campus, in Atlanta.
2013 : an agreement is signed in Morocco by Geneviève Fioraso, Minister of Higher Education and Research, the CNRS, Georgia Tech and Moroccan universities for extend the UMI in Morocco.
2014 : inauguration of Lafayette Institute, research laboratory dedicated to optoelectronics. The project is presented as an “open lab” incubator, designed to simplify the relationship between public and private research through Georgia Tech’s expertise in technology transfer and commercialization.