MIT and Amazon launch Science Hub collaboration
The Science Hub, a collaboration between MIT and Amazon, launched Oct. 4. The Science Hub aims to “support research, education, and outreach efforts in areas of mutual interest,” according to the Schwarzman College of Computing (SCC) website.
The hub is administered by the SCC at MIT and will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics in its first year.
Aude Oliva, senior research scientist and director of strategic industry engagement at the SCC, will be the principal investigator for the hub.
Oliva said that MIT is “excited by the potential of collaborations with industry leaders who bring their insights to the research, want to support the next generation of talent, and are best positioned to implement what is learned,” on the SCC website.
The website also writes that the collaboration with Amazon will facilitate programs across MIT including annual fellowships for graduate and postdoctoral researchers, events to accelerate and make more accessible AI and robotics research, and stand up research projects led by faculty members.
“We are particularly keen to utilize the breadth of collaboration mechanisms available … including sponsored research which could lead to open-source publications and community outreach that will broaden participation in the research process”, the website quotes Siddhartha Srinivasa, director of Amazon Robotics AI. “These mechanisms are now open to all the business areas of Amazon beyond Robotics too.”
The website adds that the Science Hub “complements” existing collaborations between MIT and Amazon, including Amazon’s partnership with MIT Leaders for Global Operations and MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics’ support of the Amazon Last Mile Routing Research Challenge.