{"id":345,"date":"2023-01-13T12:30:22","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T17:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research-multi-dev.utk.edu\/energy-dev\/?page_id=345"},"modified":"2026-04-22T08:10:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:10:58","slug":"partnerships","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.utk.edu\/mobility\/partnerships\/","title":{"rendered":"Partnerships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Partnerships<\/h1>\n\n\n

Facilitating academic, government, and industry partnerships to solve real-world challenges with tailored research<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our faculty and students bring tremendous talent to bear for our government and industry partners. In turn, our partners bring problems to solve and opportunities for our students, our city, and our state to grow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together we are poised to help Tennessee win a larger share of the future mobility market, estimated to be worth $2 trillion <\/em>by 2030. With all partners contributing their strengths, we can commercialize new technologies, establish and fill new industry jobs, and actively shape mobility trends right here and around the globe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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What we\u2019re doing here can affect people\u2019s lives in so many ways\u2014if we\u2019re answering the right questions. We need our partners\u2019 input and collaboration to tailor our research to the challenges that matter most to industry, to Tennessee, and to the world. This is how we create the most meaningful impact, locally and globally.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Kevin Heaslip, Professor and Director of the Center for Transportation Research<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Key Industry Partners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Amazon<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Amazon has invested significantly in Tennessee jobs and <\/em>in educational opportunities at UT<\/a>. Our research in freight transportation plus the deep supply chain expertise in the Haslam College of Business make UT an ideal match for partnering with Amazon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"FedEx<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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FedEx<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

FedEx, the largest publicly traded company headquartered in Tennessee, supports UT research by partnering with the Logistics, Transportation, and Supply Chain Engineering Lab<\/a>. FedEx is also an advanced industry partner in the statewide UT-led TEAM TN collaboration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Volkswagen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Volkswagen Group of America has been a valued UT partner since 2011. Since 2020, UT faculty and students, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists, and Volkswagen engineers have come together to perform cutting-edge research in the Volkswagen North American Innovation Hub at the UT Research Park at Cherokee Farm<\/a>. Volkswagen is also a partner in the TEAM TN collaboration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Key Government Partners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Birds-eye<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Oak Ridge National Laboratory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

ORNL is a vital partner in many sustainable transportation projects<\/a> and multi-institutional collaborations. Together, through the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute<\/a>, our researchers build world-leading expertise, transfer technology between our facilities, and drive innovation-based economic growth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"TDOT<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tennessee Department of Transportation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

TDOT is a core partner and funder for research across all our focal areas. They are a key member of the statewide TEAM TN collaboration, the Tennessee Travel Demand Model User\u2019s Group<\/a>, the Tennessee Transportation Assistance Program<\/a>, and many other key collaborations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Key Academic Partners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Blue<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

UT Chattanooga is a core partner in TEAM TN. Their Center for Urban Informatics and Progress<\/a> built a Smart City corridor to study people and vehicle movements in downtown Chattanooga through a wide variety of installed sensor, communication, and edge computing technologies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Black<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Vanderbilt University<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Vanderbilt is a core partner in the TEAM TN collaboration. Vanderbilt spearheads the I-24 MOTION testbed<\/a>, a four-mile stretch of I-24 in the Nashville area used to test advanced traffic management and automated vehicle technologies in real freeway traffic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facilitating academic, government, and industry partnerships to solve real-world challenges with tailored research Our faculty and students bring tremendous talent to bear for our government and industry partners. In turn, our partners bring problems to solve and opportunities for our students, our city, and our state to grow.  Together we are poised to help Tennessee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":true,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-345","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry","6":"has-post-thumbnail"},"yoast_head":"\nPartnerships - Institute for Future Mobility<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UT supports programming to strengthen and nurture academic-industry-government partnerships to solve real-world mobility challenges.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.utk.edu\/mobility\/partnerships\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Partnerships - 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