Partnership Opportunities
The Hume Center can support a number of different relationships with industry sponsors, based on the nature of the collaboration.
Academic Affiliates Program
The Hume Center affiliates program provides industry partners a direct mechanism for establishing a relationship with the Hume Center, and supporting its educational programs through an annual gift. For more information see the Academic Affiliates Program page.
Research Consortia
Virginia Tech operates a number of NSF-sponsored Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) programs which provide an opportunity for industry to get involved in supporting university research in specific technology areas. A number of such programs are:
- Broadband Wireless Access and Application Center (BWAC)
- Center for High-Performance Configurable Computing (CHREC)
Sponsored Research
Sponsors can establish research contracts with the Hume Center and directly fund university research through the university's Office of Sponsored Programs, which is equipped to handle many forms of contracts, non-disclosure agreements, and other related activities. Industry sponsors can fund Internal Research and Development projects with the Hume Center.
Joint Proposals
The Hume Center can collaborate with companies in a prime/sub relationship on joint bids for federal research contracts. This allows an industry partner to leverage university research in their proposals, and allows the university to leverage industry partners' ability to transition technology in their proposals.
Corporate Philanthropy
Many holistic industry/university partnerships involve some combination of corporate philanthropy and sponsored research programs. Examples range from scholarship endowments to equipment support for senior capstone projects. For more information on giving, see the NSI Giving website.
More Information
For more information, please contact Ehren Hill, Associate Director for Education and Outreach, Hume Center.