In addition to the Institute for People and Technology's (IPaT) research areas, we offer research support services to the entire Georgia Tech research community and provide research services for GTRI projects. These projects can involve a broader range of research. For example, we have researchers working on systems that will be sent into earth's orbit in space. Our capabilities translate into many areas outside of the scope of our IRI research. Some detailed descriptions of IPaT's research services are mentioned below.
 

We provide facilities, technology infrastructure, and personnel to large research initiatives to support the translation of foundational research into “real world” services, systems, and policies. 

The Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) exists to amplify the societal impact of Georgia Tech research. Our mission is to ensure that the work happening across campus ultimately leads to meaningful, positive change in the world. To make that possible, we support Georgia Tech research teams at every stage of their projects — from early engagement with communities to the final steps of deploying real-world systems.

At the front end of research, IPaT helps teams connect with the communities they aim to serve. We support people centered research methods that uncover community needs, contextual factors, and opportunities for innovation. This ensures that projects begin with a deep understanding of the people and environments they are designed for.

During the research and development phase, IPaT fills gaps in expertise by bringing in cross disciplinary research faculty. Many IPaT projects create teams within Georgia Tech that span computing, design, engineering, social sciences, and community engagement. Our IPaT research faculty represent a wide range of skills and can seamlessly integrate into many different types of projects across campus.

On the back end, IPaT researchers help translate foundational research into real world impact. This includes engineering and implementation work, developing deployable systems, creating processes or programs for dissemination, and supporting long term evaluation. Our goal is to ensure that research outcomes do not remain theoretical but become usable, scalable contributions to society.

We want Georgia Tech and other researchers to understand that IPaT research faculty function much like embedded project partners. Our faculty do not work only on IPaT initiated projects; they are actively involved with research efforts across the entire campus.

Since we are a Georgia Tech IRI, working with IPaT is easy. Bringing an IPaT research faculty member into a project or using IPaT facilities does not require hiring someone into your unit or navigating complex administrative steps. You do not need to post a job or create a new position. Funding can flow seamlessly from your grant to IPaT, and the process is designed to be straightforward and low friction.
 

IPaT provides specific facilities, expertise, and services to make many projects possible. These include:

• Community Engaged Research — Support for identifying partners, maintaining relationships, and designing and conducting community based research.
• User Centered Design & Human Computer Interaction Services — Qualitative and quantitative methods for stakeholder engagement, evaluation, deployment, and long term assessment.
• Research Software Engineering — Full stack engineers and UX designers who build backend, frontend, mobile, and web solutions.
• Research Hardware Engineering — Computer scientists and electrical engineers who design custom hardware, sensors, and embedded systems.
• Secure Data Enclave — Compliant repositories for HIPAA, FERPA, and CUI data held within a secure, access restricted data server environment on the Georgia Tech campus.
• Prototyping and Fabrication — Facilities and personnel for physical prototype design and fabrication, plus support for scaling production with external vendors.
• VRLandia — Facilities, hardware, software, digital assets, and personnel for XR projects. VRlandia is a multi-room lab space housing a collection of cutting-edge VR/AR/XR equipment and a community of researchers that focus on XR projects.
   

Contact Clint Zeagler, Maribeth Coleman, or Michael Best to engage with us and assist you with your projects. IPaT research faculty that assist with Georgia Tech, federal, state, and industry projects are shown below.