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Excerpts
From articles about the new Deshpande
Center for Technological Innovation
AScribe — "MIT Unveils
New Center Supporting Technological Innovation in New England," 01/03/02
. . . It is hoped that the Deshpande Center will act as a stimulus to
economic growth and help New England maintain its position as a leader
in the field of new technology. "The Deshpande Center will enable
the local entrepreneurial community to capitalize on the resources of
MIT to further research and lay the foundation for the next wave of new
technology," said Alex D'Arbeloff, Chairman of the MIT Corporation.
As the center grows and receives support nationally and even internationally,
it is expected that its scope will broaden beyond the New England region.
In addition, the center will provide significant funding to the School
of Engineering's new Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program (UPOP).
In part, this support will offer MIT undergraduates meaningful work experience
in industry and government. It will also improve student and faculty understanding
of the practical application of new knowledge and technology in those
settings.
"The vision for DCTI is very strongly aligned with the School of
Engineering's mission of 'Leadership through Technical Excellence and
Innovation'," said Thomas Magnanti, Dean of the School of Engineering.
"The Deshpande Center will provide much needed funding for research
on incipient technologies and, through UPOP, also offer MIT undergraduate
students the opportunity to apply their knowledge in real-world settings."
. . .
EETIMES.COM —
"Boston entrepreneur funds new MIT research center," by Margaret
Quan, The Work Circuit, 01/09/02
. . . In addition to paying for new technology research and awarding grants,
the Deshpande's $20 million gift will provide funding for the MIT School
of Engineering's new Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program. The
UPOP will provide a broader experience to the engineering student including
a summer internship in industry, a one-week course on engineering practices
such as organization, leadership, markets, finance, and legal and ethical
issues. The course also requires students to write a paper that reflects
on his or her internship experience.
The optional UPOP program launched this month will target 80 to 100 sophomore
engineering students each year and the hope is that it will provide more
real-world application of the student's knowledge than previous programs.
"Traditionally we've done a good job on teaching [engineering students]
the basic science of engineering fundamentals, but we've not done as good
a job at providing a broadening experience for them," Dean Magnanti
explained. Magnanti said he believes the course will eventually be a requirement
for engineering students and serve as a model for other engineering schools.
full story
MASS High Tech
— "MIT to use $20M gift from Deshpandes to found Center,"
by Alexander Soule, 01/03/02
. . . Tom Magnanti, dean of engineering at MIT, said the center also represents
the start of a new Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program that will
give sophomores at the institute exposure to entrepreneurial opportunities
and practice. . . .
MIT president Chuck Vest said that the new UPOP program will be reminiscent
of the institute's highly successful Undergraduate Research Opportunities
Program (UROP) that was inspired by Polaroid founder Edwin Land 28 years
ago, after he spoke with MIT students about their education. "(Land)
came out of that saying that MIT was missing the point on its most brilliant
resource – its undergraduate students with their imaginations that
have not yet been molded," Vest said. "I think we will similarly
all be looking back at the UPOP program in 30 years and saying 'look at
the idea that Desh Deshpande brought here. "' . . .
full
story
NetworkWorldFusion
— "New MIT center bridges research, industry," by Elizabeth
Heichler, 01/03/02
. . . In its first year, the center will award three of the larger grants
and five smaller ones to selected respondents to a call for proposals
that will be issued this spring. At least initially, Magnanti said, he,
Deshpande and MIT Chairman Alex d'Arbeloff will review and select the
winning proposals, a process that he said cuts through the government
and corporate red tape researchers typically contend with. The Deshpande
Center also will provide what MIT called a "significant" amount
of funding for a new program that will place MIT engineering undergraduates
in internship positions in industry and government. This effort, called
the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program, sounds promising to
entrepreneur Mahesh Ganmukhi, president and CEO of Cereva Networks. The
Marlborough, Mass., company plans to launch its first product in the storage-area
network arena shortly, and its CEO deemed the center "a nice way
to help other entrepreneurs. It's a really great idea - Deshpande is a
real visionary."
full story
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