Lockheed Martin and MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) have announced the creation of the MIT-Lockheed Martin Seed Fund to promote early-stage collaborations between MIT faculty and researchers with universities and public research institutions in Israel. The seed fund will also take place in Germany, and additional countries will be considered after the pilot year of 2019.
The MIT-Lockheed Martin Seed Fund, to be sponsored by Lockheed Martin with more than $150,000, includes two to four projects for Israel and two to four projects for Germany. MIT will administrate the fund within the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives program in the Center for International Studies. This funding may be used for travel, meeting, and workshop costs, inclusive of visits to Lockheed Martin and MIT facilities in the U.S. Furthermore, the seed fund includes one MIT program student internship in Israel as part of the MIT-Israel program and one MIT student internship in Germany as part of the MIT-Germany program.
For the inaugural year, the seed fund will focus on proposals that fit within Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Manufacturing priorities to identify emerging innovative technologies around but not limited to:
• manufacturing process control;
• modeling of materials and processes;
• novel materials for extreme environments; and
• automation of the "Factory of the Future."
This collaboration brings the ability to align projects around Lockheed Martin’s areas of technology interest and interface with top global universities under a structured program which may lead to sponsored research under a separate agreement. Collaborating faculty will have the opportunity move forward their joint projects as well as engage with Lockheed Martin facilities in the U.S. and Israel.
The new Lockheed Martin-MISTI initiative joins the collaboration made in recent years with Israel’s Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Rashi Foundation to promote STEM-related programs from kindergarten throughout high school to higher education.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services.
MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives creates applied international learning opportunities for MIT students that increase their ability to understand and address real-world problems and bolsters MIT’s research mission by promoting collaborations between MIT faculty members and their counterparts abroad. Since 2008, MISTI’s Global Seed Fund program has awarded $17.7 million to over 800 faculty projects. MISTI is housed within the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.
