Economic Summit Participants to Tour SimCenter

When participants in the Tennessee Valley Corridor Regional Economic Summit explore the theme “Where Technology Meets the Marketplace” on October 6-7, they will take a tour of the UTC SimCenter and the new Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science building to see state-of-the-art advanced computational simulation and design systems that enable and support designers of products and systems.

The SimCenter integrates research and education in Computational Engineering to solve engineering analysis and design problems using supercomputer simulations and computational models describing the essential physical phenomena.

Since 1995, the Tennessee Valley Corridor has built an alliance of community, business, education and government leaders through a series of regular regional economic summits led by the Corridor’s Congressional delegation. The upcoming meeting in Chattanooga is the twelfth in a series of such events that have strategically linked the technology–rich Tennessee Valley Corridor, from North Alabama through East Tennessee into Southwest Virginia.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen , U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, Congressman Zach Wamp Chattanooga, Mayor Bob Corker and TVA Director Bill Baxter will speak at the event, which will be held at the Chattanoogan. Joining Alexander and Wamp on October 6 will be Ed Wall, director of the Freedom Car Program and Vehicle Technology, U.S. Department of Energy and Helgi Agustsson, Icelandic Ambassador to the United States. The Chattanooga Summit will focus on how to best leverage the Corridor's abundant science and technology assets for maximum new private sector business investment and job creation.

Under the leadership of the Tennessee Valley’s congressional delegation and the Corridor board of directors, the Tennessee Valley Corridor has set forth a number of specific opportunities and recommendations to capitalize on and leverage unique scientific and technological resources.

Investing in the Valley’s Science and Technology Assets
Establish consensus among all Valley partners of the importance of modernizing and supporting the facilities used for science and technology development at the federal sites and universities throughout the Corridor.

Workforce Aging Management Program
Establish new approaches to developing and maintaining the high tech skills required to staff the unique manpower needs of the Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Marshall Space Flight Center, Redstone Arsenal, Arnold Engineering Development Center and other science and technology centers within the Tennessee Valley.

Connect the Valley
Establish the Tennessee Valley as a national model in connecting and leveraging local, state and federal science, technology, education and business assets for maximum private sector job creation and business investment.

Brownfields/Reindustrialization
Establish the Tennessee Valley as a model for the development of publicly and privately-owned brownfield sites stressing local, state and federal cooperation and the transfer of technologies and expertise from the federal sector into the private sector. Demonstrate the effectiveness of the re-use by the private sector of properties and assets no longer needed for national security purposes.

Missile Defense
Establish the Corridor as the nation’s Center of Excellence in the development and testing of important national missile defense systems through the continued leadership of the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command at Redstone Arsenal, the Arnold Air Force Base, Arnold Engineering Development Center and other public and private sector partners in the region.

Advanced Space Transportation
Establish the Corridor as the nation’s Center of Excellence in the research, design, testing and evaluation of next generation space transportation systems through the continued national leadership of NASA/MSFC, USAF/AEDC and their public and private sector partners in the region.

Med-Tech
Establish the Corridor as a leader in the development and implementation of programs to promote increased economic development through the creation of new, and expansion of existing, medical technology businesses.

Advance Transportation/Energy Security
Establish a national demonstration project using the clean transportation strategies used in Chattanooga and being developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee to address air pollution and the reduction of America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Homeland Security
Promote a greater awareness of the science and technology assets and programs throughout the Corridor, which both strengthen homeland security and display the leading role that the Valley Corridor can play in counter-terrorism efforts. From law enforcement to aviation security, from bio-terrorism testing and prevention to tactical response and new technology prototyping, the Valley Corridor will play an essential role in America’s New War.

Email questions about the Tennessee Valley Corridor to info@tennvalleycorridor.org/