University of Southern California

Corporate Partners

Why ISI

For more than three decades, ISI has pursued complex, technologically advanced projects for federal agencies and corporate partners – on time, on budget and to exacting standards. We combine innovative, well-outside-the-box thinking with the pragmatism and disciplined project management necessary to deliver concrete, viable results.

ISI also provides benefits of both university affiliation and independent research labs. As part of the University of Southern California, we offer access to world-class faculty with wide-ranging expertise. Our large student population provides a conduit to talented future employees and the prospect of building expertise to meet specific corporate needs.

As an Institute, however, we offer the benefits of an independent lab, including a focus on real-world usability that is rare among university researchers. Unlike corporate-based labs, ISI isn’t limited to specific technologies. Nor does our work raise concerns over competition or conflict-of-interest for researchers also serving their employers’ goals.

ISI is known for effectively:

  • performing world-class technology research and prototype development
  • assessing technology and systems alternatives
  • providing early proofs-of-concept
  • transitioning new technologies from academia to industry
  • acting as a neutral partner in multi-institutional research and integration alliances.

What We Do

ISI works with oil and gas, information security, healthcare and other technology-intensive businesses on engagements ranging from multi-million-dollar programs to single proofs-of-concept. For example, we’re partnering with:

  • Chevron Corporation and the USC Viterbi School on the Center for Interactive Smart Oilfield Technologies (CiSoft), a $3 million (annually) effort to create self-regulating, “smart” oilfields that boost operating efficiency and reduce costs.
     
  • businesses, universities and federal agencies on Cyber Defense Technology Experimental Research (DETER), a computing environment for testing security problems and developing solutions.
     
  • corporations and the US government to build houses in one day – potentially for use in affordable housing, emergency shelter and off-earth planetary structures – through our Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies (CRAFT).
     
  • Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles to create a pediatric disaster response system.

ISI serves startups and small companies through our MOSIS microchip fabrication, which provides cost-effective chip prototyping and small-batch production that otherwise would be out of reach. Yet we’re also a resource for the nation’s best-known technology vendors. Microsoft Corp, Cisco Systems Inc., Sun Microsystems, Inc., Silicon Graphics, Inc. and 3Com Corp. all have commercialized technologies that were developed by ISI.

We’d like to help your business create the advanced technology that will open new markets and enable you to build sustainable competitive advantage. For more information, please contact Director of Innovation Winnie Callahan.