Innovative Thinking 

Industry leaders such as General Electric, Boeing, Corning and Raytheon have reaped the benefits of sponsoring capstone projects at Rensselaer’s Design Laboratory. They have identified viable solutions to some of their most important challenges - by working closely with one of the world’s top engineering schools. 

Fresh Ideas 

Most companies have technical challenges that seem to defy solutions. Yet solutions, if found, could yield substantial benefit in expanding product lines, streamlining manufacturing processes, or improving competitive advantage. The Design Lab provides sponsors with fresh ideas and creative, out-of-the-box thinking. Sponsors come away with innovative solutions to real problems. 

Practical Solutions 

Those solutions are imminently practical. As company mentors work closely with Rensselaer seniors on their project, they get the focused attention of some of the country’s brightest and most enthusiastic engineering students. In the process, students gain exposure to the realities of the business world and sponsors gain the opportunity to turn fresh ideas into practical realities. 

An Innovation Pipeline 

This process provides companies with an ideal point of entry to an ongoing relationship, not just with the Design Lab, but with Rensselaer as a whole. As part of that relationship, companies gain access to a wealth of critical resources: world-class faculty, advanced centers for multidisciplinary problem solving, state-of-the-art facilities -- and a continual flow of potential employees in the form of engineering graduates with unbeatable entrepreneurial spirit.