Motorola to Sponsor New MIT Media Lab Building for $5m

Computergram International, March 16, 1999

Motorola Inc is to donate $5m to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's MIT Media Lab to set up the Motorola DigitalDNA Laboratory in Cambridge. The lab will focus on the problems of linking together "smart" devices such as set-top boxes, automobiles, household appliances, personal digital assistants and wireless communications systems.

In its role as an embedded systems technology supplier, Motorola's sponsorship will be used to extend the existing "Things That Think" research consortium already set up at the lab, and will add a new 5,000 square foot facility in a new building to be connected to the current MIT Media Lab. It should be ready for occupation early in 2003. Motorola has sponsored the Media Lab since 1994. It says the new involvement will increase opportunities for collaborations on new, practical applications for embedded systems technology. The Media Lab, co-founded and directed by Nicholas Negroponte, operates on an annual budget of $30m. More than 90% of that funding comes from approximately 170 corporate sponsors, with the balance coming from a number of government agencies and individuals.