This year marks the 75th anniversary of the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP).
The largest and oldest program of its kind, the MIT Industrial Liaison Program is industry’s most comprehensive portal to the Institute, enabling corporate partners to harness MIT resources to address current challenges and anticipate future needs.
Since opening its doors, the Industrial Liaison Program has served as an essential bridge between industry and the Institute. But it was not the first attempt to formalize MIT’s strong ties to industry, which date back almost to its inception.
At the onset of World War I, MIT established what is known as "The Technology Plan." Unlike other arrangements between academia and industry, which usually took the form of corporate gifts, The Plan was contractual in nature. Under the terms of the agreement, in return for an annual retainer fee, industry partners would receive consulting services from members of MIT staff and access to its libraries and alumni records.
Between 1919 and 1920, more than 200 corporations subscribed to The Plan. Large, science-based companies like General Electric and AT&T were early contributors, as were big businesses from the steel and rubber sectors. Smaller organizations representing the textile, machinery, and paper industries also signed on.
Despite a promising start, critics of The Plan pointed out that, given the nature of the agreement, MIT faculty would inevitably find themselves overcommitted to providing consulting services. There was also a growing sentiment that it would cause the Institute to enter into competition with businesses owned and operated by its alumni.
The Technology Plan was eventually abandoned. But, thirty years later, in the aftermath of the Second World War, MIT reimagined a better way to foster close relationships with industry while avoiding the pitfalls of its original endeavor.
MIT alumnus E.V. Murphree, head of the Esso Research and Engineering Company (now ExxonMobil), outlined a new plan for MIT President James Killian to consider. Murphree proposed that the Institute should solicit grants from a select group of companies and earmark the unrestricted funds to maintain and advance its research and educational programs. For its part, MIT would staff an office dedicated to providing these companies with conferences and symposia and advance copies of papers to keep them informed about basic research at MIT.
In 1948, MIT founded the Industrial Liaison Program, making it the first university to facilitate industry access to its faculty and research programs, institute-wide. The mission of the Program: to accelerate technology transfer and enhance ties to industry—without committing faculty to consulting for corporate members.
In 1948, MIT founded the Industrial Liaison Program, making it the first university to facilitate industry access to its faculty and research programs, institute-wide.
With faculty input, MIT established the Industrial Liaison Office. Its staff, known as Industrial Liaison Officers, or “ILOs,” were tasked with identifying faculty working in areas of interest to the companies. They also arranged visits between company personnel and faculty.
Put into practice, ILP’s vision stimulated mutually beneficial two-way communication. Industry members were keen to stay abreast of the latest research coming out of the Institute to maintain a competitive edge. MIT faculty, meanwhile, recognized that having a firm grasp of industry challenges would allow them to develop new research initiatives.
The Institute’s pioneering method of soliciting communication between academia and industry proved to be so effective that it was later adopted by other universities.
Over time, the Industrial Liaison Program’s vision evolved. By the 1970’s, it was no longer exclusively focused on technology transfer but rather on maximizing the entirety of the relationship between a participating company and MIT. This holistic approach to corporate interactions coincided with the decision to expand its reach and internationalize.
By the end of the 1980’s, ILP again further augmented its mission to include a new emphasis on broadening relationships with corporations beyond membership in the Program. At the dawn of a new decade, ILP staff looked to develop sponsored research and contributions from both ILP members and non-members alike. This continues to be core to ILP’s mission – facilitating members to further engage at MIT both financially and through interpersonal collaboration.
For example, The Boeing Company has been an ILP member for over two decades. As part of its service to Boeing, ILP has facilitated discussions with MIT activities such as the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, the New Engineering Education Transformation Program, the MIT Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Engineering Excellence, and the initiative to fund the renovation of the Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel. This is in addition to ILP helping to support Boeing’s robust research agenda at MIT. It’s heartening to know that about half of ILP members provide additional support to MIT beyond their ILP membership, often facilitated by ILP introductions.
In the 1990’s, MIT entered into its first large-scale research partnerships with eight major corporations: Amgen, Merck, Ford Motor, NTT, Merrill Lynch, DuPont, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard. While MIT had fostered close relationships with industry since its founding, nothing on this scale had previously been undertaken. Recognizing the benefit of working with a staff of astute professionals dedicated to navigating the Institute on their behalf, all but one of these companies eventually became active members of MIT ILP.
By the turn of the new millennium, MIT ILP was widely considered the “gold standard” when it came to programs devoted to academia-industry relationships. Looking to emulate our success, universities around the country developed formal liaison programs of their own. When other universities want to know “the secret sauce,” which happens more frequently than they would like to admit, we explain that the key ingredient is the faculty at MIT.
By the turn of the new millenium, MIT ILP was widely considered the “gold standard” when it came to programs devoted to academia-industry relationships.
MIT faculty are unmatched in their passion for harnessing research to impact societay—and what better way to address the world’s grand challenges than by working with industry partners who depend on innovation to thrive and prosper?
In the early 2000’s, ILP developed a series of events called “Bringing MIT to Europe.” The format was straightforward: an MIT faculty member, hosted on-site by one of our European companies would talk about an area of emerging technology that could be transformative—for an audience comprised of many ILP member companies. These events were often booked to capacity. Of course, a free lunch was provided for all involved, and the lunches and coffee breaks created terrific opportunites for networking not only with the faculty, but between corporate visitors as well.
As an example of how the program worked, France-based company EDF had recently hired a new Head of Research, who decided that before making any changes to the organization, he would survey the company’s stakeholders—customers, employees, and the government—to better understand their priorities. He called these “challenges” that EDF Research and Development would have to address in the near-term, medium-term, and long-term.
The ILO assigned to EDF suggested that we help with the exercise by holding a “Challenge the Challenges” workshop. Working together, ILP and EDF identified certain challenges to focus on, and invited MIT faculty to provide their input at an event hosted on campus. Several key EDF leaders were present, and others attended relevant sessions via video chat. The result was significant guidance provided to the company’s internal decisionmaking. It also foreshadowed the hybrid events ILP held routinely, many years later, as we adapted, out of necessity, to the COVID pandemic. Also during the 2000s, ILP paid a significant role in helping augment the Singapore MIT Alliance and the Cambridge MIT Institute – two of MIT’s important international collaborations. Since then, ILP has continued to contribute to MIT’s international activities by creating relationships between faculty and industry executives worldwide.
Beginning in the 2000’s, faculty-driven consortia, often with vital assistance from ILP, have helped strengthen Institute-wide collaboration with industry. To highlight just a few examples: the MIT Energy Initiative, the MIT Nano-engineered Composite Aerospace Structures Consortium, the Abdul Lateef Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab, the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, and the MIT Mobility Initiative.
In the 2010’s, MIT ILP initiated an internal strategic planning process. Facilitated by MIT Sloan Professor Arnoldo Hax, it yielded several important initiatives. In fact, it was essential to our discussion regarding how to best respond to ILP members’ growing interest startups. After much discussion both internally and with our complementors across campus, this led to the formation of the MIT Startup Exchange, which actively promotes collaboration and partnerships between MIT-connected startups and industry, exclusively members of MIT ILP. Through significant coordination across the MIT community, MIT Startup Exchange has become a key engagement mechanism, helping to sustain and grow ILP in the past decade.
The office moved two more times. In 2008, ILP moved from E38 in the heart of Kendall Square to 600 Memorial Drive, at the far-western side of campus. Five years later, ILP moved all the way to the eastern side of campus to its beautiful new suite at One Main Street. This facility includes the Industry Meeting Center, that can host groups of up to one hundred for ILP-organized events. Concurrent with the move from 600 Memorial Drive to One Main Street, ILP changed its reporting relationship from MIT Resource Development to the Office of the Provost. Soon after, Industrial Liaison Officers or ILOs were renamed as Program Directors.
All told, more than 800 of the world’s leading companies collaborate in some way with the Institute.
The Industrial Liaison Program has continued to extend its reach in recent years. Today, the geographic representation of ILP members is as diverse as the industries they represent. The US and Canada account for 32 percent of its membership; 23 percent hail from Japan and South Korea; 22 percent of the members are European firms; while greater China and southeast Asia account for 13 percent, and the rest of our members are based in various other countries around the globe.
All told, more than 800 of the world’s leading companies collaborate in some way with the Institute. Approximately 240 are members of the Industrial Liaison Program at any given time. Engagements with these members are actively-managed and facilitated. Access to this constant flow of resources helps MIT bring its deep knowledge to bear on the great challenges of our time.
To view more photos from this event, visit our Flickr page!