MIT's Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development (CTPID) is an interdisciplinary research and educational center addressing global technology and policy issues through sustained partnerships with industry, government, and academia. These partnerships are aimed at supporting global economic growth and advancing policies that preserve the environment and benefit society at large.
CTPID research focuses on contemporary industrial problems—such as how to build safe, affordable, and environmentally friendly automobiles—that span social, natural, and technological interests.
Current programs, often supported by several corporations, address industry issues in aerospace, automotive, engineering and construction, information quality, materials systems, mobility, and technology and law. Other programs examine diverse issues facing a single global corporation. Applying CTPID's interdisciplinary focus, a team—for example, of computer scientists, economists, and policy analysts—can join forces to solve whole problems, not just components of a problem.
Research from CTPID's International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP) resulted in The Machine That Changed the World, a book that articulated lean production techniques and transformed manufacturing worldwide. Recent books from CTPID's diverse programs include The Second Century: Reconnecting Customer and Value Chain through Build-to-Order, Lean Enterprise Value: Insights from MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative, Future Cities: Dynamics and Sustainability, and Broadband: Bringing Home the Bits.
Center programs include the Ford-MIT Alliance, IMVP, Lean Aerospace Initiative, Lean Sustainment Initiative, Information Quality Program (MIT IQ), Materials Systems Laboratory, and the Technology and Law Program.
Established in 1985, CTPID's 160 faculty and researchers are drawn from MIT's Schools of Engineering, Management, and Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and from peer institutions. Affiliated scholars come from universities including Harvard, Chicago, Tokyo, and Université de Paris XII. Pragmatic knowledge comes from over 65 sponsors, including Toyota Motor Corporation, General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Raytheon Company, the Boeing Company, the US Air Force, and the National Science Foundation.
Sustained by MIT's intellectual resources and interdisciplinary tools, CTPID's mission is to develop new knowledge, advanced technological strategies, and innovative partnerships that support global industrial growth, social well-being, and environmental health.
For further information, contact the acting director, Joel Moses, E40-257, MIT, 617-253-8592, ctpidcom@mit.edu, or visit http://web.mit.edu/ctpid/www/.