has been a University Affiliated Research Center, a designation by the United States Department of Defense intended to maintain what it calls "essential engineering and technology capabilities". GTRI is the largest single employer of Georgia Tech graduate and undergraduate students; as of 2013, GTRI employed 186 graduate co-ops and research assistants and 128 undergraduate co-ops. GTRI's contributions to the Georgia Tech community include collaborative research with academic faculty, courses originated by GTRI faculty, and joint service efforts. Collaboration is strong between the faculties of GTRI and the academic schools and departments. Many GTRI researchers hold appointments as adjunct faculty members in Georgia Tech academic departments, serve on thesis advisory committees, and teach both academic and continuing education courses. GTRI reaches out to Georgia Tech's academic and research departments for collaboration on many research activities, building interdisciplinary teams that take advantage of the broad expertise within Georgia Tech's highly ranked programs. One such collaboration is with the Georgia Tech Information Security Center to create GTRI's newest laboratory, the Cybersecurity, Information Protection, and Hardware Evaluation Research Laboratory (CIPHER). Laboratories GTRI conducts its research programs through eight laboratories organized into three research and development directorates that focus on specific subjects: Interdisciplinary research centers Like many research universities, Georgia Tech has many smaller organizational units dedicated to interdisciplinary research, which combines two or more academic fields into one single discipline. The following centers are based out of the Georgia Tech Research Institute: See also References Works cited External links Research Institute Defense companies of the United States Multidisciplinary research institutes Research institutes established in 1934 1934 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)