Ford, MIT now partners in energy research

Ford Motor Co. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are forming an energy research partnership to develop new engine, transmission, fuel, and energy technologies.

Ford today said that it and MIT have a long history of working together. The automaker would become the first sustaining member of the MIT Energy Initiative. The initiative was established in November to address global energy issues.

"The expansion of the Ford-MIT Alliance will pair innovators at Ford and MIT to help meet the world's energy challenges," MIT's president, Susan Hockfield, said in a prepared statement provided by Ford.

Ford, which is committed to the alliance for five years, will sponsor two energy fellowships at MIT.

A Ford spokesman would not say how much Ford is paying MIT, but called the amount substantial. He said MIT could decide to allow other automakers to join the alliance, which already includes other companies.
(AP)