Themes

Innovation and collaboration

MIT’s long history of innovation and invention is an expression of its mission as articulated by William Barton Rogers: to use technology and knowledge to improve the human condition and resolve real world problems.

Creating the possibility of making unexpected connections by allowing people to bump into each other, by allowing knowledge to be put together in different sorts of ways, this is important. One of the things about MIT is it concentrates a lot of talent and creates an expectation that important things are going to happen.the late William J. Mitchell, dean of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning from 1992-2003Today, we are committed to the continued advancement of collaborative work and innovative thinking within the Institute and between our research labs and industry leaders.

In planning for the future, MIT will continue to encourage collaboration and joint venturing, maximizing opportunities for innovation and substantive discovery. We will take full advantage of our location, surrounded by enterprising companies with the drive and potential to change people’s lives. Proposed physical developments on campus and in the innovation district nearby will address issues of proximity, potential cooperation, knowledge transfer, and interdisciplinary cross-fertilization. The Institute will continue to originate creative entrepreneurial partnerships, both internal and external, that reveal new research directions and ingenious possibilities for emergent and established industries. We will serve as a catalyst to spark and develop ideas that transform the world.

Photo by Christopher Harting