The MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program brings leading faculty, graduate students, and research staff together with prominent global companies and organizations to engage in cutting edge research. The program will serve as a model for closer cooperation between industry and academia in funding research and using the fruit of the academic research to rapidly reap commercial benefits.

Supply Chain 2020 is a major research initiative in the MIT-Zaragoza program. SC2020 is a pioneering project mapping innovations to successful supply chains as far into the future as the year 2020. The global research project involves dozens of faculty, research staff and students at MIT and ZLC as well as other institutions around the world. An advisory council made up of leading companies plays a crucial role in helping to shape the work and generate new ideas.

Companies may sponsor research projects directly or as part of larger consortia. Faculty from Zaragoza Logistics Center, the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, and other leading universities actively participate in the research efforts. Faculty and companies work together to identify relevant and challenging problems.

Faculty members also lead the efforts of graduate students working on doctoral dissertations and master’s thesis projects. Such collaboration provides excellent context for student research and direct benefit to the participating companies. PLAZA and ZLC member companies will have special privileges in sponsoring doctoral students and in defining and selecting master’s thesis projects. Final presentations are made to the thesis committee, which includes the participating company representatives.