California Institute of Technology and Technology Innovation Institute Announce Major Collaboration

The US-based university will collaborate with its Abu Dhabi-based counterpart on key projects

across autonomous systems, quantum, AI, biotechnology, and propulsion.

California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and

Technology Innovation Institute (TII) have today announced a global strategic partnership to

collaborate on key research priorities. The three-year, multi-million-dollar partnership includes a

comprehensive exchange of researchers enabling the partners to conduct interdisciplinary

research in the areas of autonomous systems, quantum algorithms, low precision AI,

biotechnology, and propulsion systems. The partnership will also focus on sustainable

technologies to contribute to the reduction of environmental risks.

The collaboration on autonomous systems topics brings together the expertise in TII’s

Autonomous Robotics Research Center (ARRC) and Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems

and Technologies (CAST). The combined team will push the boundaries in autonomous

systems, advanced control systems, and high-speed drones.

All research projects under the partnership will be driven by real-world use cases, focused on

finding solutions to the challenges of tomorrow, today. The quantum team will target the

development and optimized encoding of new quantum algorithms and quantum neural

networks, while the artificial intelligence research projects will focus on low precision AI and the

emerging topic of developing new neural network models for energy constraint edge devices.

The biotech emphasis will be on advancing cell therapy frameworks, and the propulsion experts

will collaborate on emission reduction systems.

An important element of the partnership is the training and development of young researchers in

the early stages of their careers. From Masters students to Ph.D. graduates, the collaboration

will provide countless opportunities for exchange and upskilling as aspiring researchers look to

learn from some of the leading pioneers in their fields.

“Since launching CAST in 2017, we’ve pushed the boundaries of research in autonomous

systems. Through this partnership with TII, we’re about to push that boundary even further,”

says Caltech’s Mory Gharib (PhD ’83), the Booth-Kresa Leadership Chair of CAST and the

Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Medical Engineering, as well as the director of

the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories (GALCiT).

The partnership was spearheaded by Caltech’s Anima Anandkumar, Dr. Bren Professor of

Computing and Mathematical Sciences, and TII’s Dr. Najwa Aaraj, Chief Researcher at the

Cryptography Research Center and Acting Chief Researcher of the Autonomous Robotics

Research Center. Anandkumar and Aaraj first recognized the potential for collaboration in many

areas of science and engineering between the two institutes, with AI and autonomous systems

as an initial focus.

Dr. Ray O. Johnson, CEO, Technology Innovation Institute, said: “This partnership is a

testament to the incredible work TII has accomplished in the past two years. Caltech is one of

the most prestigious universities in the world, and we are delighted to be collaborating with them

on such critical research.”

“Caltech is globally renowned for its relentless pursuit of excellence and its first-class research.

This mindset is one that we have adopted at TII, so I’m excited to see what the partnership will

deliver,” he continued.

The Caltech announcement brings TII’s global research partnerships to a total of 96 agreements

in just two years. With nearly 600 researchers in its stable from 71 nationalities, including 144

UAE nationals, the Abu Dhabi-based institute is well on its way to building an innovative R&D

ecosystem in the country and putting the UAE on the research map.