MIT Reports to the President 1998-99
The Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development (CTPID) provides an intellectual home for two education programs, eight research programs, and other projects undertaken by faculty and researchers at MIT's schools of engineering, management, and humanities and social sciences. CTPID's interdisciplinary programs have distinct research and education agendas yet they are united by their deep interest in the intersection of policy development, technological innovation, and industrial competitiveness.
Established in 1985, CTPID extends MIT's pioneering role as one of the first universities to involve industry and government actively in research partnerships. Over 100 corporate and government sponsors provide $9 million each year to support the work of over 160 faculty, researchers, graduate students, and staff. These corporate/government/academic partnerships–a diverse, global assembly including British Telecommunications, Toyota Motor Corporation, and the U.S. Air Force–support research that promotes worldwide economic growth, advances policies that preserve the environment, and benefits society at large.
Academic contributions to sustainable development are critical to 21st century economic success as industry grows into a global enterprise and businesses must search for competitive advantage from inventions and from harvesting knowledge from their own processes. CTPID's interdisciplinary approach offers neutral ground to competitors searching for industry-wide innovation and to policy makers and entrepreneurs pursuing mutual understanding. CTPID brings real world knowledge into MIT's academic arena, a direct benefit to the 120 SM and PhD students enrolled in the Technology and Policy program and the 73 graduate and undergraduates engaged in research activities.
Students and faculty from across the Institute gather for the MIT Industry Leaders in Technology and Management lecture series, jointly sponsored by CTPID and the Office of Corporate Relations since 1995. This year's featured speakers were Daniel Burnham, president and CEO of the $19.5 billion Raytheon Company, and Henri Termeer, who, as CEO, president, and chairman, transformed Genzyme Corporation from a modest venture into one of the world's leading biotech companies.
CTPID produces high impact research that has spearheaded innovations in lean manufacturing and enterprises, benchmarking, and technology supply chain management. Center faculty have published hundreds of articles and 17 books including these published in 1998—99:
Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage. Charles H. Fine, Perseus Books, 1998.
Competition, Regulation, and Convergence: Selected Papers from the 1998 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. Sharon Gillett et al; Lawrence Erbaum Associates, 1999.
The Dance of Change: The Challenges of Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations. George Roth, Peter Senge, et al, Currency/Doubleday, 1999.
Thinking Beyond Lean. Michael A. Cusumano et al; Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Now part of the Engineering Systems Division, CTPID has long offered faculty broad opportunities to pursue their intellectual interests. Faculty from the School of Engineering, the Sloan School of Management, and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences lead these programs: the Cooperative Mobility Program; Ford/MIT Collaboration (administered by CTPID); International Motor Vehicle Program; Labor Aerospace Research Agenda; Lean Aerospace Initiative; Lean Sustainment Initiative; Materials Systems Laboratory; Research Program on Communications Policy; Technology, Business, and Environment Program; and Technology and Law Program.
Faculty from these same MIT schools teach in CTPID's two graduate programs: the master's Technology and Policy Program and the doctoral Technology, Management, and Policy Program. In 1998—99, TPP/TMP offered 30 courses and 67 faculty served as student advisors. This year 48 students earned SM degrees and five earned PhDs.
Fred Moavenzadeh, the George Macomber Professor of Construction Management in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is center director; Patricia Vargas is assistant director. CTPID's 17-person faculty council, which provides intellectual oversight and liaison with academic units across MIT, includes leaders from the School of Engineering, the Sloan School of Management, MIT's Industrial Liaison Program, and the Lincoln Lab.
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
The Technology and Policy Program educates men and women for leadership on the important technological issues confronting society. TPP prepares its graduates to excel in their technical fields and to develop and implement effective strategies for dealing with the risks and opportunities associated with those technologies.
TPP's primary efforts concentrate on the Master of Science Program, which prepares students for practical work in government and industry. An integral part of the TPP curriculum is a Summer Internship Program. This year it placed over 30 interns in major policy centers in the United States and abroad. With about 140 students on campus and approximately 700 graduates, TPP is the largest program of its kind in the world. Students require between one and two years to complete the degree, which includes writing an interdisciplinary thesis that focuses on a Technology Policy issue.
TPP also leads the interdisciplinary doctoral program in Technology, Management, and Policy. This involves about 20 advanced dissertation students at any time. Over the past four years it has placed graduates in major universities in the United States, Europe, and Latin America–most recently with New York University and the University of Maryland, as well as with the U.S. government and industry.
Additionally, TPP conducts an active international outreach program. This year Dr. John Ehrenfeld was on sabbatical with the Instituto Superior Tecnico of Portugal and Prof. Nicholas Ashford with the Technical University of Delft (Netherlands). These institutions join many other universities and educational agencies with which the program actively maintains relations, particularly in France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
This year TPP became a core constituent of the new Engineering Systems Division within the School of Engineering.
Professor Richard de Neufville is the TPP chairman. For more information visit http://web.mit.edu/tpp/www/ and http://web.mit.edu/tpp/www/tmp.html.
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
Cooperative Mobility Program
The Cooperative Mobility Program (CMP) brings together transportation scholars from MIT and other universities with private sector specialists and corporate sponsors to explore current and future issues of worldwide mobility. CMP proposes a new vision: a sustainable multimodal transportation system that will provide the mobility necessary to foster global economic development compatible with social needs and environmental concerns.
CMP is grounded in empirical research on travel behavior, technological approaches, and public policies that affect mobility in both developed and developing countries. The program compiles an annual Mobility Observatory that tracks innovative developments in transportation policy, management, and technology.
With financial support from the Ford Motor Co., CMP hosted Traffic Congestion: A Global Perspective, a conference attended by 175 people in June 1999. Among other research projects conducted in the past year, CMP researchers and graduate students analyzed transportation choices in the Houston metropolitan area under contrasting future scenarios; worked on forecasts of worldwide demand for mobility; and assessed the implications of transportation trends for controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
Daniel Roos, Associate Dean for Engineering Systems is the director, Arnold Howitt is the executive director. For further information, visit http://web.mit.edu/ctpid/cmp/.
Ford/MIT Collaboration
In an innovative program, the Ford Motor Company has engaged the Institute in addressing an array of 21st century challenges confronting the automotive manufacturer. The multi-million dollar collaboration, begun in 1997, focuses on three research areas: virtual engineering, virtual education, and the environment. Initial priorities include the study of engineering design and educational environments of the future as well as seed funding for a major MIT-directed consortium to address global environmental challenges. One goal of the collaboration is the development of mechanisms for effective, long-term industry/university partnerships.
CTPID administers the overall grant and is the home to several of the Ford/MIT Collaboration projects. As part of Ford's Virtual Engineering research, CTPID Senior Research Scientist Daniel Whitney is leading a project on Assembly Advisor, incorporating assembly information in computer-aided design systems. He is also involved, with Professor Steven Eppinger, in a project called Information-Based Product Development that explores appropriate information technology tools for synthesizing complex information in product development programs. Lotte Bailyn, the T Wilson (Class of 1953) professor of management, leads the Engineering Careers Project. Janice Klein, senior lecturer at the Sloan School of Management, heads research on Virtual Teams. George Roth, executive director of the program, also leads a research effort on the organizational changes implied by industry partnerships at MIT.
As a partner in this Institute-wide initiative, CTPID supports over a dozen projects and twenty researchers working on Ford-MIT projects. MIT faculty involved in the Ford/MIT Collaboration use conferences, videoconferences, web sites, and virtual forums to communicate the results of this work to both Ford and the public.
George Roth is the executive director. For more information, visit the Ford/MIT Collaboration web site http://ford-mit.mit.edu/.
International Motor Vehicle Program
The International Motor Vehicle Program is an interdisciplinary research program examining the operation, structure, and development of the global automobile industry. IMVP is directed toward developing strong, fact-based analyses of industry behavior while developing academic expertise in the study of industrial performance and strategy. IMVP and its predecessor, the Future of the Automobile program, have received funding from the Sloan Foundation, automakers worldwide, and their suppliers since the late ‘80s. Accomplishments include the following:
The International Assembly Plant Study explores issues related to quality, productivity, flexibility, and lean production in automotive assembly. Round One, led by John Krafcik and John Paul MacDuffie at MIT, led to the international best-seller, The Machine that Changed the World (1989), a book that unveiled the lean production system perfected in Japan. Round Two, conducted by MacDuffie and Frits Pil, enlarged the sample and revealed a pronounced trend converging on best practice worldwide.
Technology supply chains address these issues:
The strengths of Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) as a strategic tool derive from roots in traditional process analysis and from the recognition that an action's effects include the entire range of consequences. IMVP has funded the development of a strategic lifecycle valuation methodology in conjunction with sponsors who are evaluating its use.
IMVP now pursues five major research areas led by MIT faculty and researchers:
IMVP co-directors are Professors Joel Clark and Charles Fine. For more information, visit the IMVP website at http://web.mit.edu/ctpid/www/imvp/.
Labor Aerospace Research Agenda
The Labor Aerospace Research Agenda began in June 1998 with the belief that people are at the heart of new work systems–establishing stability and then driving continuous improvement. LARA was designed to further our understanding of this critical social dimension of what are termed lean principles in the aerospace industry.
In its first year, LARA developed both a national aerospace survey and web-based survey to further our understanding of the impact of instability on employment and work practices in the aerospace industry. Working with the Lean Aerospace Initiative, several case study sites have been selected and visited to increase our understanding at the facility and individual levels. LARA is currently administering the individual level survey at selected facilities.
LARA is an MIT-based research team conducting research with funding provided via the Manufacturing Technology initiative of the U.S. Air Force. LARA's co-principal investigators/co-directors are Professors Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld and Thomas A. Kochan
Lean Aerospace Initiative
The Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), begun in September 1993, is an active research partnership among 22 aerospace companies, 14 U.S. government agencies, labor representatives, and MIT. LAI also collaborates internationally with the University of Linkoping and the UK LAI.
Over the past six years, LAI's goal has been "To significantly reduce the cost and cycle time for military aerospace products throughout the entire value chain while continuing to improve product performance." LAI research is conducted by 18 faculty members from the Schools of Engineering and Management, 21 graduate students from several MIT courses and graduate programs, and five CTPID research staff members.
To date, LAI has generated a significant body of knowledge about lean practices in an industry undergoing a fundamental, systemic transition. Research studies and results include a supply chain framework for strategic supply chain management; early supplier integration into design and development; product development value stream framework; tools for risk and variability management; inventory practices; and flow optimization.
LAI also provides a new model for industry/government/labor/academic collaboration. This is has been supported by the Lean Enterprise Model; recommendations on policy; six implementation workshops; 16 Air Force supported pilot projects; 12 plenary workshops; plus reports, briefings, and articles.
Most recently, LAI announced plans for Phase III beginning September 1, 1999, that would propel the initiative in expanded directions focused on Best Life Cycle Value and barriers to implementation and transition to lean. Future goals include enhancing effectiveness of the national workforce and emphasizing knowledge deployment.
LAI's co-directors are Professor Earll M. Murman, Professor Tom Allen, and Cliff Harris. For further information, visit http://web.mit.edu/lean/.
Lean Sustainment Initiative
The Lean Sustainment Initiative (LSI) is one of several MIT research programs focused on enhancing the performance of complex enterprises. LSI, in its third year, is based on many of the lessons learned in the International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP) and the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI). LSI's goal is to increase the flexibility and responsiveness of the Air Force sustainment enterprise while simultaneously reducing its cost. LSI is a joint project of Headquarters Air Force Material Command, Air Force ManTech, and MIT. Faculty, research staff, and graduate students from the School of Engineering and the Sloan School of Management form the LSI core research team.
The U.S. military today has fewer resources for logistics support. Consequently, current sustainment operations–maintenance, repair, and overhaul–require systemic change. LSI is undertaking the research that the Air Force combat support community needs to initiate fundamental, systemic change.
The LSI research team has established a baseline understanding of the Air Force sustainment system and produced several case studies, executive summaries, and graduate theses. Current program objectives are to facilitate the collaborative process to increase the involvement of government and non-government sustainment stakeholders, develop specific long-term research areas, and to begin the process of assisting the Air Force to develop a 21st century high-value sustainment enterprise.
LSI's director is Professor Wesley L. Harris. For more information, visit the LSI web site at http://lsi-lori.mit.edu/.
Materials Systems Laboratory
The Materials Systems Laboratory (MSL) is internationally recognized for its innovative work analyzing the competitive position of materials and the strategic implications of material choice. For nearly two decades, MSL has addressed the issues arising from materials choice in a range of applications, particularly those in the automotive, electronic, and aerospace industries, but with a recent emphasis on automotive applications. Currently, MSL is beginning to expand its scope to once again address issues in electronic materials, with an initial focus on automotive electronics applications. This expansion will build upon MSL's past experience in the area of electronic materials processing as well as its recent experience in analyzing the competitive position of the proposed automotive dual voltage electrical system architectures.
MSL's work builds upon a unique combination of materials processing knowledge, engineering design practice, manufacturing process analysis, and environmental information to construct analytical tools for decision support and competitive analysis. To develop these tools, MSL has worked extensively to refine its extensions to classic engineering process modeling for the past two decades. Modeling elements have been married to elements of product design, material properties, and manufacturing assumptions to yield tools that can estimate the costs of product manufacture under a wide range of conditions. These tools analyze primary materials production, primary materials processing, component and subassembly manufacture, and end-of-life vehicle processing. In each case, these tools estimate the costs of production as a function of processing technology, material flows, operating conditions, and energy and capital requirements.
MSL also has developed techniques for understanding how markets respond to the different combinations of engineering and economic performance available by using different materials. Further, MSL researchers analyze the environmental consequences of materials and process choice, incorporating the emerging life-cycle analysis paradigm. These tools make it possible, when used with economic and engineering assessments, to develop robust, credible, and defendable product strategies that take life-cycle information into account.
Richard Roth is the director of MSL. For more information visit the web site at http://web.mit.edu/ctpid/www/msl/.
Research Program On Communications Policy
RPCP's Internet & Telecoms Convergence Consortium (ITC) is a neutral and collaborative forum that advances the state of research and understanding of the technical, economic, strategic, and policy issues arising from the convergence of telecommunications and the Internet. Its multi-disciplinary approach brings together a select group of leaders in industry, academia, and government to discuss, debate, and facilitate new forms of communication. During its first research period (1996—98), ITC focused on clarifying the many possible definitions of Internet telephony and on understanding the parameters that drive Internet telephony's costs, user acceptance, and industry structure. A key insight from this work was that IP telephony should be viewed as a long-term opportunity to provide entirely new features, not simply short-term cost savings. Further, this work articulated a vision of the Internet as the infrastructure of the future for any information that can be transmitted digitally, including applications such as radio and television. Research in the current phase (1998—2000) addresses the implications of and barriers to this vision and is organized around four major themes:
ITC's research continues to be the foundation for numerous conferences, articles, and books that are available to members through customized seminars, meetings, and websites.
David Clark is the director; Sharon Gillett is the executive director. For more information, visit the program's web sites at http:// rpcp.mit.edu and http://itel.mit.edu/.
Technology, Business, And Environment Program
The Technology, Business, and Environment Program (TBE) studies the effectiveness of the environmental tools and practices available to management. These include conceptual frameworks like industrial ecology as well as design for environment approaches that incorporate environmental concerns into design decisions. TBE's research identifies the learning and the change firms experience when they embrace environmental policies and adopt voluntary codes of conduct. The program also analyzes how public policy can facilitate business efforts to adopt environmental practices.
TBE researchers are evaluating the impact of industry self-regulation for environmental performance improvement. TBE has constructed a database that includes information on environmental releases, compliance, and management practices of nearly 40,000 industrial facilities. Researchers use this database to evaluate the effectiveness of the environmental programs such as the chemical industry's Responsible Care program and ISO 14001, the international environmental management standard. Jennifer Nash directs this portion of the program's research.
Other TBE research efforts include the construction of a Web-based Gallery of Environmentally Preferable Goods and Services (http://tbe.mit.edu/gallery/) and a project that looks at the effect of environmental standards on supply chain performance.
The director of TBE is John Ehrenfeld. For more information, visit the web site at http://tbe.mit.edu/.
Technology And Law Program
The Technology and Law (T&L) Program offers research opportunities and graduate-level courses focusing on the interface of law and technology. Research activities include the design and evaluation of policies that encourage technological change for preventing chemical pollution through regulation, liability, and economic incentives, promote environmental justice by involving communities in governmental decisions that affect their health, safety, and environment; and address the effects of globalization on sustainability.
T&L offers a two-semester sequence in environmental law and policy: Law: Technology, & Public Policy, a core subject in the Technology and Policy Program; and Sustainability, Trade, & Environment, listed jointly with Engineering and Sloan.
In 1998—99, the five-year project on Public Participation in Contaminated Communities–undertaken for the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry–concluded. In addition, a number of significant articles were published:
"The Influence of Information-based Initiatives and Negotiated Environmental Agreements on Technological Change," N. A. Ashford in Voluntary Approaches in Environmental Policy, Kluwer, 1999.
"A Conceptual Framework for the Use of the Precautionary Principle in Environmental Law," N. A. Ashford in Protecting Public Health and the Environment: Implementing the Precautionary Principle, Island Press, 1999.
"Negotiation as a Means of Developing and Implementing Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety Policy," Charles C. Caldart and Nicholas A. Ashford, Harvard Environmental Law Review, 23(1):141-202, 1999.
T&L program is directed by Professor Nicholas A. Ashford and involves Charles C. Caldart. For more information, visit http://web.mit.edu/ctpid/www/tl/.
Visit CTPID's web site for more information at http://web.mit.edu/ctpid/www/.
Fred Moavenzadeh
MIT Reports to the President 1998-99