Something that i heard recently has been wriggling through my brain, resonating because it’s quite true. Corporate research once flourished in computer-related industry, producing immense amounts of intellectual property and great ideas. So many people that i knew flocked to research centers like Bell Labs, Xerox Parc and Interval instead of entering academia. Such research centers brought in the best and the brightest and so many amazing inventions came from there. Lately, it seems, corporate research centers are disappearing, or fading. Certainly, the economy is tight, but it’s still sad. Yet, it was noted that academia is producing more and more intellectual property and what is now needed is not separate research centers, but folks to bring together all of the emerging research, to bridge connections, to maintain the social networks of academia and industry, to connect two very different approaches to research.

I often wonder what my role in research is, why i’m doing what i’m doing and what i would excel at. Somehow, i think that if research is evolving to be about building connections, relationships, stringing together ideas… i’d be good at that. And i have to admit, i’d enjoy it…