Northeastern University’s Innovation Campus in Burlington, Massachusetts (ICBM), located along the Route 128 high-tech corridor, is a 14-acre hub of innovation that brings together academia, industry, start-ups and government agencies.
The former missile base, now decommissioned, strategically provides a collaborative space for research in multiple areas to launch high-tech devices, medical breakthroughs, and new technology. The state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment as well as the research and intellectual ecosystem help launch research into commercialization in industries such as drone security, national security, cybersecurity, nanomanufacturing, drug analysis, structural testing, and data analytics to name just a few.
ICBM Partnerships
Part of the uniqueness of the Innovation Campus in Burlington is that there are partners on campus, working in the specialized labs and using the office spaces in a collaborative and growth mindset from multiple disciplines and industries.
ICBM partners with more than 25 world-class academic institutions such as Northeastern, Boston University, MIT, Penn State, Notre Dame, WPI, Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute, Catholic University, UMass Lowell and Amherst as well as many more across the country.
Additionally, on the campus, you will find industry leaders, start-ups and government agencies in varying stages of research and development. Some of the industry partners include Raytheon, Rogers Corporation, and Park Systems AFM Applications. Government agencies at work on campus as a part of the Kostas Research Institute include the Army Research Lab, Air Force Systems Integration Lab, and Naval Sea Command. Start-ups such as Matrix Space Zepsor, TheraNano, and MatrixSpace make great strides in this ecosystem in their goal of research and development of advancing technologies.
Speciality Labs & Equipment
Speciality Labs & Equipment The innovation hub is also unique in that the campus has a wide array of specialized labs that are collectively used to advance the research of all of these partners. Labs such as the Expeditionary Cyber & Unmanned Aerial System, Cold Spray Lab, ALERT Lab (Awareness & Localization of Explosive Related Threats), Thermal Lab and NanoOps Lab allow for research to accelerate and thrive.
Start-ups that often don’t have the financial resources to build and utilize labs that can help advance their services or products into commercialization have a chance to not only use labs collectively but also benefit from the experts from industry, government, and academia, working in collaboration.
Some of the labs and equipment found on the ICBM campus are one of a kind or are one of only a handful of places where specialized equipment can be found.
Burlington Plays A Role
The Innovation Campus in Burlington, Massachusetts is conveniently located along major Massachusetts Route 128 just 13 miles outside of Boston. The location is exceptionally favorable as it is close enough to Boston to allow for students and professors from Northeastern to easily travel to the campus while also attracting industries and start-ups who would like to avoid Boston-level traffic.
The Town of Burlington is excited to work with such a gem as part of its resources and business holdings. The Town works with leaders at ICBM to ensure the continued success of the campus and its ultimate research and development goals.
Once a start-up has “graduated” from the ICBM Campus as they successfully launch their business, Burlington looks forward to being home to many of these innovative and entrepreneurial organizations as they continue to grow and develop in their given fields and industries.