The Fondazione Politecnico di Milano fosters the intersection of the Politecnico's capacity for research with the needs of enterprise and society. The Fondazione offers support to the Politecnico with: identifying industrial partners to support research; creating strategic alliances and consortia to participate in public and private grant funding; coordinating and administering projects, allowing instructors and researchers to concentrate on research and training; transforming research into innovation and applied research; and converting research ideas to business ideas through the Acceleratore d'Impresa business incubator unit. For companies, the Fondazione offers: an easy, fast way to access the scientific skills and expertise of the Politecnico; valuable opportunities to enter consortia and forge strategic alliances with other companies and institutions; and the organisation of training activities for specific needs. This approach has enabled the Fondazione to manage over 180 projects in Italy and internationally, in the 2006-08 three-year period.
Some of the most important projects that are currently underway are given below.