STARLab Industrial Affiliates Program

The STARLab Industrial Affiliates Program is one of twenty-seven Industrial Affiliates Programs (IAP) in Science and Technology at Stanford. The IAP was established to develop a practical and functional relationship between the University and the industrial community. The broad goals of the program are to promote contact between faculty, research staff, and students and their counterparts in industry and to expand the research and teaching capability of the University. The following major features of the STARLab Industrial Affiliates Program contribute significantly to its success:

Annual Research Program Review

The Annual Research Program Review summarizes new results and techniques developed within STARLab and explores their impact on current and anticipated future problems. This is typically a one or two day meeting during which papers are presented by students or faculty on their most recent research activities. The program reviews are popular events and allow time for both lecture, discussion, and communication among students, faculty and representatives from industry.

Faculty visits

Faculty visits to participating companies for the purpose of establishing a knowledgeable working relationship between the technical personnel in industry and the university faculty.

Report distribution

Report distribution (including preprints and reprints of journal articles), available to the Industrial Affiliates upon request. This facilitates the flow of information on new results and progress in specific areas. As many as ten individuals at each member company may receive this information. The availability of preprints circumvents publication delays of one or more years.

Seminars

Notice of seminars and special talks conducted as part of the University curriculum. These are announced to Affiliates so that they have the opportunity to remain cognizant of the research progress within the Laboratory. These are sometimes available in videotape form.

Stanford contacts

Facilitation of contact with faculty and students in other departments of the School of Engineering.

Campus liason

A personal faculty or research staff liaison on campus. This person maintains technical contact throughout the year, visits the company, hosts the company in Stanford's labs and provides other information and services as requested.

Student interviews

Assistance in arranging interviews with graduate students for both discussion of employment opportunities and/or exchange of research information.

Tax advantages

Approximately 75% of the annual company contribution will be used for the support of research activities. Such research contributions may be eligible for special treatment under the tax laws.

Each member company contributes $10,000 annually for its participation in the Industrial Affiliates Program in STARLab. 80% of each contribution is used to support the research and teaching objectives of the faculty member serving as liaison officer with the member company and has, in the past, included items such as student fellowships and equipment purchases. 20% is deposited in a central fund to be used at the discretion of the Director of STARLab and the Director of the Industrial Affiliates Program. Following are examples for which this portion of the contribution is used:

• Supporting distinguished scientists and engineers from industry and other universities during their visits to campus (to present lectures or to collaborate in research).
• Supporting a STARLab cluster computer facility to aid research within the Laboratory and to give students "hands on" training.
• Supporting exploratory research and new appointments to the staff.
• Devveloping a STARLab Library to supplement the resources of the other libraries at Stanford in specialized areas of research.
• Maintaining the IAP liaison functions, including the annual workshop and faculty visits to the affiliate companies.

The Industrial Affiliates funds are uniquely valuable to Stanford. Although they are not necessarily large compared to some other funds available (such as federal contract funds), they may be used in a discretionary fashion not possible with most other university funds. Affiliates programs in other Laboratories of the Electrical Engineering Department have spawned many of the major initiatives in the Electrical Engineering Department of the last two decades. They are highly leveraged funds, of great importance to our educational enterprise.