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 Eliot Quon, Postdoctoral Researcher at National Renewable Energy Laboratory
ARCS Foundation has been a highlight of my academic career thus far, thank you for the support!
Thanks from Alum Tim Sampson, Postdoctoral Scholar at Caltech
I am immensely grateful to the ARCS Foundation and Turner Enterprises for making my award possible. I am honored to have been part of the talented and promising group of young researchers from the Atlanta-area!
Thanks from Scholar Kira Newman
"I can only begin to express how grateful I am for the freedom to pursue an independent line of research without having to worry about how I will pay for the necessary lab supplies or training. This award is allowing me to answer broader and more valuable questions than I had previously thought possible... Thank you so much for your kindness, generosity, and belief in my potential as a scientist."