MIT Center Goes Global; Unique Partnership with Government of Aragon in Spain Addresses Globalization Opportunities
ZARAGOZA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 11, 2004--The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL) in the United States is expanding internationally through a unique program of education and research that prepares executives for the opportunities and challenges of globalization. The MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program, an academia-government partnership between the Center and the Government of Aragon in Spain, inaugurates its graduate education program on August 30, 2004.
The MIT-Zaragoza program will be located in a custom-built facility in the massive PLAZA logistics park in Zaragoza, Spain. Major companies distribute products globally from PLAZA, providing a real-life setting for the program's education and research activities. "Instead of putting a laboratory in a university, this initiative puts the university within a large-scale laboratory," said cTL Director, Yossi Sheffi.
The new masters program teaches students leadership and analytical skills geared to the global marketplace. It involves nine months of intensive, hands-on, and specialized education, including formal exchanges with the MIT Master of Engineering in Logistics program, recently ranked first among graduate programs in logistics and supply chain management by U.S. News & World Report.
The response to the Zaragoza-based degree has been overwhelming. The number of student applications was triple the initial target, resulting in a class of 22 students representing 12 countries, with an average GMAT score comparable to leading MBA programs like INSEAD and London Business School.
Drawing from over 100 qualified applicants, three permanent faculty members with strong academic records and deep experience in industry have been hired for the MIT-Zaragoza program. A number of distinguished academics from Germany, Spain and the U.S. will join as visiting faculty throughout the next year.
The program has also launched a broad research agenda supported by sponsor companies. The first initiative, Supply Chain 2020, is a multiyear project that maps successful supply chains as far into the future as the year 2020. A Supply Chain 2020 European Advisory Council of companies is being created to complement a council of more than 20 companies in the United States.
According to MIT President Charles M. Vest, "The MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program will serve as a model for close cooperation between industry and academia and for moving the results of university research quickly and effectively into practice."
"The new program will put Zaragoza at the forefront of international logistics education and research," said Marcelino Iglesias, President of Aragon.
NOTES TO EDITORS CTL was founded 30 years ago as an interdisciplinary unit in the MIT School of Engineering. It conducts research in transportation, logistics and supply chain management, involving over 60 faculty members from 11 departments and schools at MIT. CTL also offers graduate education and an extensive program of industry outreach involving dozens of leading companies. For more information, see http://web.mit.edu/ctl.
Ken Cottrill,
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