Partners
UT Research Park hosts a steadily growing number of partner companies leveraging their presence in the park to forge stronger collaborations with the University of Tennessee.
Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc., provides innovative design solutions and integrated expertise in the primary practice areas of civil engineering, ecological sciences, environmental engineering and sciences, survey, waste management and water resources.
The firm is consistently ranked among the Top 500 Design Firms and Top 200 Environmental Firms by Engineering News-Record and has more than 20 offices across the United States, including Nashville and Sevierville in Tennessee.
Because of the continued relationship with UT, Chris Foster, assistant project manager in the survey department, has worked on two engineering senior design projects with UT students. Foster provided land survey support and mentorship. He also assisted in the computer-aided design (CAD) of the plan sets.
The first project involved the stream and bank stabilization and bridge design at the historic Alex Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee. The second project addressed the replacement of a bridge crossing on a local farmer’s property in Blount County in Tennessee.
CEC secured a valuable intern who was an undergraduate student at UT and is now pursuing a master’s degree in environmental engineering. He worked for CEC over summer break in the company’s Nashville office.
In addition, CEC Knoxville has worked on multiple projects with UT providing survey, ecological and civil engineering services.
The headquarters of the UT Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (IAMM HQ), is a 140,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art research facility. Launched in 2022, IAMM supports ~160 UT faculty members from five colleges - Agriculture, Architecture & Design, Arts & Sciences, Engineering, and Veterinary Medicine - conducting world-class research in advanced materials and next-generation manufacturing. IAMM HQ houses the research programs of 65 IAMM faculty and several hundred research staff, postdocs and students, as well as promising new startups participating in the incubator and accelerator programs of the Spark Innovation Center. IAMM HQ also hosts state-of-the-art research cores providing materials growth and characterization services for the IAMM community andfor external clients and collaborators; these cores include an electron microscopy center, diffraction facility, advanced photoelectronic spectrometer facility, polymer characterization lab, electromagnetic properties lab, microprocessing research facility, and a molecular beam epitaxy core.
OrthoTennessee is the region’s largest provider of orthopaedic care and services with over 400,000 patient visits annually at 16 East Tennessee locations. University Orthopaedic Surgeons is one of four physician group divisions of OrthoTennessee and includes 13 orthopaedic surgeons providing the region’s only Level I orthopaedic trauma and orthopaedic oncology services as well as comprehensive subspecialty orthopaedic care. In addition to physician offices, physical therapy and other services, the facility at UT Research Park includes the University Orthopaedic Surgery Center, a freestanding ambulatory surgery center specializing in providing outpatient care. For more information about University Orthopaedic Surgeons, visit online at www.uosortho.com. To learn more about OrthoTennessee, which earned a “Top Workplace” ranking from Knox News and Knox.biz in 2021 and 2022 based on employee surveys measuring company culture, visit www.orthotn.com.
RegScale, an enterprise-wide compliance and security software company, has decades of experience in national security and highly regulated industries and moved to the UT Research Park for the numerous collaboration and growth opportunities. RegScale specializes in automation to solve complex digital transformation challenges, lower operating costs and increase digital security and has already begun collaborations with the Haslam College of Business and Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Chartered as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Three Roots Capital (3Roots) is an innovative finance company that provides loans and equity investments to businesses and real estate projects in East Tennessee and Appalachia. 3Roots is certified by the United States Department of the Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and as a Community Development Entity (CDE). Beginning in 2019, 3Roots has been collaborating with Cherokee Farm Development Corporation to encourage and support development of the University of Tennessee Research Park (UTRP). Since 2019, 3Roots has financed four innovation-based companies affiliated with the University of Tennessee or UTRP. In addition, since 2019, 3Roots has provided more than $25.5 million of financing for real estate development projects at UT Research Park. For more information, visit www.3rootscapital.org.
University Health Pharmacy, a specialty pharmacy owned by UT Medical Center, focuses on specialty care and care of patients with rare diseases. Through UH Pharmacy, UT Medical Center participates in phase II and phase III clinical trials, which enables a more straightforward process for FDA approval of developed medications.
University Health System, Inc (UHS), is a regional health system that comprises the UT Medical Center, UT Health Network and various partnerships and joint ventures with physicians and healthcare companies. UHS is affiliated with the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine and numerous regional hospitals and physician organizations. UHS supports and collaborates with the UT Graduate School of Medicine and other academic endeavors as part of its commitment to excellence in education and research.
Established in 1955, Volkswagen Group of America is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, with headquarters in Herndon, Virginia. Volkswagen’s operations in the United States include research and development, parts and vehicle processing, parts distribution centers, sales, marketing and service offices, financial service centers, and its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Volkswagen’s first innovation hub in North America will be housed at the UT Research Park at Cherokee Farm. The collaboration involves research opportunities for doctoral students and space in the Innovation North building. Initial work will focus on developing lighter vehicle components made from composite materials and the electrification of vehicles.
Volkswagen has been a valued partner of the University of Tennessee since opening its Chattanooga Assembly plant in 2011. UT Chattanooga and Volkswagen developed an MBA program allowing Volkswagen employees to earn the degree by taking classes at the plant or on campus.
Volkswagen also is a member of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI)—The Composites Institute. IACMI has supported UT researchers, Volkswagen engineers and their collaborators in the creation of a novel composite liftgate for the Volkswagen Atlas that reduces weight by 35 percent as well as reducing investment cost.
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The Spark Innovation Center assists early stage technology companies gain their footing. We provide startups with the right kinds of support they need to become successful companies and continue to grow here in East Tennessee.
Addiguru provides in-situ monitoring technology for the Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes. Independent of machine and materials, Addiguru's intelligent technology can be easily incorporated in existing and newly developed AM equipment. Part anomalies formed during the build process are difficult and costly for post build detection and repair. Our monitoring technology detects anomalies during the build process and provides notifications to the users within seconds of layer formation.
Founder & CEO: Shuchi “SK” Khurana
ANI is developing technology to isolate high-value semiconducting carbon nanotubes from raw sources which contain a mixture of metallic compounds. Will Fitzhugh is participating in ORNL’s Innovation Crossroads program, is collaborating with UT’s Center for Materials Processing, and has submitted several SBIR grant proposals that are under review.
Founder: Dr. William Fitzhugh
Becq is the first and only radiation shielding company leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to design materials for the nuclear industry. Whether you need a 30% reduction in dose for a radioactive waste container, or significant savings in weight and volume, Becq’s artificial intelligence is here to help meet your goals.
Founder & CEO: Danielle Castley
FC Renew's fuel cell renewal process is the first of its kind. We can renew the electrocatalyst of a fuel cell at the surface of the electrode without removing or replacing the fuel cell stack. Renewing fuel cells extends their operational lifetime six-fold. For example, the fuel cells in Class 8 commercial trucks are manufacturer rated for 150,000 miles. With our renewal process, the same fuel cell will be in service for 1.2 million miles.
Founder & CEO: Philip Stuckey
At Holocene, Anca and her team employ organic chemistry to develop an efficient, regenerative CO2 removal system. Holocene’s solution employs two novel organic compounds, one to enhance water’s absorption capacity for carbon dioxide and the other to remove the carbon dioxide from the water-based solution through precipitation. The process concentrates and removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with higher efficiencies than current carbon removal technologies, recycles both compounds, and uses traditional chemical engineering processes and widely available equipment.
CEO & Co-Founder: Anca Timofte
Co-Founder: Tobias Ruesch
Orion Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that ensures the clinical success of early-stage RNA therapy and vaccine development programs. We provide a multifunctional lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulation and process that is safe and effective for nucleic acid drug applications. Our patented delivery system incorporates lipids and lipopeptides to help package RNA drug payloads and facilitate cellular entry in diseased tissues. Our nanoscale delivery system can be modified with disease-specific ligands or antibodies to combine targeted biodistribution and enhanced cellular entry at disease site.
Founder & CEO: Richard ‘Trey’ Fisher
Qubit Engineering Inc., is a quantum computing company that has developed new optimizationtechniques to improve the efficiency of wind energy. Dr, Marouane Salhi and two co-founders at UT are working with several very large wind energy companies on beta tests, and have recently applied for an SBIR award and to be a part of cohort 5of ORNL’s Innovation Crossroads program.
Founder: Dr. Marouane Salhi
RAEV is the transportation solution for individuals who want the convenience of door-to-door transportation without the cost. RAEV is economical because it eliminates the three most expensive aspects of the trip; driver labor, oversized vehicles, and gasoline. RAEV is also an emissions free transportation method that could reduce urban emissions by 85%
CEO & Cofounder: David Castley
SAFIRE, our patented Li-ion electrolyte additive stops explosion/fire through an instantaneous liquid-to-solid transformation upon mechanical impact, and imparts ballistic protection -- all inherent in the electrolyte chemistry. Our additive is drop-in to manufacturing and currently on wait-list for prototype development in specific use cases.
Co-Founder: Mike Grubbs