Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 Collaborative Innovation Center is a new model for industry-university partnerships
Like every other research university in the United States, Carnegie Mellon has hosted company-sponsored research almost from the day it opened its doors a century ago.
But today鈥檚 high-tech companies鈥攎any of which sprang from a university environment鈥攏eed a fresh approach.
鈥淚nnovation-intensive companies today need to be where research happens,鈥� says Jared L. Cohon, president of Carnegie Mellon. 鈥淩esearch is part of their identity and essential to their survival.
鈥淭he Collaborative Innovation Center (CIC) brings companies right into the university community. This is a new, proactive model for university collaboration with industry, with clear benefits for the companies involved, for Carnegie Mellon, and for economic growth in the region.鈥�
The CIC鈥檚 well-known tenants鈥擜pple, Google, Intel, and a Microsoft sponsored lab鈥攁re bringing some high-tech panache to Forbes Avenue. The CIC鈥檚 light-filled, high-ceilinged offices are designed around large collaborative spaces, well suited to the work going on inside.
Started in 2005, the project is a partnership among the university, the Carnegie Museums, and local economic development organizations. It received funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The building also houses offices of CyLab, the university鈥檚 computer security project.
鈥淚ntel was a pioneer of the idea of open collaboration with universities like Carnegie Mellon and has had a research lab in Pittsburgh since 2002,鈥� says Todd Mowry, director of the Intel lab. 鈥淥ur offices were first on Craig Street, just a 10-minute walk away.鈥�
鈥淏ut the CIC is right on campus, and that proximity has made a difference,鈥� Mowry says. 鈥淲e are much more a part of the community here, which is where we want to be. This day-to-day connection allows Intel staff to work more closely with 麻豆村, and we all share a richer understanding of the science, of what is coming next.鈥�
Kamal Nigam of Google agrees. 鈥淏eing so close to Newell-Simon Hall means we have many informal opportunities to exchange ideas鈥擥oogle has a seminar series that Carnegie Mellon people attend, or we run into people over lunch next door. It is easy to find talented students to be interns. The feeling that we are all collaborating together is a strong one.
For Apple, says engineering manager Yaniv Gur, the CIC was the obvious location to consolidate its offices in Pittsburgh.
鈥淚t seemed natural for Apple to be located at the technological heartbeat of the city, which is here,鈥� Gur says. Apple does not conduct research at the office, but it does hire students to work on engineering operations. Apple鈥檚 office is also a base for Apple recruiters while they are in the city.
Although doctoral students win most of the internships at CIC, a few undergraduates are working on projects.
鈥淭his is an important benefit for the university, says Intel鈥檚 Mowry, who is on leave from the computer science faculty while directing the Intel lab.
鈥淭he CS faculty has long been concerned that very bright, intense students can take on too much, doing double majors with huge courseloads,鈥� Mowry says. 鈥淏ut offering them a serious research opportunity channels this intensity into a more productive outlet.鈥�
Companies can draw on expertise from across campus to configure their own panels of experts, which Carnegie Mellon people are accustomed to doing, McNulty says. Last summer, for example, Intel hired a design student and a Tepper student, who created an impressive business plan for a new medical diagnostics product.
Nigam believes that the CIC model will work for firms in such areas as biotechnology, entertainment technology, and robotics.
鈥淚 have been in Pittsburgh for 10 years, first as a Carnegie Mellon PhD student and now with Google, and it is exciting to see the technological community growing, with more people moving here to be a part of it,鈥� Nigam says. 鈥淭his community could grow in many directions, and the CIC is a great setting for this to happen.鈥�
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