On October, 3rd, 18:00 in the Golden Hall Ellan Spero (Post-doc, MIT) gave a talk on Technologies of Collaboration: an Entrepreneurial Moment for Academic-Industrial Research in Early 20th Century America.
What can we learn about systems of innovation through studying a crucial period of industrial science and its educational structures in early 20th century America? I argue that “narratives of progress” were essential components of institutional and industrial change. Through analysis of a body of correspondence, this presentation offers insight into the processes by which a pair of entrepreneurial actors envisioned and articulated their model for an industrial fellowship scheme designed to combine their mutual needs, interests, and strengths.
Ellan Spero (PhD, MIT) studies innovation, with particular emphasis on academic-industrial partnerships, business and institutional history, and material culture of science and technology. Her dissertation project focused on the emergence of academic-industrial cooperation and production of “narratives of progress” in early 20th century America using cases in applied chemistry from the Mellon Institute for Industrial Research, MIT and Smithsonian Institution.