Texas Tech University System · Higher Education · Austin, TX · 16 weeks
Texas Tech University System AI Enablement case study
A state university’s research division needed a certified data infrastructure to secure $6.8M in federal AI grants. We audited data systems across 14 departments, found critical gaps, and fixed them within 16 weeks. This ensured the university met grant requirements and unlocked the funding.
Challenge
The university received $6.8M from the National Science Foundation to fund AI research, but only if it certified its research data infrastructure within 16 weeks. The certification covered 14 research departments. An internal review found 31 gaps in the existing infrastructure that needed fixing to meet the deadline.
Approach
We identified 31 certification gaps and prioritized them based on impact. Then, we created a focused remediation plan targeting the most critical issues first. To support this, we implemented a research data management platform that centralized data cataloging, enforced access controls, tracked data lineage, and documented reproducibility across all 14 departments.
Outcome
We closed all 31 gaps by week 14, two weeks before the certification deadline. NSF granted the certification, unlocking $6.8M in funding. Now, 340 researchers across 14 departments actively use the research data management platform.
How We Dug Into Sorting Issues by Certification Status and Got Results
So, we spotted 31 gaps overall. Not all of them were urgent, though. We got together with the NSF program officer to figure out which 8 needed fixing right away and which 23 could wait. Then, we tackled those 8 critical issues and wrapped them up in just six weeks.
How We Broke Down Our Process to Hit Reliable Results Every Single Time
The certification meant we had to map out every single research data pipeline, something nobody on the team had done before. So, we created a simple, no-fluff framework for documentation. Then, we trained 14 data coordinators to keep it current. That simple system didn’t just help us get certified; the NSF reviewer actually called it a model worth copying.
How we created a platform that keeps going strong long after the grant cash runs out
We put together the research data platform with open-source tools so the university wouldn’t be locked into one vendor. Then, we walked their IT team through how to handle maintenance and updates themselves. That way, the platform kept humming along long after the grant ran out. It actually ended up becoming the blueprint for all their future research data systems.
Results
- $6.8M Federal grant funding secured
- 31 Infrastructure gaps resolved
- 14 Research departments certified
- 340 Researchers on the platform
We had $6.8 million in grants tied to a certification deadline, and we weren’t sure we’d meet it. Thinklytics helped us close all 31 gaps with two weeks left. The funding went through, and their platform is much better than what we used before.