Innovation in the making
On Monday, the MIT Innovation Initiative convened representatives from all of the Institute’s innovation-focused programs, labs, and centers to showcase and gather feedback on ongoing and pilot projects. The Innovation Initiative is an Institute-wide effort, launched in 2013 by President L. Rafael Reif, intended to accelerate the moving of research from the lab the marketplace by strengthening MIT’s capacity for innovation. After a series of meetings with faculty and students, in December the Initiative — co-led by associate deans Vladimir Bulović, the Fariborz Maseeh Professor of Emerging Technology, and Fiona Murray, the Bill Porter Professor of Entrepreneurship — released a preliminary report proposing a series of steps aimed at strengthening MIT’s innovation ecosystem. Among other things, it included a proposed innovation and entrepreneurship minor; a proposal for global innovation communities; and an app for students — set to launch soon — that instantly locates MIT’s many tools and maker spaces. Monday’s event, “Innovating as...