JCATI Research Partner Request

Looking for university engineering expertise? Describe a technical challenge, and JCATI will share it with researchers at all six of Washington's public universities (CWU, EWU, Evergreen, UW, WSU, and WWU) and introduce you to anyone interested. You do not need to be applying for a JCATI award.

  • Keep it non-confidential. Your request will be shared with researchers, so leave out proprietary, export-controlled, or financial information.
  • Applying for a 2027–28 JCATI award? Submit by Friday, January 15, 2027. Every award pairs a university PI, who submits the proposal, with an industry partner.

Questions? Contact Brit Myers, JCATI Program Manager, britm@uw.edu, (206) 685-8063.

Your Organization

The company or organization looking for a university engineering partner.
The person JCATI should follow up with and introduce to interested researchers.
Your role or job title.
JCATI will use this to follow up and make introductions.
A direct number for follow-up.
Washington county or counties (optional)
If your organization is located or operates in Washington, select the county or counties. Organizations based outside Washington are welcome to submit; leave this blank. JCATI projects must have their impact in Washington, and most project work must take place in the state.
Type
Choose the option that best describes your organization.
Size (employees)
Approximate number of employees across your whole organization.

Your Technical Challenge

A short, descriptive name researchers will see first, for example: Automated inspection of composite bond lines.
Write for engineers outside your company. Describe the problem and why it matters to your products or operations, what you have already tried and where it falls short, and what a successful one-year project would deliver. About one page. Do not include proprietary, export-controlled, or financial information.
The disciplines (for example, materials science, controls, or machine learning), specific skills or methods, and any lab equipment or facilities a university team would need.
Approximate TRL
Technology Readiness Level describes how mature the technology is today, from basic principles (TRL 1) to proven in operation (TRL 9). JCATI funds projects starting at TRL 3 or higher. Choose Not sure if you are uncertain. See NASA's TRL definitions.
Topic areas
Select every area your challenge relates to. If none fit, choose Other and describe it briefly.
JCATI projects work best when the company is an active partner. Describe the kinds of support you might provide, such as staff time and technical guidance, materials or parts, equipment or facility access, testing, data, or student internships. Type of support only; do not enter dollar values.
Preferred institutions
Select any universities you would prefer to work with, or No preference.

Additional Information

Anything else researchers or JCATI should know, or questions for the JCATI Program Manager. Do not include proprietary, export-controlled, or financial information.
Up to three non-confidential PDFs, such as a one-page challenge summary, a diagram, or photos of the part or process saved as a PDF. Files will be shared with researchers along with your request.
Maximum 3 files.
10 MB limit.
Allowed types: pdf.

How You Heard About JCATI

How did you hear about JCATI?
This helps JCATI understand how companies find the program. Select all that apply.
If a person or organization pointed you to JCATI, let us know who.