The Technical Institute for Agricultural Research was a learning institution located in the Capital City of Lothal, a planet situated in the Outer Rim. Although it wasn't held in as high regard as the Capital City's Junior Academy of Applied Sciences, the Technical Institute was recognized for possessing certain exceptional areas of study. Following Zare Leonis's teenage act of defiance against his athletic director, Janus Fhurek, by standing against the dismissal of the AppSci SaberCats' two alien team members—namely the Aqualish Hench Sina and the Rodian Frid Kelio, Fhurek, motivated by his anti-alien bias, took it upon himself to move both alien students to the Technical Institute.