Economic and Community Development staff emphasize cybersecurity, university partnerships during Tennessee Tech tour

A staff member with Economic and Community Development said during a tour of Tennessee Tech’s Cookeville campus that the visit highlighted the university’s research-and-development assets, cybersecurity education and opportunities for industry to engage with faculty and students.

“We’re in Cookeville on Tennessee Tech's campus. Again, we're doing this tour around the state trying to bring more awareness around what's happening with research and development, some of our research and development assets that are here, including Tennessee Tech, which is very important,” the staff member said. The speaker said the delegation spent time discussing cybersecurity and the role of the educational pipeline in workforce development.

“But industry wants to know what we're doing about it. And so today, we talked about not only workforce development, but also how industry can engage with, universities such as Tennessee Tech to further their research and development on products, processes, etcetera,” the staff member added, saying the visit was “very educational and informative.”

The staff member also connected the university tour to broader state policy, saying, “It aligns with what the governor is doing with nuclear energy in particular.” The speaker said the office plans to share more details as it learns them.

The remarks focused on three related topics: cybersecurity education and the pipeline from students and faculty into industry roles; how companies can partner with Tennessee Tech on research and development; and workforce development tied to state priorities such as nuclear energy. No formal actions, motions or vote outcomes were recorded in the transcript segment provided.