Another component of Georgia Tech’s recent campus growth spurt has scored a financial boost from one of Atlanta’s largest companies and top employers. 

The Delta Air Lines Foundation has contributed $5 million toward construction of Georgia Tech’s new Aerospace Engineering Building. The “ambitious capital project” along North Avenue aims to improve one of the top-ranked aerospace programs in the U.S. and elevate both the aviation industry and Georgia’s economy, as school officials announced this week. 

The campus addition will strive to boost Georgia Tech’s aerospace ecosystem by expanding research capabilities in specific areas. Those include cybersecurity, advanced aircraft design, propulsion, materials, autonomy, and emerging technologies such as hydrogen and eVTOL concepts, per the university. 

The new building will be home to Georgia Tech’s Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering. The school, considered one of the nation’s largest and most influential, enrolls more than 2,300 students and heads more than $54 million annually in aerospace-related research activity, per Georgia Tech officials.

Courtesy of Georgia Tech

U.S. News & World Reports ranks the aerospace engineering school No. 1 among public institutions and No. 2 overall, according to Georgia Tech’s announcement. 

Georgia Tech media reps tell Urbanize Atlanta the project would be built on campus close to where the current Aerospace Engineering Building stands at 270 North Ave. NW. That’s near the western fringes of campus, across the street diagonally from Coca-Cola’s world headquarters.  

The Delta Air Lines Foundation, a nonprofit corporation formed in 1968, aims to enhance Delta’s charitable giving. “Their help and participation will be key to the development of the talent, research, and innovation that will secure our state’s position as a global hub for aerospace technology,” said Georgia Tech president Ángel Cabrera in a statement. 

John Laughter, a Delta Air Lines Foundation trustee and Georgia Tech graduate, added that the investment “will help equip students to explore new ideas, develop more efficient solutions, and contribute to a stronger, forward‑looking aerospace industry.”

No timeline for construction of the school expansion has been specified. 

When it does more forward, it will join notable in-progress projects around campus that include Georgia Tech’s first new residence hall in decades, a mixed-use build on Techwood Drive, and the first round of upgrades at Bobby Dodd Stadium. 

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