“SCRA is a great partner from day one. When we had a request based on our needs they were very receptive to it. Without SCRA this Digital Transformation Lab would not be here today. We are learning how to train our students to be the right product to be employed by industries here in the state.”
Dr. Abdel-Moez Bayoumi, Director McNAIR Aerospace Center, McNAIR Center
The SCRA-USC Innovation Center in Columbia houses the University of South Carolina’s McNAIR Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research. Over the past year, the Center has nearly doubled in size. The growth included new laboratories for drone design, combustion research and data analytics. Partnerships are critical to the Center’s success. In September 2018, UofSC announced partnerships with IBM, Samsung, Siemens and Yaskawa. The partnerships are driven through the Office of Economic Engagement, which has sought to create corporate research collaborations, commercialize technology developed at the university and support university startups. SCRA has worked with the University, researchers at the University and the Office of Economic Engagement to help customize the facility specific to UofSC and industry’s needs.
“Digital Transformation is about taking old practices and updating them with new technologies. Its also about looking at your system as a whole to optimize it.” – Rhea Matthews, Research Scientist at McNAIR Aerospace Center
