In early February 2025, twenty ARCS Atlanta members had the exceptional opportunity to tour the new 1.2M square feet UPS Southeast Metro Automated Routing Terminal (S.M.A.R.T.) HUB in SW Atlanta. Members viewed this high-speed processing facility and learned about its ability to reduce time-in-transit and enhance flexibility within UPS’s efficient SMART hub-and-spoke network. The Atlanta hub can process approximately 100,000 parcels per hour via a highly orchestrated series of conveyors, chutes, belts and, ramps, into waiting trailers for transfer to another UPS location, or into package delivery vehicles bound for area businesses and residents.
It is the second-largest ground package processing facility in the United States and the fourth-largest package operation in the UPS worldwide network. The new Atlanta sortation and delivery center is part of an expanded network of regional hubs designed to improve efficiency, service levels and reliability.
Thanks from Alum Collette Miller, Postdoctoral Fellow at US Environmental Protection Agency
"Thank you all for reaching out and the support over the years. It's been a rocky few years following the passing of my doctoral research mentor a few weeks prior to my dissertation defense. Trying to rebound from his loss, finishing my dissertation, and figuring out where to go from there was challenging to say the least ... Thank you again for your support. Honestly I did not know how much I would have ended up relying on the generous gift that the Atlanta Chapter of ARCS Foundation provided when it was first received. However, it was vital in helping me launch a new chapter in my career when I found my plans collapse when my mentor passed. Again, THANK YOU!"
Thanks from ARCS Atlanta Scholar Alum Deborah Kilpatrick, CEO Evidation Health
The work you (ARCS Foundation Atlanta members) have all done is tremendous, and I am so proud to be a part of that legacy. I hope that my work is making you all feel that there has been a good return on your investment.
Thanks from Alum Alejandro Toriella, PhD, Assistant Professor, Industrial Engineering, Georgia Tech
Thank you very much for your support. It meant a lot. I had the opportunity to return to Tech as a faculty member last year. I’m very happy to be back and hope I can advise a future ARCS scholar soon!