Michigan Technological University was recently elevated to an R-1 research university by the Carnegie classification for institutions of higher education. The designation places the university among the top five percent of research-focused colleges and universities. Michigan Tech vice president for research Andrew Barnard says among the other universities with R-1 status in Michigan, Michigan Technological University has the smallest student size. In comparison to the other institutions such as the University of Michigan, has close to 51,000 students enrolled on campus, while Michigan Tech has less than 10,000.
I’ll say it takes a lot of grit and determination. It’s really difficult to do what we just did, to give you an idea of the difficulty of those 187 universities that are R1. There are only two that are remote and have less than 10,000 students, Michigan Tech and Missouri S&T, so it’s a pretty small group. And we do that by doing what Yoopers do, by keeping our head down and working hard. – Andrew Barnard, Vice President for Research, Michigan Technological University.
Barnard adds the university’s research centers drive innovation and faculty keep a steady hand on the wheel. Many are familiar with the university’s connections to southeast Michigan and the big three American auto manufacturers. But Barnard says Michigan Tech has research teams working to solve challenges to everyday life.
But several other companies have come out of Michigan Tech that are doing great work here the key one on Great Lakes Sound and Vibration is one that grew out of Michigan Tech. Thermal Analytics is another one that grew out of Michigan Tech. So we’re proud of those companies and the way that they’ve transitioned technology developed at the university to their business models. We also work very closely with industry. As you know, Michigan Tech has a long history of working with the auto industry, and many other industries as well. And we transition a lot of technology out of Michigan Tech directly to our industry partners as well. So, you know, in the automobiles that we all drive every day, there’s probably the technology that Michigan Tech had a part in developing that’s been transitioned through the automotive OEMs, Tier 1s, and Tier 2s to get it in the hands of consumers. – Andrew Barnard, Vice President for Research, Michigan Technological University
Last year Michigan Tech boosted of setting a new university record in research expenditures. Barnard says about 10 percent of the university’s research funding comes from private grants and partners. He says that the university expects to remain adaptable and agile when seeking funding opportunities in the future.
…that’s part of being a small to mid-sized university is we have more ability to steer the ship quicker than large universities. So I think that’s an advantage for us. We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We have a lot of great industry partners that we think we can work with moving forward. And I think there’s going to be a shift in federal funding. I’m not sure it’s going to change dramatically yet, we’ll see. So I think as long as we’re agile and can adapt to those shifts, that will be okay here at Michigan Tech. – Andrew Barnard, Vice President for Research, Michigan Technological University
Barnard highlighted several projects university researchers have worked on in the past year. Including work at the Great Lakes Research Center to assist the Great Lakes Smart Ships Coalition and at the Keweenaw Research Center that assisted with an ARV project for the Marine Corps. In the spring the university also opened the doors to the health research institute on campus. Learn more about research at Michigan Technological University here.
