MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) VI-A M.Eng. Thesis Program matches industry mentors with EECS undergraduate students who have demonstrated excellent academic preparation and motivation  to provide an intensive, practical work experience, combined with a funded Masters of Engineering thesis. This unique opportunity gives students a chance to relate the scientific and engineering principles that they learn in the classroom to current engineering problems in the industry.

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We are proud of the many cutting-edge corporations that participate in the VI-A program each year. These leaders in the field of technology provide qualified students with firsthand experience in manufacturing, testing, design, development, research, programming, technical planning, and administration.

Our Partner Companies for 2008 include: Analog Devices, Analogic, Autodesk, BAE Systems, The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Google, LinearTechnology, Intersil, Medtronic, Microsoft Research Asia, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Network Appliance, NextWave Broadband, Qualcomm, Schlumberger, Silicon Laboratories, Texas Instruments, and VMware.

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The VI-A office forwards student applications to VI-A companies, based on the information provided on students' interview preference lists. VI-A companies preview the applications and select the students they wish to interview. Company representatives visit MIT, usually in the fall, to interview prospective interns over a two-day period. Based on the formal interviews and applications, companies then submit a ranked list of students selected for consideration. Ranked students, in turn, rank their preferences for VI-A companies. The VI-A office then makes placements by matching company lists with student lists.

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The intent of the VI-A program is to guide students through the M.Eng. thesis at MIT, therefore it is the obligation of the partner company to assist students in this task. In order to enhance the learning experience, we ask that partner companies do the following:

1. Assign exciting projects, which use state-of-the-art technology;
2. Pay competitive salaries;
3. Communicate with the assigned VI-A faculty advisor;
4. Assess and evaluate student progress;
5. Provide work assignments suitable for an M.Eng. thesis; and,
6. Fund the M.Eng. thesis.

Students will generally spend a total of THREE sessions working at the partner company - summer of year one, summer of year two, and fall of year two.

Because the Institute values the efforts of company supervisors, we ask that each company supervisor sign their assigned student's thesis title page as an acknowledgement of their contribution to the work.

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Students assign Intellectual Property rights to the company for all work performed at the company. The thesis document is considered "in the public domain," so no company proprietary information should be in the thesis.

The student owns the copyright of the thesis, but the VI-A partner organization has permission to reproduce and distribute copies of VI-A theses completed at the VI-A company, in whole or in part, and to grant others the right to do so.

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The annual administrative fee for VI-A companies 2008-2009 is US$15,000.

Companies pay competitive salaries to students while they are working at the company. Salaries are established by the individual companies, and usually increase with each successive work assignment.

Companies offer a VI-A fellowship, Research Assistantship, or equivalent, which generally includes tuition, medical insurance, and a stipend, in lieu of salary, during the graduate terms. (The cost of the VI-A fellowship for fall 2008 is approximately US$28,000.)

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