UTC and Chattanooga officially members of MetroLab Network

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – UTC was welcomed into an exclusive neighborhood this week.

The university and the city of Chattanooga have officially been introduced as members of the MetroLab Network. The group includes partnerships with Harvard, Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins and Notre Dame.

UTC is already Partnering with Georgia Tech, in what is called The Autonomous Vehicle Planning Project.

The study looks at situations like bad weather knocking out the GPS systems that control self-driving cars. They are also looking at how they can communicate efficiently and safely with human-driven vehicles.

Michael Baskin is the Chief Policy Officer for Mayor Burke. He believes the city has so much to gain from MetroLab Network.

Baskin said, “In that by partnering with the university, we’re bringing together minds who are solving problems in different ways and benefiting from the diversity of the experience focusing on the diversity of perspectives of different people figuring out how do we make Chattanooga a better place.”

UTC is also working with the University of Vermont to map the city’s sewer lines, meaning UTC and Chattanooga will share their data on three locally generated research projects.