There were no technical institutes in the South during the 1940s. The technological boom caused by WWII further exacerbated the need for an institution devoted to the work of technicians. Hence, the Technical Institute was established in 1948 in Chamblee, Georgia, as a unit of the Georgia Institute of Technology. The majority of its first students were WWII veterans. The following year, the school changed its name to the Southern Technical Institute (STI). STI moved to Cobb County in 1961 and officially separated from Georgia Tech in 1980. Eventually, STI became Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU). SPSU consolidated with Kennesaw State University in 2015.