Agreements like that between Westinghouse and Carnegie-Mellon can help surmount the obstacles to significant research cooperation between corporations and universities.
Richard M. Cyert, President, Carnegie-Mellon University (#TBT article originally published in 1985)
In talking with corporate executives, I find that most of them see the importance of an environment in which corporations and universities are cooperating much more closely. This attitude has developed in part from an increased appreciation for basic research, stemming from the recognition that the United States no longer has a technological lead on the rest of the world.
Flashpoint 