Globalization and the Residential University: Perspectives from the

MIT- Singapore Alliances

Thomas MagnantiJune 17, 2008

Impact of Globalization?

Given the changing global environment, what should corporations, universities and governments be doing?

Impact of Globalization?

Will the world be flat or will it have spikes/clusters of excellence? If so, are they sustainable?

Many (Familiar) Forces at Work

Engineering is Very Different Today

• The NAE Vision Report 2004. 2020 Vision Report and other reports call for change with a vigorous statements about engineering work today (1)– Globalization of industry and engineering practice– Employment shift from large to smaller, entrepreneurial firms– Growing share employment in non-traditional, less-technical engineering

work (management/ finance/ policy)– Knowledge-based “service” economy– Diminishing half-life of engineering knowledge in many fields– Traditional make/ build is being joined by interdisciplinary work of

engineering and IT, biology• Mobility of work, information, and capital (leading to different career

paths than in the past?)• New technologies and content areas

– Life science, ultra small, …• Loss of best and brightest to areas like law and finance• New federal government regulations and oversight (e.g., ITAR).• Environmental responsibility, ethics, societal effects, and economic

effects(1) NAE Visions Report 2004

Changing Landscape

1900-2000 Century of the Large

2000-2100Century of the Small?

Changing Landscape: The Big Four O’s

MIT Course # Course Title

6.001 Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Fall 2002

6.002 Circuits and Electronics Fall 2000

6.004 Computation Structures Fall 2002

6.012 Microelectronic Devices and Circuits Spring 2003

6.013 Electromagnetics and Applications Fall 2002

6.021J Quantitative Physiology: Cells and Tissues Fall 2002

6.034 Artificial Intelligence Spring 2003

6.034 Artificial Intelligence Fall 2002

6.035 Computer Language Engineering Fall 2002

6.041 Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability Fall 2002

6.042J Mathematics for Computer Science Fall 2002

6.045J Automata, Computability, and Complexity Spring 2002

6.046J Introduction to Algorithms Fall 2001

OpenCourseWare

Total 1800 MIT coursesTotal 1800 MIT courses

University’s ReachScope

TimeLocal

RegionalNational

International

Global

(Mobility, Communications)

Today?

Global MIT

Internationalization at MIT

• 27 percent of10,300 MIT students international– 9% undergraduates– 39% graduate students– Hail from 113 countries

• 35% of faculty foreign born (40% engineering)• 6% of gift money and 6% of sponsored research

on MIT campus funded from abroad

Reaching Out Internationally• MIT International Science and Technologies

Initiatives (MISTI) – Past year, 300 students, eight countries, internships

research labs in multinational and local companies• D-Lab (Design Lab)

– Students developing low-cost solar heating devices, water purification systems, and many other technologies for use in emerging countries

• By 2012 up to 1200 undergraduates each year with rigorous, meaningful international experience of 3 months or more?

“Recent” MIT Major International Programs

Singapore

Portugal

Abu Dhabi

Great Britain (Cambridge)

Also significant engagements in China and a few other places

Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

&Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology

(SMART)

SMA/SMART Evolution

825+ graduates200 students enrolled or admitted500 + research publications50 patents filed and disclosed

SMA Objectives• Contribute to MIT’s strength in certain strategic areas

– New graduate subjects and curricula – New innovative research programs– Establish a greater MIT connection in Asia, and,

through this connection, bring new resources to MIT– Develop more international savvy faculty, students and

staff• Develop indigenous expertise, programs, and human

resource base in Singapore • Permit MIT and Singapore to experiment with distance

interaction technologies and modalities for both teaching and research– Generate the necessary physical infrastructure and human

resources upon which to build a permanent “distance presence”– Identify the kinds of individual and institutional distance

collaborations in both teaching and research consistent with MIT’s core values and aspirations

SMA Programmatic Content• SMA-1 Programs (Education and Research)

1) Advanced Materials for Micro- and Nano- Systems (AMM&NS) 2) Computer Science (CS)3) High Performance Computation for Engineered Systems (HPCES)4) Manufacturing Systems and Technology (MST) 5) Molecular Engineering of Biological and Chemical Systems (MEBCS)

• SMA-2 Programs (Education and Research)1) Advanced Materials for Micro- and Nano- Systems (AMM&NS)

MIT Home: Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE)

2) Computational Engineering (CE)MIT Home: Computation for Design and Optimization Program (CDO), School of Engineering

3) Manufacturing Systems and Technology (MST)MIT Home: Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME)

4) Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering (CPE)MIT Home: Department of Chemical Engineering

5) Computation and Systems Biology (CSB)MIT Home: Computational and Systems Biology Initiative (CSBi)

SMART Centre Objectives• To provide exciting, new and unique opportunities for MIT

faculty, students and post-doctoral fellows to– lead and conduct cutting-edge scientific research in a

global context– learn about and become more savvy about globalization.

• To be a world-class interdisciplinary research centre integrating research, graduate student/post-doc training and innovation.

• To be a magnet for attracting global research talent: faculty, post-docs and PhD students.

• To create and harvest new technologies that will have commercial and societal impact.

• To provide new avenues for Singapore and MIT to develop global interactions within and beyond Asia.

SMART Centre’sInitial Integrated Research Groups

• Infectious Disease – Lead PI – Jianzhu Chen, Biology– 7 MIT faculty participants (3 MIT Departments and Whitehead)– 14 participants from Singapore universities/research institutes

• Environmental Sensing and Modeling (CENSAM)– Lead PI – Andrew Whittle, Civil and Environ Engineering– 14 MIT faculty participants (4 MIT Departments)– 12 participants from Singapore universities/research institutes

(with further collaboration expected during the ramp-up phase)• Micro and Nanotechnology for Biomedicine (in

review)• Two more to be defined

CREATE• To build a concentration of research talent for innovation

and creativity, the Singapore Government (National Research Foundation) has established the concept of CREATE – the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise

• CREATE will house a select research centers by world renowned research institutions/universities. These research centers will serve as a magnet for global research talent to come to Singapore to work with faculty and researchers from these universities /institutions

• MIT will be the first research center in CREATE • The Swiss institute, ETH has also agreed, in principle to

establish a center in CREATE

Create Campus

Design Image

Create Campus

Green College Undergraduate Residential Colleges

Graduate Residential Colleges

Phase II Residential Colleges

ERC

CREATE

Student Services

CREATE

Town Center

Town Green

Lake TheatreThe Grove – Future Pedestrian Connection to Right Lung

Residential College Quad

UT@W: Master Plan

Warren Forum

Education + Sports Building

Education + Sports Building

Undergraduate College

Observations• SMA/SMART institutional commitments

– MIT, Singapore government and universities– Investments in areas of importance to MIT and

Singapore• Faculty commitments essential

– Critical mass of faculty (not on margin)

• SMA anchored on residential universities with collaborative distance education and research

• SMART intended to extend MIT research reach– The big four O’s– Energy and environment

• Increasing commitments over time with greater comfort from all parties

Why Singapore?• Excellent resources and physical infrastructure;• A strategic location in a rapidly growing part of the world at

the crossroads of Asia (especially China and India), having also emerged as one of India’s largest trading partners;

• Technically-savvy national leaders at the highest levels who embrace science and technology;

• English as the official language;• World-renowned standing as a leader in math and science

education at the K-12 level; and• An established international focus as home to a number of

American, European, and other academic institutions/partners (for example, INSEAD, Georgia Tech, Duke, U. of Chicago), and it has become a key hub for major activities of a large fraction of the Fortune 500 American companies.

• A stable, corruption–free government;

Globalization Challenges• Defining global strategy• Opportunity costs

– Potential tension with residential campus– Limited (faculty) resources– Many competing (international) opportunities

• Maintaining institutional core values (and culture)– Top down vs bottoms up– IP provisions– Metrics of success

• Relationships often complex– Organizationally, financially, politically

• Sustainability and renewal– Personalization to institutionalization

Impact of Globalization?

Given the changing global environment, what should corporations, universities and governments be doing?

Concluding Dictum

Mencius(300 BC)

Friendship is one mind in two bodies

Magnanti(2008)

An effective international partnership is one mind in two bodies