A United States university and a global energy company are collaborating to help develop and scale-up the use of sustainable energy systems across the world.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and GE Vernova have launched a five-year collaboration that will focus on decarbonisation, electrification, and renewables acceleration.
The endeavour, known as the MIT-GE Vernova Energy & Climate Alliance, will encompass research, education, and career opportunities for students, faculty, and staff across MIT’s five schools, and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing
Anantha Chandrakasan, MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer, and dean of its School of Engineering, said: “This alliance will provide MIT students and researchers with a tremendous opportunity to work on energy solutions that could have real-world impact.
“GE Vernova brings domain knowledge and expertise deploying these at scale. When our researchers develop new innovative technologies, GE Vernova is strongly positioned to bring them to global markets.”
GE Vernova is a global energy company that spun off from General Electric’s energy business in 2024. Through its alliance with MIT, the company is sponsoring research projects at MIT and providing philanthropic support for the university’s research fellowships.
The company will also engage with MIT’s community through participation in corporate membership programs and professional education.
Scott Strazik, GE Vernova’s chief executive, said: “It’s a privilege to combine forces with MIT’s world-class faculty and students as we work together to realise an optimistic, innovation-driven approach to solving the world’s most pressing challenges.
“Through this alliance, we are proud to be able to help drive new technologies while at the same time inspire future leaders to play a meaningful role in deploying technology to improve the planet at companies like GE Vernova.”
Sally Kornbluth, president of MIT, added: “This alliance embodies the spirit of the MIT Climate Project – combining cutting-edge research, a shared drive to tackle today’s toughest energy challenges, and a deep sense of optimism about what we can achieve together.
“With the combined strengths of MIT and GE Vernova, we have a unique opportunity to make transformative progress in the flagship areas of electrification, decarbonization, and renewables acceleration.”
The alliance, comprising a $50m commitment, will operate within MIT’s Office of Innovation and Strategy. It will fund approximately 12 annual research projects relating to the three themes, as well as three master’s student projects in MIT’s Technology and Policy Programme.
The research projects will address challenges like developing and storing clean energy, as well as the creation of robust system architectures that help sustainable energy sources like solar, wind, advanced nuclear reactors, green hydrogen, and more compete with carbon-emitting sources.
The projects will be selected by a joint steering committee composed of representatives from MIT and GE Vernova, following an annual institute-wide call for proposals.
With operations across more than 100 countries, GE Vernova designs, manufactures, and services technologies to generate, transfer, and store electricity.
Image credit: Emily Dahl/MIT
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