Information for Industry

Five Benefits of Joining an Affiliate Program

Learn more about our affiliate programs. (Please note that not all benefits may apply to all programs.)

1. Knowledge and Technology Transfer

   Give direct input into the kinds of research that will be most useful to your industry. This exchange can help faculty and students focus their research on real-world problems. Attend Events at Stanford. Annual meetings, conferences, seminars and other functions are held, depending on the program. These functions provide a forum for knowledge and technology transfer.
    

2. Project Based Learning Courses

   Participate in Project Based courses for a unique opportunity to discover new ideas and see students in action. The Design Group's Industry Affiliates Program for Teaching Design Thinking offers the opportunity to participate in several courses. The Group's research interests very from bio-design to manufacturing technology.  The overarching philosophy of the Design Group combines an emphasis on creativity, technical innovation and design process management. They are driven by a concern for human values and the needs of society.
    

3. Faculty and Student Interaction

   Get to know faculty and students on a personal level. Participation in an Affiliates Program results in many fruitful long-term relationships result that benefit both the company and the faculty or student. Companies often interact informally with faculty and students on a one-to-one basis outside of the formal Affiliate Program context to exchange and explore ideas and solutions.
    

4. Facilitated Recruiting

   Engagement with the best future employees in the world. Some Centers and Affiliate programs offer a formal facilitated recruiting program to their members. In instances where the program doesn’t offer a formal recruiting program, industry members still get to know the students by attending meetings, reading their research reports and experiencing the free flow of discussion and ideas.
    

5. Research Industrial Fellowship

   Provide an employee with an immersive Stanford experience. Some programs allow industry to send a research industrial fellow who comes to work jointly on a research project with a Stanford faculty member. This benefit is often dependent on the company’s membership level. This is an immersive Stanford experience. The visiting fellows work closely with a faculty member on their research project, have daily interactions with graduate students and can audit Stanford courses.