Vision and Mission
The vision and mission for the PACCAR Technology Institute is to establish itself as a leader in Nanomaterials and Microsystems Technology by engaging researchers from multiple disciplines at the University of North Texas, establishing strong partnerships with industry and private foundations, and educating the next-generation of students and leaders for workforce development regionally, nationally and globally
Interdisciplinary Research
Current societal global challenges we face include determining ways in which to promote affordable healthcare to combat infectious diseases, especially in low resource settings, finding access to clean water, understanding the human brain, identifying cheap, renewable energy sources to meet our ever increasing demand for energy, understanding climate change, and inventing electronics beyond Moore's Law. These are just some examples of topics that require experts from diverse disciplines working together to address such societal grand challenges. The PTI will engage experts from various disciplines to work together on such open questions and to discuss possible solutions through interdisciplinary collaborations and bringing wide perspectives to the table, relevant to the area of Nanomaterials and Microsystems Technology. The PTI-affiliated faculty have expertise in exploring the mechanical properties of materials, to investigating their use in thermal, electronic, optical, flexible and bio-related platforms, as exemplified with the symbolic image above. The students engaged with PTI will be provided opportunities to interact with those outside of their immediate disciplines through faculty-faculty, faculty-student collaborations. The hope is that this training prepares the PTI-affiliated students to gain interdisciplinary perspectives which should prepare them well to enter an ever increasingly diverse workforce.
Collaborations and Partnerships
The sentiment that “Together we can accomplish more than what we can do alone,” resonates well with the spirit of PTI. An important goal for PTI is to engage people at multiple levels -- faculty, students, and postdocs -- to work collaboratively through community building to tackle interesting problems to advance our fundamental scientific understanding. At the same time, through our collaborations and partnerships under PTI, we also wish to address pressing problems that may lead to a better and more efficient way of doing things through innovations and translational research that have underpinnings in Nanomaterials and Microsystems Technology.
Industrial Engagement and Community Building
The PTI will nurture and strengthen relationships with local-area industry and national labs for joint opportunities to create, foster, and sustain mutually beneficial research collaborations and partnerships. These partnerships should benefit PTI-affiliated students, and strengthen research opportunities for the PTI-affiliated faculty which are of mutual interest to our industrial partners. We will strive toward innovations by working with local businesses and entrepreneurs for economic development with the appropriate support and engagement from the UNT Tech Transfer Office.
We welcome the opportunity to engage with industry across the US and internationally. If you are interested in working with us, please contact us at PACCAR@unt.edu or reach out to us through the various contacts provided below.
Prof. Anupama Kaul
Director, PACCAR Technology Institute
Email: Anupama.Kaul@unt.edu
Dr. Tom Derryberry
Assistant Dean for Corporate Relations
College of Engineering
Email: Tom.Derryberry@unt.edu
Education, Training and Outreach
In order to further propel UNT’s Tier 1 Research University designation through the Carnegie Foundation, recruitment of high-quality students at the graduate level and undergraduate-level is critical. The Ph.D. and M.S. students engaged in research under the guidance of PTI-affiliated faculty are provided the highest quality graduate instruction and training. The PTI will also support the educational needs of undergraduate students by engaging strongly with the Honors College at UNT to promote experiences for undergraduates in research. The PTI will serve as a regional hub that can help raise the level of awareness and appreciation of the impact of Nanomaterials and Microsystems on the local, regional, state, and the national economy through seminars and visits. We welcome the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM, such as female students and minorities, since tapping into such groups will be vital to meet our growing demand for STEM-trained graduates to join the workforce in US industry, government and academia.
