The Engineering School is building a working relationship with Fortune 500 company Science Applications International Corporation that is expected to involve scholarships for students, collaborative research and a cyber-security speaker series.
SAIC — a scientific, engineering and technology applications company — is partnering with the Engineering School through a five-year master research agreement, according to SAIC spokesperson Melissa Koskovich.
Koskovich described SAIC as a company that uses its “deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world,” focusing on national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure and health.
One portion of the partnership includes an exchange of research resources between the two institutions, Engineering Dean James Aylor said.
“We’re working on trying to come up with some sort of standard research agreement so that [SAIC researchers can] come here and say ‘I want to do research on this particular topic,’” Aylor said.
Koskovich also described the value of the partnership, noting that it could enable prompt funding of research for both the company and the University.
The partnership will also involve sharing information through a cyber-security speaker series, Aylor explained that one SAIC researcher will lecture at the University each month in the next four full months of the academic year, while University researchers would eventually do the same at SAIC locations.
Aylor also noted that the company will sponsor a research scholarship for both undergraduate and graduate Engineering students. According to Koskovich, these scholarships will consist of $5,000 to $20,000 stipends to support projects of concern to SAIC and its customers.
“Both organizations have a lot to gain from this alliance,” Koskovich said. “SAIC is going to continue to find great talent in the graduates of the Engineering School, and we in turn are going to support another research initiative.”
When discussing the process that led to the strengthening of ties between the University and SAIC, Aylor said the University was “fortunate to be one of those three or four universities” selected by SAIC after a series of presentations given in Northern Virginia by competing institutions, each of which wanted to strengthen its relationship with the research firm.
“SAIC is a major player in the intelligence community, so we feel very fortunate to be selected as one of their strategic partners in terms of university research relationships,” Aylor said.
He explained that the University has much to gain from the new relationship, both in funding and the school’s long-term goals.
“I think it is important for universities to form partnerships with corporations to solve some of the critical issues facing society, such as cyber-security and energy,” Aylor said.
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