Energy systems underpin economic growth, technological innovation, and quality of life. Today, they are being reshaped by rapidly rising demand from digital infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and emerging technologies, along with increasing expectations on affordability, reliability, security, and environmental performance. Meeting this moment requires not only new technologies, but also new ways of connecting research, industry, and deployment at scale. Through the Strategic Energy Institute (SEI), Georgia Tech is advancing innovative, integrated, and forward-looking solutions to meet these challenges.

As the nation’s largest technologically focused university, Georgia Tech brings exceptional depth across engineering, science, computing, policy, and business. This strength spans all seven colleges, the Georgia Tech Research Institute, and key translational and innovation programs. SEI serves as the platform that connects and amplifies more than 1,000 faculty and researchers working across the full energy value chain, forming one of the most comprehensive university-based energy ecosystems in the United States. 

Our work is fundamentally researcher-driven and mission-oriented. SEI develops and leads programs that align research, infrastructure, and partnerships to move ideas from discovery to deployment. We operate at the system level, where technology, markets, and policy intersect, to deliver solutions that are not only innovative, but also scalable, economically viable, and deployable in real-world settings.

SEI also contributes to strengthening the broader energy workforce ecosystem at Georgia Tech. We work across colleges, programs, and student-led efforts to connect students with real-world challenges, industry partners, and emerging career pathways. In doing so, we help bridge research, education, and application, preparing future leaders for the complexity of modern energy systems.

Increasingly, the most important opportunities sit at critical intersections, including energy and artificial intelligence, energy and national security, energy infrastructure modernization, and resilient supply chains. These are complex challenges that no single discipline or organization can solve alone. SEI is designed to bring together the right capabilities and partners to tackle them.

We are actively building a connected ecosystem that extends beyond campus. Our work is shaped through close collaboration with industry leaders, national laboratories, government agencies, and regional partners. Together, we are advancing technologies, informing decision-making, and creating pathways for innovation to scale.

For partners and supporters, SEI offers a unique opportunity to engage with one of the most comprehensive energy research ecosystems in the country and to help shape solutions at the scale the energy system demands.

We invite you to explore our work and to engage with us as we build the next generation of energy systems.

Yuanzhi Tang
Executive Director, Strategic Energy Institute