May 19 2005
DuPont Chief Technology Officer Thomas M. Connelly Jr. joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Susan Hockfield and Provost Robert A. Brown today to announce continued funding of the DuPont MIT Alliance (DMA), a research program focused on creating innovative, next-generation materials.
Originally funded in 2000 as a five-year, $35 million investment, Connelly announced today that DuPont will contribute another $25 million to continue funding through 2010. This 10-year, $60 million commitment makes the DMA the largest corporate R&D investment at MIT.
"The successes and experiences of the Alliance warrant our continued funding," Connelly said. "In 2000, we asked MIT scientists to give us their best ideas on science that could enhance our everyday lives. The response and resulting research has led to significant scientific achievements. These first five years focused on inventing new materials using nature and biology as the design roadmap. The second stage of the Alliance will expand the collaborative capabilities of DuPont and MIT beyond bio-based science to also include nanocomposites, nanoelectronic materials, alternative energy technologies, and next generation safety and protection materials."
"Here at MIT, we are very proud of our long tradition of strong working relationships with world leaders in key industries. The DuPont MIT Alliance takes such partnerships to a new level, providing a model of successful university-industry collaboration not just for our two organizations, but nationally as well," said Susan Hockfield, MIT president. "The DuPont MIT Alliance is an example of academic-industry collaboration at its best, with MIT faculty and DuPont colleagues working together to define exciting research opportunities, to create wonderful new science and technology, and to educate graduate students in science and engineering in the midst of the excitement generated by the collaboration," said Robert A. Brown, MIT Provost.
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