The world’s most successful organization is without a doubt the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among MIT’s professors, researchers, and alumni, over 90 Nobel laureates have been awarded for scientific research. MIT graduates have launched 30,000 enterprises in the area of industrial development, and the 2014 annual report indicated $1.9 trillion in total operational revenue. In comparison, Brazil’s GDP ranked ninth among the world’s top 10 economies in 2018, at $1.91 trillion, followed by Canada’s GDP, which came in at $1.73 trillion.
Figure 1: The track record of MIT graduates founding businesses (2014 data)
This has to do with why the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was founded. Practicality and feasibility are important at MIT, as is problem-solving in the actual world. The school has long upheld the tradition of “combining knowledge and deeds”. Theory is the highest of all disciplines, yet practice has not evolved in over 150 years. Among them, innovation methods are important, and entrepreneurship and innovation go hand in hand.
The military’s contribution to innovation
The Second World War served as a catalyst for the culmination of human high technology, bringing together a multitude of findings from fundamental research and industrial production. The successful landing of the Apollo program in the United States after the first launch of Soviet satellites marked a turning point in the conversion of scientific research results into output. In the midst of World War II, MIT skillfully collaborated with the armed forces to create the MIT Radiation Laboratory, which is regarded as “the largest cooperative research and development institution in the history of war” and was successful in developing radar. This was the first large-scale cooperative research and development laboratory in the history of American universities. At its height, this area was home to 20% of the nation’s elite physicists. Following World War II, the MIT Radiation Laboratory achieved fission and went on to develop a national Lincoln laboratory, an electronic research laboratory, and a nuclear energy laboratory. MIT is a leader in electronics, microwave physics, and nuclear physics thanks to these state-funded facilities.
It is important to note that the U.S. military has contributed in a special way to business, academia, and research collaboration in the country. During the first stages of chip and semiconductor development, the only users of high-tech devices were the military. MIT graduates built the greatest military conglomerate in the world today, Raytheon. Raytheon started producing radar magnetrons during World War II and eventually the whole radar system.
In the 1940s, 38% of the market was devoted to scientific research, and 50% of all software applications were used for military and national security purposes, according to Jones, the author of General History of Software Engineering. Naturally, the main purpose of scientific study at the time was to support national defense. One may say that U.S. assistance is provided for industrial software packages. Defense Department. In a similar vein, many other businesses are similar, including the semiconductor and electronics industries.
Through these partnerships, the military gains experience in managing college and university resources. It also explains why the United States does not need government organizations like the Ministry of Industry and Science and Technology. The collaboration among the U.S. The Department of Defense and academic institutions in the fields of innovation, research, technology, and business are almost inseparable.
More significantly, the military supplies crucial defense requirements and particular application situations in addition to financial support. It is impossible for fundamental research findings to finally be translated into useful goods without these unique market needs and financial backing for the whole process from pre-research to model creation, and no matter how ambitious innovation plans are, they often fall short of their goals.
What causes industrial clusters to form?
An industrial cluster’s growth is often accompanied by a detonation source.
The high-tech industry clusters that have emerged around Boston on both sides of Highway 128 during the last century have come to serve as a model for similar clusters. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology served as the source of the explosion.
Typically, DEC is cited as the pioneer that opened the way for minicomputers. Founder Olsen worked at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory and contributed to the creation of the military Whirlwind computer. The first minicomputer in history was subsequently created by DEC, who also took the lead in initiating the first major wave of computer popularization.
An effective business is the strongest magnet that draws everything to it. A group of astute entrepreneurs and scientists from MIT were moved by the DEC narrative.
There weren’t many MIT Laboratory technology companies when Highway 128 was first constructed in 1951, according to the MIT Innovation Course. Around MIT, there were more than 300 businesses in 1979; by 1980, sales of mid-range computers in the area had reached $26 billion, or 34% of total sales in the US. Many of them are brand-new businesses.
Naturally, universities are the driving force behind the rapid growth of industrial clusters. MIT has long supported its faculty members in taking on the role of “entrepreneurial mentors,” which enables them to advise nearby businesses in addition to inspiring faculty members and students to launch their own businesses. In order to support the fast growth of industrial clusters along Highway 128 MIT has also partnered with the federal government to establish a venture capital fund.
Of course, university strength is not the only factor in the growth of Highway 128’s electronics sector cluster. Naturally, there is an abundance of water behind the verdant forest. The realm of the U.S. military is boundless and limitless. The military and aerospace departments are continually delivering actual gold and silver projects, and there is a constant need for real knives and firearms, while MIT speeds up the transfer of technology and its graduates have started new businesses.
When combined, a vast array of inexpensive resources for the public and users may be acquired. One major factor contributing to the growth of Highway 128 industrial clusters is their reliance on innovative colleges and financing for diverse military pursuits.
The fifteenth principle
Are academics at universities permitted to supplement their income by working for the community? In the past, American colleges were deeply divided on this. But MIT started pushing academics to provide business consultancy services as early as the early 1900s. The school has implemented the “one-fifth” policy, which permits academics to work on tasks unrelated to teaching and scientific research one day per week, provided that they complete their university-mandated duties on the other working days. This prevents such conduct from impairing instruction. Subsequently, American schools and universities broadly embraced this idea.
Coordinating the tension between academics’ part-time work in businesses and their teaching and scientific research is a historical issue rather than a global one. The system design holds the key to resolving the issue.
With a spectacular boom, the number of firms formed by MIT graduates reached approximately 10,000 in 1990. This is mostly because of the 1982 enactment and implementation of the Baidu Act, also known as the Intellectual Property Act. The Baidu Act modifies “the state invests in state ownership” as it relates to intellectual property. It states that organizations like the university or institution where the completion person is situated would own the scientific research findings produced by the fundamental research and development funding spent by the state. Universities may share their powers with academics and create flexible regulations.
Professors’ excitement for the transformation of scientific and technical breakthroughs has increased since this bill’s introduction. In addition to the much better financing climate, private investment has started to pick up steam, spurring the creation of creative businesses.
From researchers to business owners
Kendall Square, in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Cambridge neighborhood, has developed into a hub for life science research. This was just a handful people’s concept in 2008. This is where the “Innovation Base Camp” program was introduced in 2009. After ten years, it has developed into a distinct medical environment. Its greatest benefit is definitely that it is near MIT, which boasts world-class bioengineering facilities and researchers. Kendall Square was once well characterized by the Boston Globe as “like a beating heart, and MIT is the aorta.”
We cannot avoid bringing up a renowned person while discussing the aorta: MIT professor Langer. He is the youngest scientist and a member of the three academies of the American Academy of Engineering, the Academy of Sciences, and the School of Medicine. Edison had 2,300 patents, whereas Lange has allowed over 400 enterprises via patent transfer. Lange is renowned for his ground-breaking work on the sustained release of medication for cancer patients. He established Lange Laboratory in 1980. More than 40 businesses were born out of Lange Laboratory, the world’s biggest bioengineering facility.
Lange is an obsessive entrepreneur as well. He is the founder of several businesses. He has a special knack for entrepreneurship and gets along well with money. It is usual practice at Lange Laboratory to file for a patent prior to the paper’s publication in order to prevent rivals from getting a free meal. Investors and business partners really place a high value on this kind of patent protection. It is hard to draw in capital investment without IP protection technologies, and investors won’t feel comfortable funding initiatives that require significant risk and financial outlay. The nature of capital for profit dictates this.
A healthy ecosystem for creativity
MIT has an established system for translating advances in science and technology. It is an ecology rather than a policy. According to the MIT Innovation Course, there are seven steps in the entrepreneurial process. A qualified tutoring organization will carefully mentor and develop a more developed “incubator system” at each level.
MIT’s seven steps of invention to entrepreneurship are shown in Figure 2.
(Source: Huang Yasheng’s book MIT Innovation Class, among others.)
For instance, the Lemelson initiative, which promotes creativity, aims merely to pique young people’s curiosity and inspire them to seek a creative life via creation. Even senior high school and junior high school students are the target audience for certain prizes. The award emphasizes MIT’s open culture and is available to everyone. The 2012 winner was a Stanford University professor who succeeded in low-cost gene sequencing. However, the Lemelson initiative is not a startup. It will not make investments or purchase patents or licenses.
The MIT Media Laboratory is dedicated to creating new technologies that will improve humanity’s future and really embraces the concept of a “laboratory”. There are over thirty research teams, and the breadth of the study is almost infinite. The “indicator that can show people’s emotions,” created by wearable technology pioneer Pentland, employs physical cues to precisely indicate whose opinions are being disregarded and whose are being overextended during a conference call.
How can MIT’s audacious start-ups successfully transition from patentable laboratory technology to widespread commercialization? The Technology Licensing Office (TLO) is the main force driving this. It was founded in 1945, and the Baidu Act allowed it to change its name to its present one in 1985. The functioning mechanism has undergone significant changes after the name change. It is now more like a midwife who started to play a one-stop function in various linkages rather than being controlled by a lawyer as it was before (often just responsible for patent execution and licensing). This group resembles a fighting unit from the special forces. Technical licensees with strong technological skills make up the core staff, while other employees have specialized knowledge in areas such as document authoring, patent application preparation, and patent fee computation. The professor lacked the drive and expertise to promote his innovation, therefore TLO aggressively carried out marketing and completed a great deal of detailed auxiliary work. TLO receives a fifteen percent commission, the innovator receives thirty percent of the profit, and departments and foundations split the remaining advantages. MIT and inventors will keep funding scientific research while deducting their own costs. A positive cycle of invention will never cease pushing in the direction of success.
Numerous similar establishments exist, such as the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, which serves as a leader and advocate for entrepreneurial endeavors. This entrepreneurship center focuses in entrepreneurial management, investment and policy education, and academic research. It was formed by successful businesspeople who are also academics. Additionally, there are the Legatum Center, which promotes entrepreneurship in low-income nations, the one-on-one entrepreneurship counseling center, and Deshpande centers, which focus on microcredit. Here, too, the ILP Industry Alliance has been formed to foster ties with the sector. You may acquire advice from your favorite business owners by meeting them. This social network has strong academic ties, and those ties might be powerful.
The most valuable point of reference for China’s innovation is MIT, which offers a variety of support systems to instructors and students attempting to bring research and technology to market. The only way to improve the way invention blooms is to nurture the entrepreneurial process.
Remember the original objective.
As its school motto suggests, MIT’s initial goal was to develop exceptional ability with both hands and mind. Its creators think that by emphasizing real-world issues in society and doing research and teaching, this is the greatest approach to develop professional competence. The teaching tenets of the school have been “learning through experiments” and emphasizing real-world challenges for over a century. This raises the likelihood of successful innovation and the applicability of technology significantly.
MIT is not by itself. Georgia Institute of Technology was founded with the goal of advancing manufacturing in the southern United States. It was concluded that production and technology were insufficient to cause the South to lose the American Civil War after the South had been beaten. The establishment of Georgia Institute of Technology. Georgia Institute of Technology is committed to its purpose of bringing talent and technology to American industry, even after more than 200 years. The engineering program at this university has traditionally been among the best in the country.
The manufacturing trend in the United States has been closely monitored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When Japan and South Korea began to undermine Made in America in the 1980s, the then-president of MIT organized faculty and staff across all disciplines to collaborate in order to offer solutions to the country’s slowing industrial growth and slow productivity growth. Ultimately, the Made in the United States research team’s 1989 publication made it abundantly evident that “a country must produce well if it lives well.” Following the 2008 financial crisis, another MIT president personally assembled a team of individuals from various departments to form the Massachusetts Innovative Economy Production Committee (PIE). In order to thoroughly investigate the issues that “inventing at home and manufacturing in other places” may bring to innovation, the committee assembled a large number of human, material, and financial resources.
They also held a two-year global research study and published two books titled “Reshaping Manufacturing” in 2012, calling for the reconstruction of the American industrial ecosystem.
Given the strategic requirements and national difficulties, this responsible university ought to be seen with optimism.
A brief message
Chinese colleges need to establish their significance as a driving force in the industrial revolution that China is embarking upon. The university’s own innovative journey is another timeless subject. The creator of the notion of disruptive innovation, Clayton Christensen, examined innovative instances in his book Innovative Universities: Changing the Genes of Higher Education, which included Harvard University. Universities themselves need ongoing innovation.
All stakeholders in government, business, academia, and research must work together to support Made in China. Chinese universities ought to adopt a mindset that abandons China’s pursuit of becoming a manufacturing powerhouse, overhaul the irrational evaluation system, actively engage in the nation’s economic front lines, and take a more active part in advancing the historical process of raising the standard and upgrading China’s manufacturing sector in order to support China’s economy up to the middle and upper classes. Chinese colleges can learn a lot from MIT’s creative teaching methods and innovative innovation mechanisms.
