Announcing the Committee on Accelerating Translation and Entrepreneurship (CATE)

Dear members of the MIT community,

From working with many of you to launch the strategic Presidential Initiatives, we’ve heard very clearly that, for the people of MIT to continue to turn their bold ideas into positive impact, it’s vital that we build the Institute’s strengths in translation and entrepreneurship.

MIT has earned a global reputation for pushing the frontiers of innovation, translating new knowledge into real-world outcomes and turning new ideas into thriving companies. Our faculty, students, staff, and alumni have advanced technologies with profound societal impact, shaped existing industries, and launched entirely new ones. And our educational programs in innovation and entrepreneurship are among the Institute’s great strengths, continually serving as models around the world.  

At the same time – as many of you have told us – given the evolving landscape of technology and translation, if we want MIT’s community of entrepreneurs to bring the world the full benefit of their ideas, we need to make sure we’re providing them with the most effective support.

The Committee on Accelerating Translation and Entrepreneurship (CATE)

Today, we write to announce the formation of the Committee on Accelerating Translation and Entrepreneurship (CATE). We are thankful that Professors Jeff Grossman and Antoinette Schoar have agreed to co-chair the committee. You can see the full list of members below.

Through engaging with key stakeholders, the committee will clarify MIT’s aspirations within the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem and recommend bold, actionable steps to significantly increase the pace at which ideas can move into practice.

This effort builds on the success of MIT’s multifaceted entrepreneurship ecosystem, including the Martin Trust Center, the Deshpande Center, Sandbox, StartMIT, DesignX, Venture Mentoring Service, the NSF I-Corps Hub, the MIT Kuo-Sharper Center, Faculty Founder Initiative, the PKG IDEAS Social Innovation Challenge, MIT Solve, and many others.

We have asked the Committee to engage broadly with faculty, students, postdocs, staff, and alumni to gather input, identify barriers, and develop a concrete set of recommendations with both short- and longer-term action. The Committee will also engage with key external stakeholders, including leaders from industry and venture capital. The Undergraduate Association and the Graduate Student Council are in the process of identifying representatives for the committee.

CATE will focus on reducing barriers to creating startups and identifying new opportunities for successful translation and entrepreneurship. Topics will include but are not limited to:

• Enhancing support for founder matchmaking and strengthening connections to the venture and investment community.
• Expanding institutional support for startups through Presidential and other Institute-wide initiatives.
• Reviewing existing policies governing leaves and appointments and recommending appropriate updates.
• Evaluating current Conflict of Interest (COI) policies and proposing revisions as needed.
• Identifying opportunities to strengthen support for recent MIT alumni who wish to start a new company.
• Examining strategies to expand global impact through the development of MIT innovation hubs – supported by targeted fundraising – across the US and internationally.

We look forward to a thoughtful, inclusive process focused on advancing MIT’s core academic mission. We expect that the Committee’s recommendations may be wide-ranging, and that some policy recommendations may have relevance beyond entrepreneurship alone. We will consider such insights in the broader Institute context once the Committee’s work is complete.

We have asked the Committee to complete its work by April 2026, with the goal of starting to apply selected ideas as early as this coming summer. Feedback can be directed to the Committee co-chairs. We look forward to learning from the Committee’s recommendations.

Sincerely,

Sally Kornbluth
President

Anantha P. Chandrakasan
Provost

Committee on Accelerating Translation and Entrepreneurship (CATE)

Jeffrey Grossman, Morton (1924) and Claire Goulder and Family Professor in Environmental Systems, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (co-chair)

Antoinette Schoar, Stewart C. Myers-Horn Family Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship, MIT Sloan School of Management (co-chair)

Members

Fadel Adib, Associate Professor, Program in Media Arts and Sciences and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Saman Amarasinghe, Thomas and Gerd Perkins Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Bill Aulet, Ethernet Inventors Professor of the Practice, MIT Sloan School of Management

Sangeeta Bhatia, John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor, Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Health Sciences and Technology

Yet-Ming Chiang, Kyocera Professor of Ceramics, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Bevin Engelward, Associate Chair of the Faculty; Professor, Department of Biological Engineering

Rupinder Grewal, Associate Director, Conflict of Interest, Office of the Vice President for Research

Svafa Gronfeldt, Professor of the Practice, Morningside Academy for Design

Dina Katabi, Thuan (1990) and Nicole Pham Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Joshua McDermott, Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

David Mindell, Frances and David Dibner Professor, Program in Science, Technology, and Society and Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Fiona Murray, William Porter (1967) Professor of Entrepreneurship, MIT Sloan School of Management

Desiree Plata, School of Engineering Distinguished Climate and Energy Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Scott Stern, David Sarnoff Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management

Yogesh Surendranath, Donner Professor of Science, Department of Chemistry

Timothy Swager, John D. MacArthur Professor, Department of Chemistry

Skylar Tibbits, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture

Giovanni Traverso, Karl Van Tassel (1925) Career Development Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Vladan Vuletić, Lester Wolfe Professor, Department of Physics

Prerna Bhargava, Senior Program and Project Manager, Office of the Provost, Staff to the Committee

Daniel Delgado, Senior Director of Human Resources and Finance, Office of the Provost, Staff to the Committee

Mark DiVincenzo, Vice President and General Counsel; Advisor to the Committee